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Abaco National Park
© Ron Myers
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The Commonwealth of the Bahamas contains about 350,000 acres of fire-dependent Caribbean Pine (Pinus caribea) forest that accounts for about 23 percent of upland cover in the country. The four "pine islands" are found in the northern part of the archipelago. These forests are structurally and functionally similar to pine rocklands in southern Florida and the Florida Keys and they depend on periodic fires to encourage pine regeneration and prevent encroachment of the fire-sensitive broadleaf forest. At present, for better or worse, the country’s human-dominated fire regime, which consists of frequent, dry season fires, favors the pine forest at the expense of the broadleaf forest.
The LAC Fire Learning Network is working at Central Andros National Park and Abaco National Park. The 286,080-acre Central Andros National Park supports marine and intertidal ecosystems, broadleaf forests, freshwater wetlands—including the densest concentration of blue holes in the world—and large areas of second-growth pine forest.
The 20,500-acre Abaco National Park contains the primary breeding habitat of the endemic Bahama parrot which nests in rock cavities in the pine forest floor. On Grand Bahamas Island two smaller, but more frequently visited national parks support small areas of pine forest. The Bahamas National Trust manages all national parks in the country.
Potable water-supply well fields on Andros, Abaco, Grand Bahamas and the fourth "pine island," New Providence, provide additional protected status to some pine forest areas.
Nature Conservancy scientists have completed a fire assessment for the Caribbean Pine forest ecosystems of Andros and Abaco Islands.
In November 2005, staff from The Nature Conservancy’ s Florida Chapter trained 21 conservationists and fire fighters from across the Bahamas in the use of prescribed fire to achieve ecological objectives in the globally imperiled pine rockland forest. You can see information about the November 2005 Abaco Bahamas Prescribed Fire Training,
Demonstration and Research Project here.
Learn more about the Conservancy's work on Andros Island.
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