Acting as co-chair of the Kinship Conservation Fellows Hydrologic Resiliency Affiliates Group, in 2013 GAI helped organize a week-long immersion on the island of Eleuthers, Bahamas to study opportunities for market-based conservation projects. Seven Kinship Fellows from three countries with a variety of scientific and conservation disciplines participated in an active learning and investigative week along with invited participants with land planning and group facilitation skills.

During this investigation the immersion team singled in on two viable potential projects including; 1) re-visioning a struggling marine development’s plans for future project phasing and; 2) helping a local family develop a sustainable eco-tourism business to help conserve and protect family land located on an incredibly unique inland blue hole supporting a reproducing population of sea turtles.

GAI and co-chair Daniel Tonnes then prepared an extensive report for Kinship Conservation and the Island School that included a detailed economic and business opportunity assessment. In conjunction with Clark Stevens (owner, New West Land Company and Associate Professor of Architecture at Woodbury School of Architecture) GAI organized a second trip to Eleuthera in 2014 to further develop the sustainable business opportunities for the Burrows family at Turtle Lake. Three Woodbury graduate students who “won” the trip based on their excellent studio presentations met with the Burrows family and made presentations to the local community.

Further project development in 2014 included developing a realistic business plan for the Burrows family that included acquisition of start-up capital for the chosen plan to operate a paddle water sports venue on Turtle Lake and the creation of a modest visitor’s center telling both the story of Turtle Lake and its conservation while serving as the business operations center.

After incorporating Edwin’s Turtle Lake Marine Preserve, the Burrows family raised funds through share sales to family members. When this effort showed a shortfall for necessary improvements at Turtle Lake, GAI and Daniel Tonnes created a crowd-funding web page that successfully raised the final funding piece (right).

As part of business development our team prioritized scientific discovery of Turtle Lake’s largely unstudied ecosystem, including inventory of the Leakes fishery (below).

In addition to assisting with business planning and fund raising, (Scott also purchased a share in the business), GAI was tasked with both developing marketing materials and to conduct a “dry run” of the actual recreational opportunities by recruiting friends and scientists to experience Turtle Lake (below).

Edwin’s Turtle Lake Marine Preserve formally opened January 1, 2015 and is currently one of the most popular local family owned recreational tourist destinations on Eleuthera. Turtle Lake, is for now, more protected from development based on the will and passion of the Burrows family and friends of Turtle Lake, who are many and committed to ongoing success.

• Despite much pro bono heavy lifting by GAI and project partners and timely Kinship Conservation Fellows support to keep the project above water the work is not even close to done if Turtle Lake is too avoid negative development. The development risks remain real on land ringing the blue hole not owned by the Burrows but this project shows that organized local families and community in the Bahamas can make a difference in the conservation of their own unique places.

• Market-based conservation, even on this micro-scale, is hard to pull-off. If it wasn’t for a deep seated passion my project patterns this small success would never have happened. Access to capital for business development and operations is essentially crippling forward progress of market-based conservation projects like these on a global scale.

• Sometimes big ideas and effort can work and we need more little successes to generate momentum.