Thesis Presentation to COB Library
Dina Liebowitz presents her dissertation 'Assessing Stakeholder Support and Preference for Marine Protected Area Management on Andros Island, Bahamas,' to a very happy Director of Libraries & Instructional Media Services, Ms Willamae Johnson
On Wednesday, January 2, 2008, University of Florida graduate student, Dina Liebowitz, presented a copy of her dissertation to the Director of The College of The Bahamas Library and Instructional Media Services, Ms. Willamae Johnson. The work will enhance the library's collection of dissertations and will be an added resource in The College's goal of becoming a source of new information that can shape governmental policies and decision making.
Ms. Liebowitz wrote the dissertation, 'Assessing Stakeholder Support and Preference for Marine Protected Area Management on Andros Island, Bahamas,' during the course of 2006 During this time she spent several months researching the West Side National Park on the nation's largest island.
The West Side National Park was established in Central Andros in 2002 and is managed by The Bahamas National Trust. According to the Bahamas National Trust, the Central Andros National Parks span two hundred eighty six thousand and eighty acres. The parks were established primarily as environments of protection for wildlife, pine forest, mangroves, coral reefs, and blue holes. The Trust further states, "The West Side National Park secures habitats for bonefish and conch, and is a feeding ground for a colony of West Indian Flamingoes". Therefore, protection of these resources is critical for the maintenance of biodiversity and for ensuring the continuation of the sustainable way of life on the island of Andros.
While there is growing support for the establishment of national parks as a sanctuary for wildlife, there are still many who do not support the idea of national parks. In 2006, Liebowitz, carried out stakeholder assessment in the communities surrounding the West Side National Park to gain a greater understanding of the views of the various stakeholders.
After consultation with officials from the Nature Conservancy, Andros Conservancy & Trust and other groups, Ms. Liebowitz learnt that there was an existing conservation programme in Andros; however, there was no management strategy in place.
Surveys were prepared to collect feedback from various stakeholders, including community fishermen, bone fish guides, lobster fishermen, and spongers. The surveys were carried out in Red Bays, Lowe Sound, Fresh Creek, Behring Point and Mangrove Cay, Andros. Participants were asked questions relating to family size, education, livelihood needs and resource use.
Ms. Liebowitz was assisted in her research by Michael Missick, a University of Florida graduate student. The research focused on the existing national park on the west side of Andros and was funded by the Disney Wild-Life Conservation Fund.
According to Liebowitz one hundred and fifteen participants were interviewed and their responses indicated that 37% of the participants knew of the existence of the parks but there were others who did not know specifically what a park was or how it would impact them or their community. In her quest to provide clarification, Liebowitz shared information about parks as areas of protection and a means of resource for communities with stakeholders.
Liebowitz opined that her research undertaking dealt significantly more with stakeholder analysis than with theoretical research and that her primary thrust was to find out resource users' knowledge, perceptions and their support for the West Side Park or other national parks and to ascertain what other factors were involved in their support for the park. Her findings indicated that sixty percent of the participants were not in favour of a national park. She emphasized that her primary role during the research was to only gather information.
Interestingly, Liebowitz noted that many of the participants who had endorsed the idea of a park did not want it to be developed on the west side of the island. Fifty-percent of the participants felt that the area should not be developed at all.
A key factor affecting Androsians' support or non-support of a national park was location and occupation. For example, people from Red Bays were least likely to support a national park on Andros while support for parks was stronger in Mangrove Cay and Central Andros.
Liebowitz envisages that her research will bring national parks and the need to engage in more discussions with stakeholders to the attention of agencies and others who manage them and also raise awareness of and support for national parks.
Dr. Linda Davis, Vice President, Research, Graduate Programmes and International Relations noted how pleased The College of The Bahamas was to receive the dissertation from Ms. Liebowitz. She noted also that The College of The Bahamas has a 'system' in place to assist students with funding to become involved in research initiatives.
This presentation is another significant addition to the growing number of doctoral theses that have been presented to The College of The Bahamas after persons have completed their research. The great majority of these theses were produced by faculty members of The College.
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The College of The Bahamas
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