The Levy Preserve is now a member institution of the Ecological Restoration Alliance of Botanic Gardens (ERA), an international consortium of botanic gardens actively engaged in ecological restoration. Our conservation work in the area of Caribbean Dry Forest Restoration in The Bahamas fulfilled the requirements and we join a growing number of botanic gardens and […]
Summer Camp Focuses on Sustainability
The Preserve welcomed thirteen active campers for its annual week-long Summer Safari. This year’s theme was Sustainability and Conservation, and Education Officer Courtney Kemp gave the group five fun-filled days of learning and exploration. They began with a tour of the Levy Preserve and a lesson on national parks and their contributions to conservation. The […]
World Ocean’s Day Partnership at Sky Beach
In June, the Levy Preserve supported Bahamas Plastic Movement in its World Ocean’s Day beach cleanup. Dozens of students, residents and partner organizations canvassed a mile of Sky Beach collecting all sorts of plastics. Within 30 minutes, over 2,000 pieces of plastic had been collected including fishing ropes and nets, hundreds of plastic fragments, flip […]
Thoughts on the Internship: Latesha Gibson
HOW HAS YOUR COLLEGE TRAINING ASSISTED YOU I completed courses in Plant Form and Systematics, and Plant Physiology which gave me a foundational understanding and keen eye for botanical observation. For my research project Plant Ecophysiology influenced my interest the most by helping me understand a range of physiological specialisations displayed by highly evolved plants […]
Thoughts on the Internship: Jenny Morris
HOW HAS YOUR COLLEGE TRAINING ASSISTED YOU Courses in Population Biology and Statistics helped. Those classes gave me examples and methods that I use in the field to compare observations and results. It is a task to discover information about vegetation, but even more difficult to observe the growth of vegetation and the insects that […]
Thoughts on the Internship: Hydie Knowles
HOW HAS YOUR COLLEGE TRAINING ASSISTED YOU I completed a literature review for a research class which required creating a report (Abstract, Background, Methodology, Results, Discussion and Conclusion) and I acquired fieldwork experience through Shedd Aquarium, Archie Carr and Shark Lab internships. BOTANICAL HIGHLIGHTS The first few weeks were new and challenging but I soon […]
Native Plant Conservation One Campus at a Time
Deep Creek Middle School became the first site and partner school of the Leon Levy Preserve’s Native Tree Adoption Program. In early May staff of the Levy Preserve travelled south to the campus for a tree planting exercise with DCMS staff and students. The Program focuses on engaging schools across Eleuthera (and eventually throughout The […]
Our Summer Interns Are Here!
Three bright young minds have come on board for this year’s Terrestrial Natural History of The Bahamas summer internship. Joining us are Latesha Gibson, Hydie Knowles and Jenny Morris. All three women hail from New Providence and are pursuing tertiary education at institutions in the Bahamas, Jamaica and Canada. Hydie (University of The Bahamas) is […]
Vascular Plant Redlisting Workshop in Cuba
Delegates in front of Dendrocerus nudifloris (Cuban endemic and member of the cactus family). The species is listed as Endangered. Conservationists from across the northern Caribbean region met in Havana in April for a 5-day Redlisting working session focused on species shared between Cuba and neighboring countries. This session followed last November’s Redlisting training […]
Levy Preserve Now an Accredited Botanic Garden!
In April 2019 the Leon Levy Preserve became the first institution in The Bahamas to be designated a BGCI accredited botanic garden. Issued by Botanic Gardens Conservation International this tier of accreditation recognizes institutions for their achievements in plant conservation. Criteria for accreditation included documented collections, public access and education programs, research capacity and a […]