News
National Trust and Partners invest on measures to eradicate invasive Casuarina trees
#TurksandCaicos, November 13, 2021 – The next time you see a pine-looking tree in and around your neighbourhood, better look closely as it may be ‘Casuarina’. This tree is often mistaken as a member of the Pinus family due to its resemblance to our National Tree – the Caicos Pine.
Casuarina equisetifolia or Australian pine trees (often called cedar trees or whispering pine locally) are a familiar tree in the TCI but they are not native to our country.
In some places such as Half Moon Bay, Casuarina trees are growing in a thick, dense stands making access very difficult for visitors. All trees drop their leaves either gradually or all at once, so that they can grow new ones. Casuarina leaves (called needles) drop to the ground and form a thick impenetrable blanket which stops our native
plants growing. Our endemic Rock Iguanas feed on the fruit, flowers and leaves of native plants like Sea-grape and Inkberry. They do not eat Casuarina leaves. So the dense stands of Casuarina will eventually shade out the native plants and because there is no food, there will be fewer rock iguanas to see at Half Moon Bay.
Under license from the DECR, the National Trust has begun clearing patches of Casuarina trees from parts of Half Moon Bay. The trees are felled and the branches are stacked in piles. This will give more space for the native plants to grow big and strong. Eventually vigorous, healthy native plants should cover these areas, stabilise the sand and stop the Casuarina from coming back as there will be limited space for the Casuarina seedlings to grow. The increase in native plants will greatly improve the quality of habitat for iguanas. The removal of the Casuarinas will create more space for visitors and improve the stability of the sand bar that forms Half Moon Bay meaning it is less likely to be washed away during a severe storm.
The larger trees will be left to provide shade and a focus for visitors. Staff and volunteers from the National Trust will return in future years to pull up Casuarina seedlings and prevent Half Moon Bay being recolonised by this pernicious invader. The number of iguanas in the area will be monitored by scientists from San Diego Zoo and we expect to see an increase in the number of iguanas in the area.
This is part of the large investment being made by the National Trust and its partners to increase the number of Rock Iguanas on Pine, Water and Little Water Cays. In the past ten years $2.7 million has been invested in TCI in securing the population of Rock Iguanas on these islands.
Please support this work and contact the Turks & Caicos National Trust to know how you can help. Send us an email
at info@tcnationaltrust.org or call us at (649) 941-5710.
Casuarina Facts
Casuarina trees come from southern Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands and were introduced to TCI in the 1920s.
It’s one of the few trees that can grow quickly and easily in a poor salty soil and was planted initially to create shade and later as a landscape plant in tourist resort areas. From these areas Casuarinas have spread and can now be found on many islands and cays. Its seeds float and can survive immersion in seawater so once a clump or stand is established, it will spread to nearby areas. This seems to have happened from Causarina trees on Star Island (the man-made island constructed from stones and dredgings from the Leeward Channel) which have appeared on the southern shore of Little Water Cay.
Casuarina loves disturbed ground. It can often be seen growing along road edges or on abandoned buildings plots. It rarely grows in undisturbed bush areas. When cut, its wood makes excellent firewood and charcoal.
In its native range many insects and birds have evolved to use Casuarina in various ways (eg for food and nesting). However very few species in TCI can use them though some birds will roost in the bigger trees.
Casuarina trees have shallow roots. There is some evidence from Florida and other places that areas with Casuarina are more vulnerable to storm damage than areas covered in native vegetation. Native plants have roots that form webs under the ground knitting the sand together.
February is National Self- Check Month and family medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic, OH, John Hanicak, MD, highlights why at home self-checks are extremely important when it comes to not just early cancer detection but identifying other illnesses too and offers tips on what to look out for.
“Sometimes I look at them as sort of like your check engine light on the car, just like there would be a red flashing light that tells you that
there’s something wrong with a car and prompts you to bring that in and get serviced. Your body does the same thing. It gives you warning signs to look into that symptom a little bit further,” said Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak said self-checks are going to be a little different for everyone.
However, in general, he recommends looking for anything that may seem abnormal, such as unexplained weight loss, blood in your urine, bumps and bruises that won’t heal, and changes in bowel habits.
For example, if you suddenly start going to the bathroom a lot more than you used to, that could be a sign of something more serious.
He also suggests doing regular skin checks and documenting any moles or spots that start to look different.
“Realize that you are your own person. There’s nobody else in the world exactly like you. You’ve got your own set of ideas, your own family history and your own genetics. Know what is normal for you, and when that changes, that’s the kind of thing that we would be interested in talking about,” said Dr. Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak notes that self-checks are not meant to replace cancer screenings, as those are just as important to keep up with.
Press Release: Cleveland Clinic
PM: Project delivers on promise and invests in youth, sports and national development
GRAND BAHAMA, The Bahamas — Calling it the fulfillment of a major commitment to the island, Prime Minister Philip Davis led the official groundbreaking for the Grand Bahama Aquatic Centre, a facility the government says will transform sports development and create new opportunities for young athletes.
Speaking at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex on February 12, the Prime Minister said the project represents more than bricks and mortar
— it is an investment in people, national pride and long-term economic activity. The planned complex will feature a modern 50-metre competition pool, designed to meet international standards for training and regional and global swim meets. Davis said the facility will give Bahamian swimmers a home capable of producing world-class performance while also providing a space for community recreation, learn-to-swim programmes and water safety training.
He noted that Grand Bahama has long produced outstanding athletes despite limited infrastructure and said the new centre is intended to correct that imbalance, positioning the island as a hub for aquatic sports and sports tourism.
The Prime Minister also linked the development to the broader national recovery and revitalisation of Grand Bahama, describing the project as part of a strategy to expand opportunities for young people, create jobs during construction and stimulate activity for small businesses once operational.
The Aquatic Centre, he said, stands as proof that promises made to Grand Bahama are being delivered.
The project is expected to support athlete development, attract competitions, and provide a safe, modern environment for residents to access swimming and water-based programmes for generations to come.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
The Bahamas, February 15, 2026 – For the better part of three years, Bahamians have been told that major Afreximbank financing would help transform access to capital, rebuild infrastructure and unlock economic growth across the islands. The headline figures are large. The signing ceremonies are high profile. The language is ambitious. What remains far harder to see is the measurable impact in the daily lives of the people those announcements are meant to serve.
The Government’s push to secure up to $100 million from Afreximbank for roughly 200 miles of Family Island roads dates back to 2025. In
its February 11 disclosure, the bank outlined a receivables-discounting facility — a structure that allows a contractor to be paid early once work is completed, certified and invoiced, with the Government settling the bill later. It is not cash placed into the economy upfront. It does not, by itself, build a single mile of road. Every dollar depends on work first being delivered and approved.
The wider framework has been described as support for “climate-resilient and trade-enhancing infrastructure,” a phrase that, in practical terms, should mean projects that lower the cost of doing business, move people and goods faster, and keep the economy functioning. But for communities, that promise becomes real only when the projects are named, the standards are defined and a clear timeline is given for when work will begin — and when it will be finished.
Bahamians have seen this moment before.
In 2023, a $30 million Afreximbank facility for the Bahamas Development Bank was hailed as a breakthrough that would expand access to financing for local enterprise. It worked in one immediate and measurable way: it encouraged businesses to apply. Established, revenue-generating Bahamian companies responded to the call, prepared plans, and entered a process they believed had been capitalised to support growth. The unanswered question is how much of that capital has reached the private sector in a form that allowed those businesses to expand, hire and generate new economic activity.
Because development is not measured in the size of announcements.
It is measured in loans disbursed, projects completed and businesses expanded.
The pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. In June 2024, when Afreximbank held its inaugural Caribbean Annual Meetings in Nassau,
Grand Bahama was presented as the future home of an Afro-Caribbean marketplace said to carry tens of millions of dollars in investment. What was confirmed at that stage was a $1.86 million project-preparation facility — funding for studies and planning to make the development bankable, not construction financing. The larger build-out remains dependent on additional approvals, land acquisition and further capital.
This distinction — between financing announced and financing that produces visible, measurable outcomes — is now at the centre of the national conversation.
Because while the numbers grow larger on paper, entrepreneurs still describe access to capital as out of reach, and communities across the Family Islands are still waiting to see where the work will start.
And in an economy where stalled growth translates into lost opportunity, rising frustration and real social consequences, the gap between promise and delivery is no longer a communications issue.
It is an inability to convert announcements into outcomes.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
