BBP Background

The Bahamas Biocomplexity Project (BBP) is an interdisciplinary research effort that combines the study of marine biodiversity, oceanography, and humans in order to improve the design of networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) for biodiversity conservation, fisheries sustainability, and other human uses.

Our work in The Bahamas was motivated, in part, by both the country’s pioneering efforts to establish Land and Sea Parks and its decision in 2000 to initiate one of the world’s first networks of “no-take” marine reserves (MPAs that prohibit extractive activities). In 2002, additional MPAs were created as national parks under the management of the Bahamas National Trust.

The BBP is interested in understanding how this growing MPA network may affect people and marine ecosystems and, in turn, how both human and ecosystem dynamics may influence the effectiveness of networks of protected areas. Although the work focuses on the Bahamian archipelago, we expect that results will be generally applicable to MPAs in coral reef ecosystems elsewhere.