Bringing Back the Wild
The Salinas Nature Reserve, Long Island Bahamas
The Salinas Nature Reserve represents a new era for The Michael Young Family Foundation, a Toronto-based charitable organization with deep roots in environmentally-focused community initiatives. Since its inception, The Michael Young Family Foundation has been dedicated to improving overlooked landscapes in urban and rural environments in ways that directly benefit the people who call them home—transforming a dilapidated brick factory into Toronto’s Evergreen Brickworks, helping to revitalize The Distillery District as a cultural heritage destination, and inviting collaboration between private landowners and conservation leaders with The Nature Conservancy of Canada’s reimagined approach to land stewardship.
“ Our Anthropocene Project, an initiative that reframes our relationship with the environment from an oppositional dilemma to an opportunity to make a net-positive impact. ”
Today, with human activity being the dominant influence on climate and the environment, MYFF is championing Our Anthropocene Project, an initiative that reframes our relationship with the environment from an oppositional dilemma to an opportunity to make a net-positive impact.
The Salinas Nature Reserve, Long Island Bahamas
Introducing The Salinas Nature Reserve
The Salinas is one of four leading Anthropocene Projects dedicated to regenerating the environment alongside the surrounding community. Based in Long Island, Bahamas, the project contains two starkly contrasting landscapes. 10,000 acres of sweeping intertidal lagoons hug white sand beaches with brilliant turquoise oceanfront. At the same time, The Salinas houses a man-made complex of defunct Diamond Crystal Salt flats—an operation that was abandoned in the 1980’s, leaving critical tidal ecosystems in disarray and delivering a hard blow to the island’s economy. While Long Island is relatively unknown amongst the general public, it’s somewhat mythical in status amongst bonefishing enthusiasts, free divers, marine biologists and off-the-grid adventurers for its solitude of pure Caribbean wilderness that few remaining islands in the region possess.
“While Long Island is relatively unknown amongst the general public, it’s somewhat mythical in status amongst bonefishing enthusiasts, free divers, marine biologists and off-the-grid adventurers for its solitude of pure Caribbean wilderness that few remaining islands in the region posses.”
Long Island
Together with the International Conservation Fund of Canada, as well as local partners, MYFF is reimagining The Salinas’ post-industrial landscape into a thriving nature reserve. In spite of the tidal system’s reconfiguration, over time, nature has slowly begun to reclaim the site, evidenced with new mangrove growth, a rising flamingo population, increasing migratory shorebirds, and countless nursery sites for marine species like lemon sharks, bonefish, grouper, and more. The aim of The Salinas Nature Reserve is to advance what’s already thriving while regenerating the environment to bring the wild back. MYFF is developing a yet-to-be-seen model of placemaking in The Bahamas, where a blossoming natural ecosystem and hands-on conservation efforts are the main attractions, as well as drivers for critical economic development that will benefit the local community.
“The aim of The Salinas Nature Reserve is to advance what’s already thriving while regenerating the environment to bring the wild back. ”
The Salinas Nature Reserve is home to miles of critical mangrove habitat
At present, a world-class team of hydrologists, ecologists, and planners are working together to restore habitats throughout the site and establish a low-impact visitor experience that enables responsible exploration of this natural marvel. The official opening of The Salinas Nature Reserve will mark a monumental moment for Long Island and The Bahamas at large.