2025 President’s Report of Activity

I am delighted to report on our achievements over 2025 and also to thank our subscribing members without whom none of this could have happened!

Importantly, we advanced our collaboration with the government to set up a co-management framework for Cat’s five Marine Protected Areas. Our goal is to protect these eco-systems from man-made threats and abusive practices as well as encouraging sustainable and locally led eco-tourism activities.

The “smart farms” are thriving at Arthur’s Town Comprehensive School, Old Bight High School and Old Bight Primary, with the students cultivating and selling their fresh produce to fund school projects. We’re reducing reliance on imported fertilizer by running a community composting program. Forty composters have been distributed to volunteer composting centers near farms and restaurants with the compost to be shared between the schools and the farms.

Our recycling of aluminum cans continues. We collect aluminum cans at depots from north to south and, with the help of the Mail Boat, transport them to Cans 4 Kids in Nassau for recycling. This program not only keeps Cat clean but also keeps aluminum, a valuable resource, out of the dump and back into the manufacturing cycle. In 2025, Cat Island United and our supporters recycled over 1,000 pounds of aluminum with aspirations to double that amount in 2026.

We are actively pursuing opportunities for youth for local employment so as to bring this vibrant demographic group back to Cat Island. This includes encouraging our young people to develop local business proposals to support eco tourism and themselves by running the annual Shark Tank competition and identifying summer internships. We also have started exploring the potential for Cat Island as a site for remote work.

We celebrated the music, native products, youth artwork and traditional crafts that make our home so special at the 12th annual Cat Island Earth Day Festival.

And, finally, we demonstrated our gratitude to the community at large by supporting other volunteer initiatives including the the Cat Island Marching Band, the Cancer Society and the Library at Bennett’s Harbor.

And, so will sign off again for this year with thanks to all our subscribing members!

Mrs. Ethel Turner

President