Entrepreneurial Opportunities for the Sustainable Use of the Pi Forest Resources of The Bahamas

The Bahamas possesses considerable natural forest resources comprising pine forests, coppice hardwood forests and mangrove forests. There has been a long history of forest exploitation dating back to the 1700s when almost the entire hardwood resource was exploited as logs for export. The last extensive exploitation ended in the early 1970s when the pine forest resources were harvested for pulpwood. Sustained yield practices were not employed during those early years. No man-made forest plantations have been established, and today, no commercial forests industries exit, with the country importing virtually all of its wood products. This paper presents some policy considerations and entrepreneurial opportunities for the sustainable utilization of the pine forests of The Bahamas.