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The land and marine parks of St. Eustatius are closed; St. Maarten's will close on November 1st. Will the parks of the other Antilles islands suffer a similar fate? It's all about money or rather the lack of it in support of environmental protection and management.
Local funding for the environment has been meager on all islands, particularly on the small islands. For at least a decade the local situation has been one of general cutbacks for everything, and priorities have of necessity been focused on immediate human needs, with nature conservation left out. Although perhaps understandable, this is counter productive since the main resource for sustaining the economy of the Antilles, with perhaps the exception of Curaçao, is tourism, an industry which demands a healthy environment able to attract visitors from areas already spoiled by "progress."
In order to avert complete disaster for the organizations charged with protecting the environment an emergency meeting was held in Curaçao on October 16th and 17th. Participants at the emergency meeting of protected area management organizations were Frank Boekhout of the Nature Foundation St. Maarten; David Kooistra and Janine le Sueur of Saba Conservation Foundation; Kalli de Meyer, Consultant for Stinapa Bonaire; Wòti Bakhuis of Carmabi; Elsmarie Beukenboom of STINAPA Bonaire; Paul Hoetjes of MINA; Andy Caballero of the Nature Foundation; Letitia Buth of MINA; Nicole Esteban of STENAPA; and Brian Leysner and Chris Schmitz of Carmabi.
The group discussed present status, numerous measures which could be taken to save the organizations which have taken years to build up and have made significant strides in protecting the environment of the areas they serve. They focused on ways of securing external funding including establishing a trust fund for Antillean nature conservation.
Although no funding is in the immediate offing, the meeting participants decided that a "central receiving organization" must be established to distribute any funding that does appear to the needy islands. It is called the Conservation Initiative Netherlands Antilles (CINA).
With all the park managers present the ongoing activities in the parks were also discussed. It was once more apparent that considering the dire financial situation of St. Eustatius and St. Maarten and the restrictions in staff they face, they are amazingly active and creative in the face of adversity.
Bonaire's STINAPA, still relatively secure financially although also seeing alarming reductions of income, continues to be an example to the region in the management of the Bonaire National Marine Park. Taking the lead in the cooperative efforts of the management organizations it proposed organizing a training meeting for the managers.
The meeting closed in a spirit of optimism, and everyone was very glad to have had a chance to consult with the others again. The situation is bad, and everyone is keeping their fingers crossed for a potential short term solution to be found in Holland, but the spirit of cooperation kept despair at bay.
In a Final Declaration the meeting participants referred to existing environmental guidelines and objectives and "beseeched" the Dutch Government to once again make available emergency funding for St. Eustatius National Parks Foundation (STENAPA) and the Nature Foundation of St. Maarten to ensure their continued existence.
They agreed to formal cooperation by establishing a foundation to raise funds and to assist and support the nature conservation management organizations
The Department of Environment and Nature of the Netherlands Antilles was mandated to continue to explore all possibilities to reach sustainable finance for nature conservation management, to take all necessary measures and to coordinate all actions.
The participants will follow up on establishing a trust fund to generate revenue for nature conservation management, the rapid implementation of the "Budget and Financing Plan" for the management costs of the main nature areas in the Netherlands Antilles and other developments to attract donors to safeguard nature on our islands. Paul Hoetjes
As we go to press news has arrived that the St. Eustatius Island Government has provided money to reopen the park, and keep it open through the end of 2003.
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