Eco-News
Awesome Eco-Alliance by Susan Campbell
For the love of the land and the song of the sea… the new Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance is out to preserve today’s natural treasures for tomorrow’s generations to enjoy.
Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustatius (Statia) and St. Maarten each have their own non-profit, nongovernmental environmental organizations that work tirelessly to promote nature conservation and education. Though their spirits are strong, unfortunately, the numbers within each organization are often too few – and the challenges too many. They depend heavily on volunteers, private donations, corporate sponsorship and global conservation organizations to enable them to continue to safeguard their environments. They also depend on each other to swap best practices, innovations, know-how, data, research and techniques. Though the diversity of their ecosystems ranges from semidesert to lush tropical rainforest, coral reefs, sea grass beds and mangroves, the one thing 108 Nights
they all have in common is that these precious resources could soon become endangered. To achieve their common objectives each group agreed that it made sense to band together and form an umbrella organization to act as a central repository for everything environmental. After a joint appeal to the Dutch Government, funding was obtained from the Dutch Postcode Lottery to launch an awesome eco-coalition. The result: the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) whose mission is to: “Safeguard the biodiversity and promote the sustainable management of the natural resources of the islands of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, both on land and in the water, for the benefit of present and future generations, by supporting and assisting the protected Left photo by Pierre Arsenault. Other photos by Michael DeFreitas
Eco-News area management organizations and nature conservation activities in the Dutch Caribbean.” DCNA aims to provide much needed information, research tools, funding help, project planning, natural park management techniques and communications and promotional help for each group. So far, excellent cooperation and mutual respect have been the impetus behind the completion of many important projects. One such successful venture was the innovative satellite sea turtle tracking program – part of a five-island outreach project – to educate locals and visitors alike about the importance of sea turtle conservation. Tiny transmitters are attached to the turtle so that their amazing migratory journey can be tracked by satellite. Their progress can be viewed via the Internet. So far, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten have tracked their turtles. This research enables organizations to pinpoint turtle foraging grounds that are returned to each year and ensure they remain protected.
Current DCNA Executive Director, Kalli De Meyer, says, “Our terrestrial and marine environments desperately need our help. By uniting our forces, our voice has become stronger and we have been able to work more creatively and efficiently to get the message out and get more funding in. Though we are delighted to have been given the opportunity to form this inspirational alliance, preserving paradise will not come cheap. We are always looking for additional funding and more volunteers.” DCNA got a recent boost when Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands agreed to join their Council of Patrons. 쮿 Kalli De Meyer
The Alliance’s website aims to become the premier Internet resource for issues of biodiversity and conservation within the Dutch Caribbean. For more information visit www.dcnanature.org. Top photo courtesy of The Nature Foundation of St. Maarten. Bottom middle photo courtesy of Kalli De Meyer. Bottom left and right photos by James Johnston
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