Coolen, Q.T.

Around 20,000 trees are being planted in various locations on the island. Mostly indigenous trees will be planted, although several non-indigenous trees are also being included. The non-indigenous species have been chosen for a number of favorable traits, such as the fact that they can grow under the dry local weather conditions and the fact that they not grow at the expense of native trees. Seedlings are being grown in a nursery at Dos Pos, Bonaire. The reforestation efforts partly restores the original vegetation of the island and will for instance prevent erosion. Species which are cultivated include the Red Saddle Tree, the Taki, the Calabash and the Wayaca. The individual trees and their height are being monitored on a regular basis.

A guide to the native trees of Bonaire is being compiled.

Please  contact Echo or the DCBD administrator for more information.

Concept for the guide for native trees of Bonaire. The guide is currently in preparation.

Please contact Echo for more information.

Raw monitoring data on terrestrial bird abundance observations. A long list of species is recorded accompanied by date/time and location. The species are grouped and indicators (e.g. species richness, shannon diversity index, abundance per species group) are automatically calculated .

Please contact ECHO for more information.

Presentation summarizing results of MSc theses of various students

Feral goats (Capra hircus) are introduced but very successful herbivores found in areas all over the Caribbean island Bonaire. Within the Washington-Slagbaai national park, STINAPA is currently taking measures in order to control the goat population. Research was requested to provide a scientific background on the impact of feral goats in the park. This field experiment included the analysis of 13 areas where goats had been excluded for a period of 8 years. This study revealed the negative impact of feral goats on the vegetation of the Washington-Slagbaai national park. Recovery of the vegetation in the exclosures was found to be significantly higher in comparison with areas accessible for goats. Vegetation rejuvenation within the exclosures increased dramatically for tree species such as Capparis odoratissima, Randia aculeata and Guaiacum officinale. Direct and indirect positive relations with goat presence were observed for Opuntia wentiana and Croton flavens.