DCNA

BioNews 39 - Dutch Caribbean Newsletter

BioNews is a newsletter produced by the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) which focuses on science and conservation in the Dutch Caribbean. BioNews provides regular updates on science and nature projects as well as overviews of on-going research and monitoring efforts, long term projects, recent reports and publications.

In BioNews 39 you will find articles on:

You will also find up to date overviews of:

Download the full color version of BioNews 39 (~ 5 MB)

You can sign-up here or send an email to research@DCNAnature.organd we will be happy to add you to our mailing list.

For previous versions, please check the BioNews archive

*This newsletter was published by DCNA and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV).

 

Date
2020
Data type
Media
Theme
Education and outreach
Research and monitoring
Document
Geographic location
Aruba
Bonaire
Curacao
Saba
Saba bank
St. Eustatius
St. Maarten
Author

Sustainable Tourism: Recommendations

Developing a sustainable tourism plan to be implemented within the Dutch Caribbean will require integration and teamwork at all levels. Although there is no easy solution, through working together and taking the following items into consideration, the Dutch Caribbean can successfully design a sustainable tourism future to ensure its natural resources are here for generations to come:

• Plan must contain a long-term vision and objectives, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities of those involved, and must establish a monitoring system to ensure implementation is done successfully.
• Ecological footprint of tourism must be kept at a minimum, which means taking into consideration infrastructure needs, impact on local culture and using the economic benefits to better the islands as a whole.
• An honest look at each islands’ carrying capacity needs to be used to establish realistic limitations and work to encourage high-end, low-impact tourism over mass tourism.
• Increasing public awareness, of both tourists and residents, through education programs on their environmental impact and recommend best daily practices to minimize these impacts.
• Governments should provide incentives for businesses to develop in a sustainable, environmentally friendly ways.

Portion from Sustainable Tourism Special Edition BioNews

Date
2020
Data type
Media
Theme
Education and outreach
Research and monitoring
Geographic location
Aruba
Bonaire
Curacao
Saba
Saba bank
St. Eustatius
St. Maarten
Author

Sustainable Tourism: Issues

Although tourism drives local economies on these slands, it is not without a cost. The strain on local infrastructure, environment and supply needs ripples throughout the economy. As the needs of tourists continues to  increase, the islands will be expected to give more and more of itself to meet these demands. It is impossible to understand and manage each of these environments in a vacuum, instead, an integrated, holistic approach must be undertaken to link these environments to their users. Understanding the limitations of the islands can help craft a plan to help support this increase in demand while still meeting the needs of the locals.

Portion of Sustainable Tourism Special Edition BioNews

 

Date
2020
Data type
Media
Theme
Education and outreach
Research and monitoring
Document
Geographic location
Aruba
Bonaire
Curacao
Saba
Saba bank
St. Eustatius
St. Maarten
Author

Sustainable Tourism: Sustainable Tourism

Overview
The goal of sustainable tourism is to maximize visitors’ enjoyment while minimizing environmental and societal impact. The idea is that by giving visitors an authentic, environmentally focused experience, it is possible to create a system where residents can benefit from tourism without sacrificing their local culture or depleting their natural resources. This is often a difficult balancing act, as traditional methods of tourism are often at great cost to the residents, however, new ideas and tourist demands are creating new avenues for sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism options could itself be a selling point for these island destinations. A 2010 Green Economy report found that over a third of all tourists prefer environmentally-friendly tourism options [15,32].

Portion from Sustainable Tourism Special Edition BioNews

Date
2020
Data type
Media
Theme
Education and outreach
Research and monitoring
Geographic location
Aruba
Bonaire
Curacao
Saba
Saba bank
St. Eustatius
St. Maarten
Author

Sustainable Tourism: Current State

Each of the six Dutch Caribbean islands have their own unique draw, enticing visitors from around the world each year. From environments ranging from lush tropical habitats, cloud and dry tropical forests to rich coral reefs, each island has something unique to offer. Unfortunately, recent research has highlighted areas in which these environments have become gravely threatened, and if no action is taken soon, these environments could disappear completely.

The recent State of Nature report published by Wageningen University has brought a lot of attention to a number of environmental issues faced by the islands of Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius. In this report, all 33 experts concluded that the “Conservation status1 of the biodiversity in the Caribbean Netherlands is assessed as moderately unfavorable to very unfavorable”.

Another report brought attention to significant issues within Bonaire’s reef, noting shallow areas are hardly growing, and some show signs of erosion. In fact, they found a low or negative growth rate for most of the shallow water reefs and noted that only a small portion of the reef will be able to withstand the pressures of sea level rise [1]. Additionally, there is widespread perception that these reefs are healthy, however this is now being attributed to what researchers are calling ‘shifting baseline syndrome’, and these reefs are actually losing important calcifiers and there is an overall decrease in coral cover [1, 14, 16; 21]. Similar trends have also been seen on Saba, where coral cover has steeply declined since the 1990s. In the 90s, coral cover was at nearly 30%, however a recent survey found coral cover to be closer to 8%, where most of the bottom cover is attributed to macro-algae, dead coral or rocks [17]. St. Eustatius had a similar reduction, going from 30% to 5% since 2005 [17].

Portion from the Sustainable Tourism Special Edition BioNews

 

Date
2020
Data type
Media
Theme
Education and outreach
Research and monitoring
Document
Geographic location
Aruba
Bonaire
Curacao
Saba
Saba bank
St. Eustatius
St. Maarten
Author

Sustainable Tourism: Overview

The world is continuously getting smaller as globe trotting gets easier with each passing year. In fact, tourism is one of the fastest growing industries [33]. One study by the World Travel and Tourism Counsel found, that in 2015, 1 in 11 jobs was related to tourism [35]. This is especially true in the Caribbean, where tourism has grown at a rate of 7%, nearly double the global average of 4% [3, 13]. Although tourism has continued to increase, natural disasters, such as Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 proved to be devasting to local tourism [19]. Fortunately, 2018 and 2019 saw a rebound of these numbers, yet this was completely undone by the Corona virus halting all travel in 2020. These various incidents prove the fragility of the entire tourism sector, and show how important it is to design a tourism plan which can help weather these dips.

At first glance it may appear that the demands of increasing tourism are at direct odds with conservation efforts, but this does not have to be the case. Designing a sustainable tourism plan will not only work to protect the environmental richness that inspired tourists to visit the islands in the first place, but actually enhance their overall experience. This special edition BioNews will work to introduce the idea of Sustainable Tourism and provide examples and objectives to help drive these efforts into the future. It is paramount that the development and growth of the tourism industry within the Dutch Caribbean take into account the fragility of its natural resources and work to ensure that these environments are protected for everyone to enjoy for years to come.

 

Portion of the Sustainable Tourism Special Edition BioNews

Date
2020
Data type
Other resources
Theme
Education and outreach
Document
Geographic location
Aruba
Bonaire
Curacao
Saba
Saba bank
St. Eustatius
St. Maarten
Author

BioNews Special Edition: Sustainable Tourism

Prior to the Corona virus pandemic, the trends for tourism in the Caribbean were pressing for cheaper and more varied options. There was a pressure to offer visitors prime experiences at a discounted price which often created tension between nature management and conservation within the tourism industry. Tourism is important to the lifeblood of the Caribbean, being a significant economic driver for most islands. This is especially true within the Dutch Caribbean. It is important, however, to remember why tourists visit these islands in the first place; often to take advantage of the pristine nature, crystal clear waters and diverse ecosystems they have to offer. This then begs the question:

How can we design the future of tourism to balance nature, economy and culture in a way that benefits everyone?

Although it’s easy to focus on all the negatives from the ongoing Corona virus pandemic, one positive aspect is that it gives each of the islands a unique opportunity to reevaluate and redesign tourism. As tourism slowly begins to rebuild, it gives the islands the opportunity to maximize the visitor experience through focusing on increasing quality over quantity. Allowing visitors to fully immerse in the culture and natural environment will not only increase the benefits to the island but also to the visitors’ overall experience.

Already, islands are beginning to explore these options. Public forums such as Bonaire’s Future Forum: Opportunity from Crisis on Facebook has given island residents a venue to express concerns and share ideas for the future of the island. It will be this sort of creative thinking that drives these islands into a sustainable and prosperous future.

 

Chapters:

Overview

Current State

Issues

Sustainable Tourism

Recommendations

Or download the full colour interactive version of BioNews- sustainable tourism

 

 

Date
2020
Data type
Media
Theme
Education and outreach
Geographic location
Aruba
Bonaire
Curacao
Saba
Saba bank
St. Eustatius
St. Maarten
Author

Millions of sightings by citizens contribute to mapping Biodiversity

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) provides a global platform for citizen scientists to upload biological observations from anywhere in the world. Through digital uploads of observations and photographs, this database contains millions of validated observations which can be used by researchers, policy makers and conservationists to gain insight into changes and trends in the environment. Recently 42,000 observations from the Dutch Caribbean (reported in dutchcaribbean. observation.org) were added to GBIF. Photosupported observations are an important source of biodiversity data and enable interested citizens to actively contribute to scientific knowledge about biodiversity.

Article published in BioNews 38

Date
2020
Data type
Media
Author

Using Sound to Track Marine Mammals in Saba Bank

Since 2011, the Saba Bank noise logger research project has been collecting acoustic data of marine mammals, fish and man-made noises within the Saba Bank This project, a collaborate effort between Wageningen Marine Research and the Saba Conservation Foundation, is providing critical data to identify how and when important marine species are using these waters. This information is key for creating and implementing effective conservation plans.

Originally published in BioNews 38

For more information:

de Haan, D. 2016. Underwater Sound around Saba Bank. Presentation at Saba Symposium.

DCNA. Special Edition Yarari Marine Mammal and Shark Sanctuary. 2019 https://www.dcnanature.org/wp-content/ uploads/2019/02/BioNews-Yarari.pdf

 

Date
2020
Data type
Other resources
Theme
Education and outreach
Research and monitoring
Geographic location
Saba bank
Author

Protecting Saba Bank’s Red Hind and Queen Triggerfish Populations

Wageningen Marine Research and the Saba Bank Management Unit (SMBU) recently published an evaluation of the effectiveness of the seasonal fishing bans within Moonfish Bank based on the first five years of fish catch data. These closures were intended to help Red Hind and Queen Triggerfish populations, both of which use this area for mating. Similar closures have been credited with improving reef populations and could be the key to protecting these species in the future. 

Originally published in BioNews 38

For more information, you can find the full report here: Debrot, A.O., Brunel, T., Schop, J., Kuramae, A., Bakkers, Y. 2020. Assessing effectiveness of the seasonal closure of the Moonfish Bank of the Saba Bank for two species of concern, the Red Hind and the Queen Triggerfish: the first five years. Wageningen University & Research report C040/20. https://doi.org/10.18174/520362 

Date
2020
Data type
Other resources
Theme
Education and outreach
Research and monitoring
Geographic location
Saba bank
Author