Williams, S.

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.

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.

Coral reefs are in decline worldwide. While coral reef managers are limited in their ability to tackle global challenges, such as ocean warming, managing local threats can increase the resilience of coral reefs to these global threats. One such local threat is high sediment inputs to coastal waters due to terrestrial over-grazing. Increases in terrestrial sediment input into coral reefs are associated with increased coral mortality, reduced growth rates, and changes in species composition, as well as alterations to fish communities. We used general linear models to investigate the link between vegetation ground cover and tree biomass index, within a dry-forest ecosystem, to coral cover, fish communities and visibility in the case study site of Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands. We found a positive relationship between ground cover and coral cover below 10 m depth, and a negative relationship between tree biomass index and coral cover below 10 m. Greater ground cover is associated to sediment anchored through root systems, and higher surface complexity, slowing water flow, which would otherwise transport sediment. The negative relationship between tree biomass index and coral cover is unexpected, and may be a result of the deep roots associated with dry-forest trees, due to limited availability of water, which therefore do not anchor surface sediment, or contribute to surface complexity. Our analysis provides evidence that coral reef managers could improve reef health through engaging in terrestrial ecosystem protection, for example by taking steps to reduce grazing pressures, or in restoring degraded forest ecosystems.