Agoa Sanctuary Management Board Meeting, St. Martin, November 5, 2015.

In 2012 France established a marine mammal sanctuary, named Agoa after “Maï d’Agoa”, Mother or Spirit of the Water in Amerindian mythology. The Agoa Sanctuary comprises all of the French Caribbean waters, surrounding Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Barth’s and St. Martin. This French initiative was one of the motivations for the establishment of the Yarari Sanctuary in the Caribbean Netherlands last year and there has been close cooperation with Agoa, in particular in marine mammal surveys and other research work. After the establishment of Yarari, Agoa invited Paul Hoetjes to give a presentation on the Yarari Sanctuary during their annual management board meeting. 

This news article was published in BioNews 22

BioNews is produced by the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance and funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.