The Managing Director of the Sint Maarten Nature Foundation Tadzio Bervoets attended the fiftieth anniversary of the Bonaire National Parks Foundation STINAPA. The Guest of honor of the commemoration was Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, Royal Patron of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance, the Network Organization of Nature Parks in the Dutch Caribbean, of which Bervoets was both Vice and Acting Chair. Bervoets was a panel member during the DCNA Symposium of Environment and Economics in which the importance of the Environment in economic development was highlighted. Bervoets also had the opportunity to update Princess Beatrix on the environmental recovery of Sint Maarten after Hurricane Irma and the status of environmental conservation on Sint Maarten.
The Nature Foundation St Maarten has recently established the presence of ‘Tissue Loss Disease’ on several local coral reefs. The disease is a relatively new issue that has been plaguing coral reefs in the Atlantic Basin for the last few months.
The coral reef disease manifests itself through the creation of white blotches on stony coral, eventually leading to the loss of tissue and eventual death in the coral colony. The disease affects 20 different species of coral and is able to kill colonies within several weeks or months.
tissue loss disease on coral in St Maarten
“In June 2018 we send out a warning to our local dive operators about the coral disease which started in Florida and impacted Jamaican reefs by that time. Unfortunately, about two months ago, we started to notice the disease had also started to affect our local coral here.
We can now confirm that St Maarten corals are also affected by the tissue loss disease through the assistance of David Vaughan, coral and coral reef restoration expert and leading scientist on the ‘Plant a Million Coral initiative’.
The disease has been detected on dive sites in the ‘Man of War Shoal Marine Protected Area’ as well as on other reefs around the island”, stated Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern, Project Officer at the Nature Foundation.
Sick corals first appeared in Florida off the Miami-Dade County area in September 2014. The outbreak area has since progressed 175 km to the northern limit of the Florida reef tract and southwest to Looe Key in the Lower Keys. Numerous coral species (except acroporid coral) have been afflicted, disease prevalence has reached 80% of all colonies present at a site, and a number of coral diseases have been observed. Meanwhile, sick and dying corals are found on Jamaican reefs with similar signs of disease and overlap with the reports from Florida. Also in Mexico, a severe outbreak of coral disease affecting similar species and exhibiting similar patters as those in Florida has been recorded. Sint Maarten can unfortunately now be added to the list of affect areas for tissue loss disease.
“The disease appears to be water borne and may potentially be spread by divers’ gear according the Florida Disease Advisory Committee. They advise divers in the Caribbean and Florida to soak their gear in a 5% chlorine bleach solution for 30 minutes, and rinse well after. We also advise all divers to be aware of their fins and to not touch any diseased or healthy coral, they may transmit the disease to other corals! Let’s not have scuba divers become paths of a coral disease” continued Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern.
Local reefs have been hit hard due to Hurricane Irma and human activities, such as pollution, nutrient run off, overfishing and climate change. Therefore the detected disease is an additional large threat to our coral reefs and the question is, if our reefs will ever recover from all these events, therefore the Nature Foundation requests maximum protection of our coral reefs in order to maintain what is left.
Director at the Nature Foundation Tadzio Bervoets mentioned that this is an additional significant challenge faced by local reefs; “Unfortunately this is another challenge that we have to deal with in managing what is one of our most important natural resources. Coral reefs provide more than fifty million dollars in goods and services to our economy annually, yet we have been facing significant challenges with regards to our coral, ranging from coral bleaching to 80% of our coral being lost due to Hurricanes Irma and Maria and now this disease. We are working hard in trying to manage this disease and trying to create extra reef habitat as part of the Plant a Million Coral initiative but we need the support of decision makers and the wider community in ensuring that we can continue our work to ensure that we have a healthy coral ecosystem. A ban on plastics and coral friendly sunscreen would go a long way,” concluded Bervoets.
Recently the Nature Foundation also located large amounts of single-use plastics on local reefs, research has found a link between plastic and disease on coral reefs. The likelihood of disease increases from 4 percent to 89 percent when corals are in contact with plastic and it suggests that ocean waters with lots of plastic waste might also carry other pollutants that could also be contributing to higher rates of coral disease, a ban on single-use plastics is needed in order to protect this invaluable natural resource.
Cole Bay- the Nature Foundation St Maarten organized a field trip for the young students of the Sister Regina School on last Tuesday. The students visited Mullet Pond and learned about the importance of Wetlands and Mangroves and how they protect Sint Maarten from storm surge. The students also learned about the impact of trash on marine life and therefore performed a clean-up at Mullet Bay Beach as part of the Reduce and Reuse St. Maarten project. About 25 students collected 145 pounds of trash in just half an hour using the Trash Tracker method developed by Ocean Clean-up Organization 4Oceans. Students weighed all the collected trash and used reusable bags and gloves. “We are very delighted with these students because of their hard work, achievements and willingness to help the environment of St Maarten, I have never seen such young motivated students before for a clean-up. These students might be the future generation to protect our natural environment and that is very much needed on St Maarten!” stated Nature Foundation Projects Officer Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern.
Wetlands are vital for human survival and the world’s most productive environment, wetlands are protecting coastlines as they reduce storm wave power and protect us against extreme droughts and flooding’s. Wetlands and their mangroves are a habitat for many wildlife species, marine life species and birds call it home or rest in wetlands during migrations, besides mangroves improve water quality due to filtration of the water.
“Mullet pond is listed and protected as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Treaty. Mullet Pond is the last intact mangrove forest within the Simpson Bay Lagoon, 70% of all mangroves in the Simpson Bay lagoon are located in Mullet Pond. Simpson Bay has lost large parts of their mangrove forests due to development and worldwide we also lost about 2/3 of our wetlands. With the visit of Mullet Pond we created the opportunity for these students to see and learn about this important wetland habitat themselves” explained Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern.
In July 2018 the Nature Foundation launched a new online Marine Park Tag system; visitors can purchase St Maarten Marine Park Tags directly online via ReefSupport or via the Nature Foundation’s website https://naturefoundationsxm.org/.
The Foundation would like to remind all scuba divers and marine park visitors that purchasing a Marine Park Tag is mandatory for entering St Maarten dive sites. Visitors not able to show their valid Marine Park Tag on Nature Foundation’s request can risk receiving a fee up to US $50.
The new online system to buy a Marine park Tag generates a unique Tag for each user that is received by the buyer via e-mail. Nature Foundation staff and local dive operators can check for validity through a printed version, in the buyers phone, by simply login into the system and search for the buyers name or scanning the QR code of the tag.
The Nature Foundation manages the Man of War Shoal Marine Park, which was established December 31st of 2010. The designation of the marine protected area was a groundbreaking achievement for St. Maarten as it became the country’s first legally protected area. The Nature Foundation also manages and installs all dive moorings on the Dutch side of the Sint Maarten Island; in case of any complications please contact the Nature Foundation. Any additional income generated through the sale of the Marine Park Tags and “nature fees” goes directly towards the management and maintenance of the marine protected area.
The Nature Foundation will organize a second Reduce and Reuse night, as due to heavy rainfall previous Reduce and Reuse night attendance was limited. Therefore everyone has another option to learn about the harmful impacts of trash and single-use plastics on the environment and how you can reduce your own single-use plastic output. The evening will be organized at Buccaneer Beach Bar on Friday the 16th of November, the presentation will start at 6pm. Buccaneers and the Nature Foundation will have reusable and biodegradable product examples available to show possibilities to go green.
At least 9 million tons of plastic enters the world’s oceans each year, a rate that has increased 100 times in the past 40 years. If current trends continue there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. Single use plastic bags, straws, balloons, cups, cutlery and Styrofoam food containers are some of the most environmentally damaging products on the island. These items do not biodegrade and stay in the ecosystem and oceans forever, causing impacts to the environment, animals and humans. Plastic releases harmful chemicals when it breaks down into smaller pieces that are ingested by marine life and eventually humans.
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“One million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in our oceans. 44 percent of all seabird species, 22 percent of cetaceans, all sea turtle species and a growing list of fish species have been documented with plastic in or around their bodies. Time to do something about this and reduce single-use plastics! Come out on our Reduce and Reuse night, learn how to reduce single-use plastics and how to help protect St Maarten’s beautiful nature and environment The first step to go green is to visit our Reduce and Reuse night”, stated Nature Foundation’s Project Officer Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern.
The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation has again expressed concern regarding the way beaches, beach access and beach recreation have been managed in the country. The Foundation has had to respond several times to issues affecting beaches on the island ranging from beach construction, heavy equipment and other vehicles driving and parking on the beaches, structures such as fences and buildings being built, significant amount of trash being left on beaches, and beach access being restricted.
“Over the past few months we have again been continuously faced with having to respond to issues occurring on the beaches. We would like to remind both the public and decision makers that beaches are our most important natural resource and all must be done to protect and sustainably develop this resource. Unsustainable activities such as beach construction, driving on beaches and littering on beaches not only has significant environmental effects but also affects the economy and the image of Sint Maarten as we are trying to rebuild, ” stated Nature Foundation Manager Tadzio Bervoets.
Bervoets continued by stating that the protection, conservation and proper management of beaches should be established in law, “The Nature Foundation would like to again call on Parliament to come with concrete legislation on how beaches should be managed and protected in terms of their ecological and economic importance. There is, or was, a Beach Policy in place but for all intents and purposes this policy is non-functioning or not being taken into consideration. Poor trash pick-up, parking and driving on beaches, the unrestrained placement of beach chairs, and beach construction are fundamental issues hampering the sustainable use of one of our greatest natural assets and is hampering our recovery post hurricane Irma,” concluded Bervoets. Lately, the Nature Foundation has been fielding significant complaints about businesses not allowing residents to place personal affects at locations they deem as ‘theirs’ to place beach chairs and umbrellas.
The Nature Foundation is again calling for the structured management of the country’s beaches, protecting and managing the resource sustainably in order to increase and support the recovery of Sint Maarten.
Two years ago the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) organized the first of its kind shark tagging expedition to the Saba Bank and St Maarten as part of the Dutch Postcode Lottery funded “Save our Sharks” project. Eight shark researchers with a support crew and two camera teams captured and tagged tiger sharks on St Maarten and the Saba Bank using an expedition ship. During the expedition, scientists and conservationists from the Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF), Nature Foundation St. Maarten (NFSXM), Florida International University (FIU) and Sharks4Kids equipped five tiger sharks with satellite tags in order to track their movements and presence to determine how best to manage and protect these important apex predators.
The track of Tiger shark Quinty through the Caribbean
Wildlife Computer SPOT (Smart Position or Temperature Transmitting) satellite tags were attached to the first dorsal fin of large tiger sharks. These tags transmit to satellites, which allow the sharks to be tracked through the ARGOS satellite system for up to 4 years. The tag uses radio transmissions, so the satellite unit must be exposed to air in order to transmit. Each time the dorsal fin breaks the surface a geo location provides an approximate location with an accuracy of up to 250 meters.
Up to now, two tiger sharks with satellite tags named ‘Sea fairy’ and ‘Quinty’ have provided the research team with some interesting preliminary results. The sharks indicate a similar migration track following the Aves ridge, a ridge in the Eastern Caribbean Sea of about 500 km in length probably of volcanic arc origin.
“The preliminary data we have been receiving is starting to show some interesting results in terms of the migratory patterns of tiger sharks in the Eastern Caribbean Sea. Not only is this data important but it is also critical for the transboundary management of a marine species critical to the health of our Caribbean Sea. Sharks are apex predators and as such keep the ocean food chain healthy, a food chain which in turn supports regional fisheries for example. With recent shark finning and fishing activities occurring in the wider Caribbean including incidents in Curacao, Dominica and Aruba it behoves nation states in the Caribbean to establish a Wider Caribbean Managemant Plan for the species,” commented Tadzio Bervoets, Project Manager for the Dutch Caribbean Alliance Save our Shark Project.
Shark Quinty was tagged under the supervision of Dr. Mike Heithaus on the Saba Bank. This 3.43 meter female tiger shark provided regular location updates. Quinty left the Saba Bank following the Aves ridge down south and subsequently swam all the way to Trinidad and Tobago, a territory known for its shark finning activities. The last received location of Quinty was close to Barbados about a year ago.
Another Shark dubbed Sea fairy was the first shark which was equipped with a satellite tag in this region and surfaced very frequently, providing researchers with a wealth of location and movement information. Sea fairy was a 2.40 meter female tiger shark at the moment it was tagged in the waters of St Maarten. She stayed the first months around St Maarten while doing forays to Anguilla, St Barths, Saba and the Saba Bank. In May 2017 Sea fairy migrated south following the Aves ridge in a similar movement pattern as tiger shark Quinty. After spending two months at the Aves ridge Sea Fairy explored the open Caribbean Sea and headed to Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic. The last location received for Sea Fairy was close to Puerto Rico also about a year ago.
“Sea fairy’s movement patterns can indicate a nursing area for tiger sharks around St Maarten, spending their juvenile years in sand and seagrass habitat before migrating around the Caribbean when large enough in size and maturity. It is interesting to see that both actively tracked sharks are showing similar migration routes following the Aves ridge, which may supply the sharks with an abundant food source” stated Nature Foundation’s Project Officer Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern.
“In the coming year, we will expand our shark movement study and will install another satellite tag on a tiger shark on St Maarten and two more sharks will be equipped with a satellite tag on Aruba. This research will improve our understanding of the life characteristics of sharks and will provide knowledge about the population structure, abundance and migration of sharks in the Caribbean” explained Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern.
Sharks are often portrayed as being dangerous killing machines, however the facts show the opposite. Occasionally shark bites do happen, however no unprovoked attack has been ever recorded on St. Maarten. It is more likely that one gets killed by a coconut falling on ones head than by a shark. The species are actually the victims of human impacts such as poaching, finning, overfishing and irresponsible coastal development pressure. Worldwide over 100 million sharks are killed per year resulting in half of all shark species being threatened or endangered with extinction.
A tiger shark being tagged in St Maarten waters (photo credit: Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern)
November 6th, 2018 Cole Bay, Sint Maarten – Intelligent reefs powered by nature have been installed at three sites in St. Maarten in a continuing effort to restore marine bio-diversity habitats devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Scientists, filmmakers, photographers, creatives, and leaders from the eco-tourism industry assisted the Sint Maarten Nature Foundation with its mission to restore the island’s coral reefs significantly impacted by the passage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 by installing IntelliReefs, a substrate that assembles like LEGO™ to foster the growth and development of coral offspring able to survive extreme weather and changes in water chemistry. This initiative launches the “Plant a Million Coral” campaign that will see one million corals planted throughout the Caribbean Basin by 2025.
One of the first organisms to be impacted by climate change in a visibly drastic way is coral. It is the “canary in the coal mine” when it comes to the health of our oceans, and since the 1970’s and ’80’s, Caribbean coral reefs have been significantly impacted by climate change, overfishing and unrestrained coastal development. Their health is in dramatic decline, and this test project is a way to reverse this alarming trend.
“Most of us don’t see how dramatic this is; bright, colorful ecosystems teeming with life that are disappearing at a rapid rate,” says Dr David Vaughan, a world-renowned coral reef scientist and one of the pioneers of coral reef restoration techniques. “If we could all see it, we would realize how critical it is that we take action now.”
St. Maarten has lost 80% of its coral due to the impacts of hurricanes, bleaching and disease. The remaining corals are now less resistant to both human and natural threats. The ecosystem needs assistance to regain its resiliency. “The good news out of all of this is that we can take action, and we are,” says Dr Vaughan.
Dr Vaughan is the President and Founder of Plant A Million Corals and a marine scientist directly responsible for developing “micro-fragmentation” technology and implementation of coral “refusion” techniques. He has grown and outplanted over 40,000 corals, has 40,000 ready to go and over 100,000 in process for 2019. The depth of his coral restoration expertise cannot be overstated. Dr Vaughan is a leading expert on coral restoration and will be overseeing the scientific aspect of the project on St. Maarten.
IntelliReefs, developed by the Reef Life Restoration, were deployed at three sites last week: The Bridge, the Manowar Shoal Marine Protected Area and just off the landing of the Pelican Peak Zipline in Point Blanche, currently under construction by Sea to Sky Ventures. Along with Dr David Vaughan and Reef Life Restoration, Plant a Million Coral has significant support from Sea to Sky Ventures, the Pelican Peak developers, as well as international support from SeaLegacy, an ocean conservation organisation founded by National Geographic Photographers Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen. SeaLegacy is a distinguished group of world-renowned photographers and filmmakers with a combined audience of more than 6.3 million people.
The economy of St. Maarten relies heavily on tourism, and this restoration project is important not only to the ecosystem but the ability for St. Maarten to rebuild and be resilient to future threats. “When we were approached about the possibility of both launching Plant a Million Coral on St. Maarten and using a new, innovative tool to potentially enhance our coral reef ecosystem using IntelliReefs, we jumped at the opportunity,” says Tadzio Bervoets, Managing Director of the St. Maarten Nature Foundation. “After having lost so many of our healthy coral since Hurricanes Irma and Maria, we have been struggling to support the ecosystem and in turn, ensure the various benefits that ecosystem gives to the community continues. Now, with the help of Sea to Sky Ventures, SeaLegacy, Reef Life Restoration, Dr Vaughan and the highly skilled volunteers from the Global Solutions Development dive team who did the installation, we stand an excellent chance of giving our coral reef ecosystem the boost it needs to fulfil the critical role it plays for our environment and our economy.”
Tadzio placing an oceanite piece that builds part of the intellireef in St Maarten. Photo: Ian Kellett/SeaLegacy
IntelliReefs are marine biodiversity habitats made with Oceanite, a 70% mineral compound that assembles like architectural ‘LEGO™’ units. Each unit can be outfitted with a combination of growth formulations, custom surface topography, and other species-specific features such as farmed coral attachment holes or spawning beds. IntelliReefs are not artificial reefs. They are an intelligent evolution inspired and powered by nature.
The team from the St Maarten Nature Foundation will be monitoring the performance of the IntelliReef system over the next year for their coral growth and habitat functionality. Dr Vaughan will be back on the island within the next few months to measure the development and coral growth of the system. “This is one small step for the reef, and one giant step for the ocean,” concluded the world-renown coral reef expert.
A newly installed IntelliReef, powered by Oceanite, is designed by Reef Life Restoration to foster the growth and development of coral offspring able to survive extreme weather and changes in water chemistry.
The Reduce and Reuse night organized by the Nature Foundation St Maarten will teach you about the harmful impacts of trash and single-use plastics on the environment and how you can reduce your own single-use plastic output.
The evening will be organized at Buccaneer Beach Bar on Sunday the 4th of November, the presentation will start at 8pm. Buccaneers and the Nature Foundation will have reusable and biodegradable product examples available to show possibilities to go green.
At least 9 million tons of plastic enters the world’s oceans each year, a rate that has increased 100 times in the past 40 years. If current trends continue there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. Single use plastic bags, straws, balloons, cups, cutlery and Styrofoam food containers are some of the most environmentally damaging products on the island. These items do not biodegrade and stay in the ecosystem and oceans forever, causing impacts to the environment, animals and humans. Plastic releases harmful chemicals when it breaks down into smaller pieces that are ingested by marine life and eventually humans.
“One million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in our oceans. 44 percent of all seabird species, 22 percent of cetaceans, all sea turtle species and a growing list of fish species have been documented with plastic in or around their bodies. Time to do something about this and reduce single-use plastics! Come out on our Reduce and Reuse night, learn how to reduce single-use plastics and how to help protect St Maarten’s beautiful nature and environment. The first step to go green is to visit our Reduce and Reuse night’, stated Nature Foundation’s Project Officer Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern
Cole Bay – The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation has started a new research project under the lead of Master student Joey de Hamer, who is studying Development and Rural Innovation at the Wageningen University located in the Netherlands, concentrated on disaster studies and in particular disaster governance. His research is focused on disaster governance on St. Maarten in the wake of hurricane Irma, which devastated the island in September 2017.
De Hamer is researching how the island has responded to Irma and what this response has resulted in. Knowledge will be gathered about how St. Maarten has proceeded in the recovery process in the aftermath of Irma and to what extent this has led to the development of several situations affecting life on the island.
Both the response and recovery process will be researched and analyzed by planning several interviews with involved stakeholders. Therefore the Nature Foundation is encouraging involved stakeholders and interested persons to share their experiences and ideas on both the response and recovery processes in the aftermath of Irma.
If you would like to participate and talk to de Hamer about your experiences and opinions or if you know someone who would like to contribute, you can contact him via his e-mail – joey.dehamer@wur.nl – or via his phone number – (721) 581-5121 (no WhatsApp). All the gained research data will be treated confidential, names and locations will not be mentioned in the report and will not be retraceable.
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