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Protecting the Natural Areas of St. Maarten

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In this section of the website you will find information and documents regarding the activities of the St. Maarten Nature Foundation.

Research Reports

GCRMN SXM Report on 2017 Hurricanes – Final Report August 2018 (PDF)

Marine Park Resources

St. Maarten Marine Park Flyer (PDF)
St. Maarten Marine Park Map (JPG)
Marine Park Rules and Regulations (PDF)

Diving Resources

St. Maarten Dive Site Coordinates (XLS)
Mooring Regulations for Dive Boat Users (PDF)

Shark Conservation Resources

Sharks Need our Help Flyer (PDF)
Shark Week 2016 Coverage Report (PDF)
Caribbean Reef Shark Leaflet (PDF)
Nurse Shark Leaflet (PDF)

Reduce & Reuse posters

Click to download your copy of our posters to try and reduce the amount of the waste we all generate.

Reduce and Reuse infographic

Reduce and Reuse infographic

infographic Reduce and Reuse — Reduce and Reuse infographic

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Call us at +1 721 544 4267

Meanwhile on Facebook

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Recent Articles

German Television Crew on Island to Film Nature Foundation Conservation Activities 12 Dec 2019
Pelican Peak and Nature Foundation St. Maarten Partnered for the first ‘Trash For Tours’ Event 26 Nov 2019
Nature Foundation Attended Sustainable Financing Workshop for Nature Management Provided by the Wolfs Company and funded by the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance and WWF Netherlands. 25 Nov 2019

Reef Life Foundation

IntelliReefs: Smart Substrates for Super Corals and Happy Fish! 10 Dec 2019
Eco Blue Bahamas Project 15 Nov 2019
Peace of Mind: Eco Luxury Travel 1 Nov 2019

Les Fruits de Mers

Postcards of Paradise 7 Dec 2019
Image Building 30 Nov 2019
Find Stories in Your Family Photos at Free Workshop 29 Nov 2019

Nature Today

Students Avans university examine oak tree health in Loonse en Drunense Dunes 12 Dec 2019
The Bonaire palm: a critically endangered palm only found on Bonaire 20 Nov 2019
Rodent control test did not help tropicbirds on Sint Eustatius 13 Nov 2019
Emergency assistance contributes to the spread of invasive exotics 9 Nov 2019
'We are proud of the forest we have saved' 31 Oct 2019

Hours & Contact Info

Wellsberg Street 1A Unit 25-26,
Fisherman’s Wharf Complex,
Cole Bay, St. Maarten

Phone +1-721-544-4267

help@naturefoundationsxm.org

Hours: Mo-Fr 900AM - 400PM

Site Realisation by Christian Peper

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Last night we attended the last meeting for the green initiatives in 2019! We discussed some of our past events and future plans for 2020.
Our Call for Action is gaining momentum and we want to urge the community to continue to share and sign it! https://www.change.org/p/less-plastic-more-sxm.
We will be presenting the list of signatures to parliament when the plastic bag & straw ban drafted by Sarah Wescot-Williams, Member of Parliament goes to a public hearing in January 2020.
MP Ludmila Duncan, Melissa Gumbs & Marvio A. Cooks of the Party for Progress St. Maarten, and Sjorensly R.R. Valies were present at our meeting last night.
They joined in to show their support and to listen to our concerns and plans for the further development of sustainable solutions for Sint Maarten.
We are excited about the development of our projects in the coming new year and we wish everyone a pleasant holiday season!
#GreenInitiatives #SintMaarten #SXM #naturefoundationsxm #natureisourfuture

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***Disturbing Pictures, Dead Sea Turtle found*** We have some very sad news, as yesterday we found again a dead Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) in the Simpson Bay lagoon. This is already the 4th Sea Turtle which died due to a boat strike this year!! We are asking all boaters to slow down in the lagoon and close to the coast to prevent anymore sea turtle to die a similar way, if we continue our boat speeding practices, soon we will not have sea turtles in our waters anymore.
Sea turtles easily get hit by speeding motorboats, as these animals need to come up to the surface in order to get the air to spend time underwater. Sea Turtles will dive down as soon as they see a danger approaching, however speeding boats do not give them enough time to dive into safety.
The propeller crushed the Sea Turtle its shell and injured the internal organs, leading to the death of this poor sea turtle.
Please, all boaters should adhere to the maximum speed limit of 5 mph in the lagoon and also when boating close to the coast. Each boat should always have someone on watch on the bow of the boat to alert the captain for sea turtles and other possible dangers. If a sea turtle is being seen, boat engine should be turned into neutral immediately to prevent harm to the animal.
The found dead sea turtle had tumors coming from a herpes-like virus called Fibropapillomatosis, recently we find more turtles with this disease. The animal can live with this for a while but it does show us something about its health and health of the surrounding waters. Fibropapillomatosis is the leading causes of deaths in endangered green sea turtles, however this sea turtle did clearly die due to a boat strike.
Sea Turtle population numbers have plummeted to dangerously low number throughout the past century due to human impacts, bringing many species close to extinction and causing them to be listed as critically endangered. In order to reserve this trend, all Sea Turtles are now protected by international laws and treaties as well as local laws. Based on ARTICLE 16 and 17 of the Nature Conservation Ordinance St. Maarten it is illegal to kill, wound, capture or pick up Sea Turtles. It is also il

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Last week, we again located a fuel spill in the Simpson Bay lagoon. Unfortunately we were not able to locate the source due to wind and currents.
We are asking all water users and coastal areas to be alart and report any possible spill to the Coast Guard or Nature Foundation asap.
Oil and fuel spills have negative impacts to our environment, marine life and wildlife and need to be prevented in any case.

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Finding a place that sells quality reusable products on a small island can be very difficult. Luckily, our friends at Budget Marine @budgetmarine and D-Bottle @dbottle.bogo are making it easier!
Budget Marine sells reusable water bottles, straws, hot/iced drink cups, to-go cups, and more! In addition, they sell fully recycled rope for dock lines and ECOWORKS which is a clean-enzyme based soap. So if you’re looking to transition to more eco-friendly and reusable products in 2020 make sure to visit their store.
D-Bottle is an online company that sells reusable water bottles and is now available on St. Maarten. Their design keeps liquids cold or hot all day. 10% profits of each bottle sold on SXM is donated to the Nature Foundation...thank you, D-Bottle!
As we are approaching the holiday season it is a great time to purchase reusable materials for yourself and family members. A recent study found that 1 reusable bottle can prevent 345 plastic/disposable bottles from entering the oceans. It is important to do your part in saying no to plastics and switching to reusable products. Thank you to our friends at Budget Marine and D-Bottle for their efforts in fighting plastic pollution!
#reduce #reuse #naturefoundationsxm #natureisourfuture #saveourocean #reusable #gogreen #noplastic

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Yesterday we had the honour to have the filmcrew from the NDR german public TV Hamburg for the program 'Mare TV' (Ocean TV) on board of our boat. The program Mare TV is portraying landscapes and people in coast areas and island all over the world, and this time they chose to come to St Maarten! We showed the crew our coral reefs and coral restoration activities, we took a dive in our Marine Park and learned them about outplanting corals back on the reefs and maintaing the coral nursery. We alsi spoke about the global and local threats to our coral reefs and why protection should increase. Despite the rough sea day, we were able to show the film crew the beauty of our underwater world and the importance of our activities.

We also took a look at the shipwrecks in our lagoon and explained about the impacts and hazards on our environment and the hopefully soon to start removal project. We are looking forward to the streaming on television next year!

Thanks to @rayxsimon and @oceanexplorersdiving
#coralrestoration #naturefoundation #natureisourfuture #ilovenature #filmcrew #coralnursery #saveourcorals #savecorals #coralgardening #shipwrecks #hurricaneirma

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On a small island it can be difficult to find shops that are working towards ‘zero-waste.’ This means their packaging and products are made of sustainable materials that can be either recycled, composted, reused, biodegradable, etc. There are some stores on St. Maarten that are helping reduce their plastic footprint!
Our friends just over the border on the French side are making tremendous strides in the fight against plastic pollution. Jus en Folie @jusenfolie sells natural products like bamboo toothbrushes, candles, toothpaste, shampoos and soaps free of plastic packaging. They also carry ‘My Straw’ products such as compostable straws, plates, and utensils. Additionally reusable materials such as makeup remover pads, bamboo toothbrushes and razors and bags can be purchased.
Jus en Folie hosts workshops to educate individuals on sustainability and reducing waste consumption; especially promoting zero waste. This is a great tool for young kids and others who are eager to reduce their plastic consumption.
It is very important to reduce the amount of plastic that enters the landfill in St. Maarten. The dump by Phillipsburg reached maximum capacity 11 years ago. To prevent more trash from accumulating, we must switch to reusable materials. It is also our job as humans to clean up after ourselves. With the ongoing global plastic crisis, we must do our part by reducing our contribution to it.
#jusenfolie #reusable #reducesxm #reusesxm #reducereusesxm #natureisourfuture #zerowaste #journeytozerowaste #saynotoplastic #plasticpollution #gogreen

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Today we had a great cleanup with @sxmaction and volunteers at Mullet Bay beach!
We still collected a lot of trash from the bushes surrounding the beach, the beach itself was quite clean, hopefully we can keep it that way..
Thanks to all volunteers for assisting to keep our environment clean and please remember to not litter and dispose your trash responsible!

#beachcleanup #naturefoundation #jcisxm #sxmaction #natureisourfuture #cleanup #reducereuse #4ocean #saveourocean

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Our Reduce and Reuse intern, Grace Hansen, visited Sister Magda Primary School to spread awareness of the environmental threats of single use plastics. Between 50-60 children learned about the significance of St. Maarten’s ecosystems, and how plastic effects them. They were also given the Nature Foundation’s 5 steps to reducing plastic consumption; Say no to single-use plastic products: straws, bags, cups and disposable cutlery, carry a reusable shopping bag, water bottle, spork and cup, use and choose biodegradable alternatives, buy and ask for unpacked vegetables and fruits, lobby businesses to use less plastic and spread the word!
If your school or business would like to learn more about the need to reduce plastics on the island, please contact info@naturefoundationsxm.org
#reducesxm #reusesxm #reducereusesxm #saynotoplastic #oceandefender #plasticpresentation #naturefoundation #natureisourfuture #gogreen

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End of Sea Turtle Nesting Season, however many hatching sea turtle nests are still being expected into January!
The sea turtle nesting season is running from April until the end of November. This means we are at the end of the season and maybe only a few more scattered female sea turtles will come ashore to build their nests.
We collected all nesting data in the last months and are not expecting more new nests on Sint Maarten´s beaches at the moment. However, we continue to monitor existing nests to get important information about the hatchlings, as the hatching of several nests is expected in the coming months.
We will be monitoring the hatching of the nests to know how many eggs are hatched and the condition of the little sea turtles. All this information is important for our longtime study an monitoring activitied.
When you see sea turtle hatchlings at the beach, never use flashlights or flash photography. This will disorient the little sea turtles and they could get lost on the way to the sea. This will make them easy prey to other animals. Make sure there is no trash or pets in their path.
Even if the small ones look very cute, they are wild animals and should not be touched or disturbed. Furthermore, it is very important that sea turtle babies crawl alone from the beach into the sea, to make sure they are able to find to their natal beach back when they reached adulthood. Female sea turtles will nest on the same beach in which they hatched. Therefore they must not be carried to the sea by humans and they need to experience proper imprints of the sand for memory.
If you see any hatching activities at the beach, please contact imminently Nature Foundation Manager Melanie (+17215864223) to help us to get important information and have all hatlings safe!
#saveourturtles #hatching #seaturtles #keepouroceanclean #natureisourfuture #naturefoundation #nesting

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Volunteer opportunity (must be 13yo+ and confident swimmer) with EPIC, Nature Foundation and Trisport at the Mullet Pond Clean Up. On Sunday 15th December at 08.30 - 11.00, we will be diving, kayaking and snorkelling to clean up the Pond. Call 581-7637 or email tanya@epicislands.org to register.

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The Government of Sint Maarten has been making strides to address the issue of single-use plastic! Nature Foundation and Waste 2 work were recently invited to collaborate with one of their new initiatives, aimed at reducing single-use plastic. More information surrounding the project will be announced soon by the respective department, we would like to thank the Department of Interior and Kingdom Relations for inviting us and for actively developing initiatives that positively help the environment and the community at large!

Picture from left to right: Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern Nature Foundation, Nikima Hickinson Government of St Maarten & Nina Bijnsdorp Waste2Work.

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Attention! Volunteer Opportunity!

This Saturday, December 7th, 2019, The Nature Foundation is partnering with JCI St Maarten JCI A.C.T.I.O.N for their monthly beach cleanup! This month it will be held on Mullet Bay Beach. The Nature Foundation will supply volunteers with gloves and bags for trash. Prizes for those who pick up the most trash will be awarded!

We will meet at 8:00 AM at the Mullet Bay Parking Lot. The cleanup will take roughly 1-2 hours and will be a combination of shaded areas and direct sun exposure; perfect conditions for all. Bring your reusable water bottle, reef safe sunscreen, and a hardworking attitude! ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!!! See you at 8:00 on December 7th!

#cleanup #beachcleanup #volunteer #volunteersneeded #SXM #reduce #reuse #reducereuse #reducereusesxm #saveourbeaches #saveouroceans #natureisourfuture #naturefoundation

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