Protecting the Natural Areas of St. 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.
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 … Continue reading Caribbean-wide “Plant a Million Coral” Initiative Launched on Sint Maarten
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 … Continue reading Nature Foundation Facilitating Research on Post Irma Response and Recovery Processes
Former popular floating bar JabJabs has received a new lease on life as an artificial reef. JabJabs, which was a popular floating bar housed on the 85-foot steel sailing ship SV Nightingale, was sunk during Hurricane Irma and subsequently salvaged after being submerged for three months in the Simpson Bay Lagoon. After the vessel was … Continue reading Hurricane Irma Wreck JabJabs Lives on as Artificial Reef Habitat
Hurricanes Irma and Maria have done considerable damage to buildings and infrastructure, but also St. Maarten’s nature has suffered a dramatic blow, researchers Wendy Jesse and Rotem Zilber recently discovered.
The St. Maarten Nature Foundation has been monitoring an algal bloom within sections of the Simpson Bay Lagoon over the past few weeks. Boaters in the area have been complaining to the Nature Foundation of algae clogging the intakes of their vessel engines
Cole Bay- An unknown incident, more than likely caused by a large vessel, caused significant damage to the Nature Foundation Coral Reef Restoration Program. During inspection dives the two primary coral nursery structures sustained major damage and some coral fragments were affected. Foundation staff replaced the nursery to a safer location and replaced coral fragments at … Continue reading Unknown Incident Causes Significant Damage To Nature Foundation ‘Fragments of Recovery” Coral Reef Restoration Program
The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation over the weekend responded to a significant fish-die off event occurring in the Oysterpond wetland. The event is related to the present sargassum invasion the country is currently experiencing. “We have been at the area in Oysterpond for a few days now monitoring the situation and it is serious. Due … Continue reading Sint Maarten Nature Foundation Responds to Sargassum Related Fish Die-Off in Oysterpond
The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation teamed up with Passengers from Princess Cruise Lines, Fathom Travel and Carib Resorts in cleaning trash, single-use plastics and even hurricane debris from Mullet Bay Beach on Wednesday morning. Some 35 passengers removed 728.13 pounds of trash from the beach, using the Trash Tracker method developed by Ocean Cleanup Organization … Continue reading Nature Foundation Cleans Up Mullet Bay Beach With Passengers of Princess Cruise Lines and Fathom Travel
Last week the Nature Foundation visited the second form of Milton Peters College to teach the students about the importance of our coral reefs and about the Foundation’s Coral Restoration Project. Worldwide coral reefs are declining due to global warming, pollution, overfishing and habitat destruction, St Maarten’s coral reefs are also facing several threats and … Continue reading Nature Foundation Teaches Milton Peters College Students About Coral Reefs, Mangroves and Littering