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Nature Foundation St Maarten

Protecting the Natural Areas of St. Maarten

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warning

Nature Foundation Warns About Potential for Increased Sargassum Invasion

Posted on 11 Feb 201911 Feb 2019 by Melanie

Sargassum seaweed in the coming weeks and months, based on weather predictions and aerial surveys.

Posted in Education, News, ResearchTagged caribbean, sargassum, seaweed, warning

Call us at +1 721 544 4267

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Recent Articles

  • Nature Foundation Discovered Single-Use Plastics are the Biggest Beach Polluter during St Maarten’s First Brand Audit Cleanup 24 Jan 2020
  • Nature Foundation St Maarten organizes first Brand Audit clean up volunteer event on Saturday, in collaboration with SXM Action, SXM Beer and Hay! Straw St Maarten. 8 Jan 2020
  • Nature Foundation Warns for Expected Sea Turtle Hatching and Ask Public to be Cautious! 20 Dec 2019

RSS 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

RSS Les Fruits de Mers

  • Three Plant Stories 25 Jan 2020
  • Three Wildlife Stories 18 Jan 2020
  • Rare Books 11 Jan 2020

RSS Nature Today

  • Evaluation of vegetation development on the Dutch Caribbean islands 26 Jan 2020
  • Researchers united on international road map to insect recovery 9 Jan 2020
  • Arachnids (spiders and scorpions): 25 new records and 20 species new to science on the ABC-islands 29 Dec 2019
  • How to halt a dam in a river 28 Dec 2019
  • Otter population keeps growing 17 Dec 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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This morning Reduce Reuse Intern, Grace Hansen, vi This morning Reduce Reuse Intern, Grace Hansen, visited first and second graders at Leonald Connor School in Cole Bay to present about the dangers of single use plastics. Students learned how garbage ends up in our oceans and the impacts it has on animals. Each student was given a reusable ‘spork’ (fork and spoon) that can replace single use cutlery. With the assistance of Ms. Oneida Arrindell, the students are now aware of the importance of cleaning up after oneself, others and switching to reusable alternatives! #bansingleuse #natureisourfuture #cleanup #dontlittersaveourcritters #reducesxm #reusesxm #reducereusesxm #naturefoundation #banplastics #saynotoplastic
Today we monitored the situation at the Dawn beach Today we monitored the situation at the Dawn beach pond. We estimated that 90% percent of the previous pollution in the pond is back to a normal state. There are still some traces of oil in the water, unfortunately this would be impossible to remove. All wildlife has resumed using the pond, the animals are showing healthy signs and are clean. Thanks to all the volunteers for their endless efforts! #naturefoundation #natureisourfuture #ilovenature #cleanup #oilspill #pollution #naturefoundationsxm #volunteers
The Results of Our Plastic Brand Audit are In!! On The Results of Our Plastic Brand Audit are In!! On January 11th 2020, SXM A.C.T.I.O.N and The Nature Foundation teamed up with sponsors, SXM Beer and Hay! Straws for the first cleanup of the decade. Volunteers collected and sorted through trash to determine major polluters on Mullet Bay Beach. The number one plastic polluter was single-use plastic utensils including cutlery, plates, straws, bowls, styrofoam, cups, etc! The number one polluting brand was Nestle with over 20 items including plastic water bottles. All of these items can be replaced with reusable and/or eco-friendly options including biodegradable and compostable materials. An important note is that 41 cigarettes were found in the surrounding areas. People often forget that cigarettes are actually made of plastic. These items are very small and mother birds have been photographed feeding them to their young. None of these baby birds will survive. Though many of the items collected included glass bottles and cans, the #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement asked for only plastics. Of the 393 plastic items collected, 189 were single use plastic items. The Nature Foundation asks that individuals make sure to properly dispose of all trash and begin the transition to reusable materials through travel utensils, reusable bottles, bags and togo containers. This finding is extremely critical for the country of St. Maarten. We must join the other Caribbean nations in banning single use plastics. The Nature Foundation along with other members of Green Initiatives have been advocating for a governmental ban on single use plastics for over a year. With these findings, there is now data that will support this urgency even more. To support these findings and a governmental ban on single use plastics, please consider sharing and signing this Call to Action that will be presented to parliament very soon! https://www.change.org/p/less-plastic-more-sxm?fbclid=IwAR3kFW9LLE7KB5Qp1VOYv7vU1wWvtAxvinaf_oqKcj2CprCzp6KEDUJcTxQ
This past Saturday we joined the Sint Maarten Yach This past Saturday we joined the Sint Maarten Yacht Club for the annual Regatta Beach Cleanup! Overall, we collected 952 lbs of trash from Kimsha beach! This is the most trash the Nature Foundation has ever collected! It would not have been possible without all of the children and volunteers who came out to help. A lot of these items included single use plastics like water bottles, cups, straws, and we even had kitchen sets and tires from vehicles. Proper disposal of waste is very important as chemicals can leach into our water supply and harm ecosystems. #naturefoundation #ilovenature #natureisourfuture #beachcleanup #cleanup #regattacleanup #reducereusesxm #reducesxm #reusesxm #donotlitter #naturefoundationsxm
Last Saturday at the Regatta Beach Clean Up at Kim Last Saturday at the Regatta Beach Clean Up at Kim Sha Beach a German film crew accompanied Nature Foundation during the day. We talked about the problems of single use plastic in the environment, tasks of the Nature Foundation and of course about Sea Turtles and Pelicans. During a presentation and a quiz the film crew as well as all the volunteers from the Clean Up learned a lot about how to protect our environment by reuse and reduce single use plastics. After the clean up we showed the film crew the breeding colony of our national bird, Brown Pelican, at Fort Amsterdam and talked about the population on St Maarten. The program will be broadcast in summer 2020 by the German channel ARD under the titel “Sehnsucht Segeln”. #brownpelican #natureisourfuture #reusereduce #naturefoundation #pelican #seaturtle #saveourocean #sxm
In the Wider Caribbean Region six sea turtle speci In the Wider Caribbean Region six sea turtle species are occuring out of the seven species worldwide. Three of these species even have nesting sides on Sint Maarten. Sea turtles are endangered and locally protected by law and they also have strict international protection. 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 illegal to directly or indirectly disturb their environment resulting in a physical threat or damage or to commit other acts which results in disturbance of the animal. It is also forbidden to disturb, damage or destroy Sea Turtle nests, lairs, or breeding places. Also, it is forbidden to pick up or to destroy the eggs of any species of Sea Turtle. Sea turtles are also protected international for example by CITES, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. All local sea turtle species, Leatherback Turtle, Hawksbill Turtle and Green Turtle are located in Appendix I of CITES. Appendix I is defined by: “Appendix I shall include all species threatened with extinction which are or may be affected by trade. Trade in specimens of these species must be subject to particularly strict regulation in order not to endanger further their survival and must only be authorized in exceptional circumstances.” This means it is not allowed to trade any sea turtle, whether alive or dead or any recognizable part of a sea turtle or derivative thereof, without a CITES permit. This convention does not only includes sea turtles, every endangered species of wild fauna and flora can be found there. If you want to learn more about CITES and which species are included then you should check out www.cites.org.
This Saturday January 18th, 2020 we will be partak This Saturday January 18th, 2020 we will be partaking in The St. Maarten Regatta Beach Cleanup! This will be held at Kimsha beach in Pelican Cay at 9 AM and will take approximately 1 hour. We will be meeting at the parking lot by Captain’s Rib Shack off Welfare Road! (By Topper’s) All children and adults are invited to attend. There will be a quiz after the cleanup about plastics hosted by The Nature Foundation. Prizes will be given away! All bags and gloves will be provided by the Nature Foundation. Afterwards, there will be games and sports activities for children to play hosted by Sint Maarten Yacht Club!
We are featured in the Discover Magazine Sint Maar We are featured in the Discover Magazine Sint Maarten @discover_magazines! Talking about nature and recovery after hurricane Irma. Thank you Discover magazine for giving us this opportunity. Make sure you get your copy, the magazine is worth reading! #naturefoundationsxm #natureisourfuture #discovermagazine #discoversintmaarten #discoversxm #naturefoundation #ilovenature
Yesterday we received our 'SDGs Certificate of App Yesterday we received our 'SDGs Certificate of Appreciation' for the Nature Foundations its contribution towards developing a more suistainable Sint Maarten over the last two years. The UN has committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the year 2030 with the object of eradicating extreme poverty, hunger, striving fo equality and environmental sustainability. In addition to the government, several organizations on Sint Maarten, including the Nature Foundation, have engaged in de SDGs-2030 Agenda and have worked diligently towards the 2030 themes in anticipation of achieving these global goals. Therefore we thank our government for recognizing our efforts and the certificate of appreciation for our foundation!
Nature Foundation assessed vessel which ran agroun Nature Foundation assessed vessel which ran aground at beacon hill. The wellknow vessel and watersport activity boat D-boat unfortunately broke lose due to the high swells and rough seas and ran aground at beacon hill rocks. Nature foundation was present at the location and met with the maritime department to make sure to minimaze the impacts on the environment and marine life, such as for example the impacts of fuel spills. D-boat furtunately does not have an engine therefore there is no concern regarding oil and fuel spills. Floating debris has not been found as yet, however when the weather calms down the site will be inspected properly includind the impacts on marine life underwater. Once the weather calms down a hull assessment will be done and the maritime department already contacted a company to remove the boat when the weather allows it.
This past Saturday, we had the pleasure of collabo This past Saturday, we had the pleasure of collaborating with SXM A.C.T.I.O.N. @sxmaction, Hay! Straw @haystrawssxm and SXM Beer @sxmbeer for our monthly beach cleanup. This was held at Mullet Bay beach. Volunteers were able to pick up trash on the beach and surrounding areas then categorize it by brand—also known as ‘plastic brand audit’. This week we will be compiling the data to discover who St. Maarten’s top polluters are!! It is important to remember to properly dispose of your trash. Many items enter our oceans from direct dumping, littering, stormwater, and wind. Make sure your items are in a secure receptacle for pickup. It is also crucial to reduce the usage of single use plastics. If we continue these polluting practices at the existing rate, the weight of plastic will be greater than the total amount of fish in the ocean by 2050. Say no to plastic! Thank you so much to all of the volunteers and for our collaborators for making this possible! #BreakFreeFromPlastic #saynotoplastic #bansingleuseplastics #natureisourfuture #beachcleanup #brandaudit #reducereuse #reducereuseSXM
The Nature Foundation in collaboration with the Ne The Nature Foundation in collaboration with the Netherlands Red Cross welcomes a new staff member! Ernika van Putten recently graduated the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. There she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, minoring in Interdisciplinary Sciences. Given her background, Ernika has a passion for nature conservation. She works towards ecological restoration for a greener St. Maarten, as the Project Leader for the Re-Greening St. Maarten Project. Ernika will be ensuring ways in which community environments will be better adapted to withstand future hazards. This will be done via environmental campaign activities, restoration of vegetation, and the methodizing of community clean-ups. Moreover, she will compose updates about the project and bring awareness to local flora through social media posts. Ernika will be stationed at the Foundation for a year. Once again, we would like to say “welcome Ernika!”
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