People and the Parks

Hannah MaddenNational Park Ranger/Education Officer St. Eustatius National Parks Foundation (STENAPA)September 2012

Why are National Parks important?

What is a Protected Area?

Protected Areas are specific areas that have special importance for nature, for example: Important Bird Area Centre of Plant Diversity Key Biodiversity Area

San Nicolas Bay Reef, Aruba

An Important Bird Area (IBA) for Sandwich Terns

Statia’s Protected Areas

The Quill and Boven National Parks (est. 1998, 2007): cover 41% (8.65 km²) of Statia’s land area

Statia National Marine Park (est. 1996): 27.5 km² from the high-tide mark to a depth of 30m around the entire island

Important Bird Areas on Statia

The Quill and Boven are designated Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Birds of prey

Songbirds Hummingbirds

Seabirds

Why create a protected area?

Across the Caribbean, vast areas of natural beauty have been destroyed to make way for development. For this reason,

governments decided to preserve certain areas for wildlife and habitat preservation

Aruba

Local Legislation

-The Executive Committee establishes a five-year Island Nature Plan, which is approved by the Island Council

-Stenapa is mandated by the Island Council to execute its obligations with regard to nature conservation

-The National Parks fall under the Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) Protocol  (2000)

The Quill

Hiking trails in the Quill

Everything above 250m is protected

Do not litterDo not litter Stay on the trailsStay on the trails Do not touch or remove plants, trees Do not touch or remove plants, trees

or animalsor animals Fires are not permitted anywhere in Fires are not permitted anywhere in

the National Parkthe National Park If in doubt – use a guideIf in doubt – use a guide Always carry sufficient waterAlways carry sufficient water

National Park Regulations

Who has to pay to enter the Quill? Tourists (non-residents)

Why pay to go into a Park?

What is the price? $6 per year

Why should I pay? The fees we collect go towards

the costs of maintaining hiking trails and installing information boards for visitors

Hiking trails in the Northern Hills

Everything above 50m is protected

Orchids

Historical artefacts

STENAPA’s Role on Statia

In order to properly protect an area, we must first

understand what we are protecting….

Bird surveys Butterfly surveys Orchid surveys Arachnid collection Tropicbird monitoring Flora collection Weather data

Research projects What is the status our seabirds?

What is the effect of roaming goats in the parks? How are our native plants being pollinated?

What species exist within the parks?

Research enables us to better understand our changing environment so that we can safeguard the future of the

island’s native species

Pollination study

Endemic bee

Arachnid collection

Education

Frequently Asked Questions

-Why can't we hunt iguanas?

-Can I cut down/plant trees in the Quill?

-Can we control some species by introducing others?

-Do we really need snakes, bats, spiders etc?

Why is it Illegal to Kill Iguanas?

Lesser Antillean Iguana

Green Iguana

Exists on just a few islands; small population

Exists on many islands; large numbers

Cutting down/planting trees in Quill

National parks are areas of natural beauty; the native flora species found within are preserved for that reason.

Cutting down trees removes native flora and runs the risk of allowing non-native (invasive) flora to flourish.

If a plan exists to reforest an area, care should be taken to plant species that naturally occur there.

Introducing Species

The Mongoose

-First introduced with the aim of reducing rodent numbers

-Rats and mice are nocturnal; mongooses are diurnal

-Instead of controlling the rat population, the hungry mongoose devastated native reptile species such as snakes and iguanas

The Importance of Biodiversity

Everything is connected

Thank you for listening