Lobbying for solutions to various environmental issues faced by St. Maarten
Representatives from the St. Maarten Nature Foundation are currently attending the Overseas Countries and Territories Green Forum held in Ilulissat, Greenland.
During both the EC OTC forum in Greenland and the Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories, representatives of the Nature Foundation were able to discuss various environmental matters with various organizations. One of the most significant discussions were centered around the possibility of St. Maarten becoming a member of the 20/20 Challenge, a Caribbean initiative which hopes to protect twenty percent of Caribbean countries’ territorial waters as Marine Parks and Marine Protective Areas by the year 2020. Caribbean Countries which are signatory to the Caribbean Challenge Initiative are eligible for funding from the European Union for Marine Conservation Projects within Protected Areas. The St. Maarten Nature Foundation Manages the Man of War Shoal Marine Park; St. Maarten’s first and only natural protected area and national park. Discussions were held regarding project based funding to strengthen the capacity of the understaffed Foundation to more effectively manage the Man of War Shoal Marine Park.
Follow up consultations were also held regarding the possibilities of establishing a Marine Research Institute on St. Maarten, the joint proposal submitted by the Nature Foundation and the St. Maarten Harbor Holding Company for the Mangrove Reforestation Project in the Simpson Bay Lagoon, and the establishment of a Lobby Group to protect the Great Salt Pond as a site of environmental and cultural heritage of national and international importance.
Representatives were also given a first hand account of the melting of the polar icecap when they were given a tour of the Ilulissat Glacier, the largest and most productive glacier in the Northern Hemisphere. The melting of the polar Greenlandic Icecap will have a significant impact on St. Maarten including changing weather patterns and rising seawater levels. The Nature Foundation discussed possibilities that are available for the mitigation of the effects of Climate Change on small island states such as St. Maarten.
The presence of the Nature Foundation at the European Commission Overseas Countries and Territories was made possible through funding made available by the European Union.