1. People and the Parks Hannah Madden National Park Ranger/Education Officer St. Eustatius National Parks Foundation (STENAPA) September 2012

2. Why are National Parks important?

3. What is a Protected Area? n Protected Areas are specific areas that have special importance for nature, for example: u Important Bird Area u Centre of Plant Diversity u Key Biodiversity Area San Nicolas Bay Reef, Aruba An Important Bird Area (IBA) for Sandwich Terns

4. Statias Protected Areas The Quill and Boven National Parks (est. 1998, 2007): cover 41% (8.65 km²) of Statias 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

5. Important Bird Areas on Statia The Quill and Boven are designated Important Bird Areas (IBAs) Birds of prey Songbirds Hummingbirds Seabirds

6. 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

7. 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)

8. The Quill

9. Hiking trails in the Quill

10. Everything above 250m is protected

11. n Do not litter n Stay on the trails n Do not touch or remove plants, trees or animals n Fires are not permitted anywhere in the National Park n If in doubt – use a guide n Always carry sufficient water National Park Regulations

12. Who has to pay to enter the Quill? u u Tourists (non-residents) Why pay to go into a Park? What is the price? u $6 per year Why should I pay? u The fees we collect go towards the costs of maintaining hiking trails and installing information boards for visitors

13. Hiking trails in the Northern Hills

14. Everything above 50m is protected Orchids Historical artefacts

15. STENAPAs Role on Statia In order to properly protect an area, we must first understand what we are protecting…. F F Bird surveys F F Butterfly surveys F F Orchid surveys F F Arachnid collection F F Tropicbird monitoring F F Flora collection F F Weather data

16. Research projects n n What is the status our seabirds? n n What is the effect of roaming goats in the parks? n n How are our native plants being pollinated? n n What species exist within the parks? Research enables us to better understand our changing environment so that we can safeguard the future of the islands native species

17. Pollination study Endemic bee

18. Arachnid collection

19. Education

20. 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?

21. 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

22. 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.

23. 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

24. The Importance of Biodiversity Everything is connected

25. Thank you for listening