PHILIPSBURG-  Representatives of the Nature Foundation St. Maarten and the California Academy of Sciences visited the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, the honorable Drs. Rodolphe E. Samuel. 

The purpose of this meeting was to introduce the Minister to the St. Maarten Environmental Learning Seed Project, a new project born from the partnership between the Nature Foundation St. Maarten and the California Academy of Sciences.

The Environment Learning Seed Project is a pilot project that aims to figuratively plant a seed which will foster nature education and increased awareness of our incredible island biodiversity. It is expected that by planting this seed, our youth and by extension St. Maarten’s community will be more in touch with nature on the island and learn to make more environmentally conscious choices in their everyday lives. The Foundation hopes that this project, which is part of the California Academy of Science’s wide-scale Islands 2030 initiative, will be a stepping stone towards getting environmental education placed more permanently on the agenda.

Regenerate

The California Academy of Sciences, a natural history museum and research institution based in San Francisco, California, aims to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. Academy scientists specialize in a wide range of natural sciences. The team that visited the island has begun work to document St. Maarten’s biodiversity with the intention to share this information with relevant authorities to assist in their environmental decision-making processes.