Oranjestad, St. Eustatius –The ReforeStatia team visited Bonaire and Curaçao to share techniques, knowledge, experiences, lessons learnt and best practices.

The ReforeStatia Team included: – Project Coordinator Beatrice Zampieri; ReforeStatia Ranger Jethro van’t Hul; STENAPA team members Simone Erroi; Adam Mitchell,  as well as the ReLeaf Saba Team – Anne Keene and Luke Hassell.

The team visited two permaculture farms in Curaçao that apply syntropic farming techniques to produce fruits and vegetables. This technique mimics the natural state of tropical forests by letting biomass accumulate and build healthy soil. The farmers grow certain plants that can be pruned to create biomass, which then breaks down to build a nutrient rich soil for the target species or plants of economic interest.

The group also visited Stichting Nationale Parken Bonaire (STINAPA) to discuss invasive species vector control techniques with Ecology Advisor, Paulo Bertuol. They also met with Elsmarie Beukenboom, former director of STINAPA, to discuss her work with the critically endangered native Sabal Palm (Sabal lougheediana) and visit her reforestation site on Klein Bonaire.

Arno Verhoeven, director of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance discussed the ReforeStatia project and the future vision of DCNA. The team met the Mangrove Maniacs to see and discuss their mangrove restoration effort. The team then visited Echo, who pioneered the first major reforestation effort on Bonaire to learn from their experiences in land restoration and Terra Barra, an organization that has created a native species nursery and provides most of the plants for all the reforestation efforts on Bonaire. Lastly the team met with BonBèrdè, a restoration consultancy agency that specializes in exclusion fencing.

Protect

This reforestation project on Saba and St. Eustatius aims to protect marine ecosystems and the industries that rely on them, reducing sediment runoff into the sea by reforesting critical coastal areas. The St. Eustatius National Parks Foundation (STENAPA) and the Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF) project supported by RESEMBID; financed by the European Union and implemented by Expertise France.