Organisation

As a Foundation, STENAPA is headed by a Board of Directors who determine the long term goals, and supervise the implementation of long term and annual objectives by the Manager.

The Board appoints a Manager of National Parks who, in turn, directs the team of staff, interns and volunteers to carry out operational activities and special projects. The Manager meets with the Board at monthly meetings to report on activities, update on actions to implement Board decisions, and respond to Board concerns. Board members are voluntary in nature, and cannot receive payment for their work with respect to STENAPA.

Board
Any interested person residing on St Eustatius can apply to become a member of the governing Board of STENAPA at any time. The Board has a minimum of five and maximum of 15 members who are appointed upon agreement of existing board membership.
‘Ordinary’ members must have an established interest in nature conservation on St Eustatius, or have demonstrated experience in nature conservation elsewhere.
In order to strengthen the Board, and to maintain balance and perspective, the ordinary members have opened three seats to representatives of outside interests:

• Government representative: as a condition of receiving an Island Government subsidy, STENAPA made a board seat available to a government-nominated member.
• Dive centre representative: a nominated member from a local dive centre has a seat on the board. The representation rotates to each dive centre in turn on an annual calendar basis.
• Fishermen representative: a nominated member from the fishing community as a seat on the board. This representation should be made on agreement by a majority of fishermen or by the Fishing Association.

Committees
STENAPA has two permanent Committees.

Executive Committee
With the exception of the board members who are already nominated in function, the Board elects four Board officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary) from its ordinary members every two years. The last elections took place in October 2005.
The Executive Committee is charged with the following:

• Taking urgent decisions;
• Overseeing the affairs of STENAPA between meetings; and

Ensuring that the decisions of the Board are implemented and that the affairs of STENAPA are conducted in a proper manner at all times

The Executive Committee consists of the following officers:

Botanical Garden Committee
This Committee was implemented in 2003 as a means for the Board to monitor ongoing activities and progress in the Miriam Schmidt Botanical Garden. Board members having an interest, and/or experience in botany, are eligible for appointment. This Committee meets every two months to review progress in the Garden, and set objectives for the forthcoming period. The Committee reports to the Board.
The Botanical Garden Committee consists of two Board members and staff members responsible for implementation of activities. The Committee is also assisted by the Botanical Garden intern.