Activities - Public Awareness

School Education Programme

A dedicated Education Coordinator for the Nature Conservation Organisations of the Dutch Caribbean Windward Islands has provided school education on Statia, Saba and St Maarten. The Education Coordinator visited Statia once a month to present the Nature and Environmental Educational Programme in schools.

This programme was designed to increase awareness of conservation issues in the Caribbean area amongst children and youth. Students were encouraged to become actively involved, for example by reducing the amount of plastic waste that is created on their island. Bottled drinks are a major contributor to such waste, and students were being taught that by re-using bottles they can significantly decrease this.

This programme started in 2004 with the topic of sea turtle conservation (using the RARE programme instruction manual). Activities with both children, youth and adults included questionnaires about knowledge, a turtle puppet show, visits to the beach, quiz about turtles, production of badges and posters, public meeting at the Lion’s Club, sermon at churches, radio programmes and articles in the children section of the local newspaper. An environmental legislation handbook is also being produced.

In 2005, the school education topic changed to “The Waste Watchers’. Children were taught about the environmental impact of all types of waste and, through additional activities such as poster design, clean-ups and checking lunchpacks, were encouraged to reduce waste in a variety of different ways. As a result, some schools even started a system to separate waste.

The 2006/7 school year topic is ‘Water’. Lessons use the pirate from the recent film ‘Pirates of the Caribbean II’ in order to teach students about different eco-systems (freshwater, brackish water, sea water) as well as about human impacts on these systems.

This programme has also started to produce ‘lesson packs’ for teachers wishing to revisit different topics already covered.

Snorkel Club

The Snorkel Club started in 2001 in a move to encourage Statia’s children to improve their swimming skills in the sea and to learn more about local marine life. There are two sessions held each year. Snorkel Club is a weekly after-school activity for children aged 8+ who can pass a swim test. This three-month course is designed to teach students how to snorkel safely and responsibly, and to respect the marine environment by becoming ‘eco champion snorkellers’. Each week students are taught the basics of snorkelling and are encouraged to act responsibly, not only towards each other but also towards all marine life. Students are tested on the knowledge they gain throughout the course, and upon successful completion they receive a PADI skin diver certificate.

Junior Rangers Club

Junior Rangers Club is a weekly after-school activity for children aged 10+ who can swim and have graduated from Snorkel Club. This nine-month course is designed to give students an insight into the various conservation activities carried out by STENAPA. Its aim is to teach local children to respect the natural environment surrounding them and encourage them to become actively involved e.g. planting from seeds at the Botanical Garden, beach clean-ups, turtle patrol, line splicing, coral ecology, snorkelling, hiking up the Quill, animal welfare and much more.

Each student receives a Marine Park cap, Junior Rangers t-shirt, snorkel kit and annual trail/marine park pass. At the end of the course they will have a good basic understanding of conservation work, and it is hoped they will remain committed to these issues as they become mature individuals.

Public Talks

Various talks are organised by STENAPA each year which are open to the public. Talks are given on any subject relating to the Foundation’s activities e.g. Fishermen meeting about Marine Park and projects (February 2005), Coral Reef Monitoring (June 2005), Turtle conservation (Lion’s Club, May 2005), Control of Corallita (May 2006). In addition to meetings about a particular activity, the Foundation aims to give an Annual Public Meeting to publicise the Annual Report, present about the Foundation’s achievements in the past year, and inform the public about ongoing activities.

Public meetings are publicised through radio announcements, posters and/or newspaper announcements. All interested members of the public are invited to attend and are given the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the session. The Annual Public Meetings are also recorded live and played on the local radio station to widen the audience.

Nature on Statia Newsletter

Stenapa releases a newsletter every quarter which gives updates on the organisation’s activities and relevant conservation news. News articles are generally positive and include pictures. The newsletter is distributed to the local community and is also sent via email to a large distribution list including registered divers, hikers and past volunteers.

Radio Programme on 91.5FM

On the first Thursday of each month, STENAPA hosts an interview programme on local radio (10.30am and 2.30pm). Topics discussed include STENAPA objectives, subjects of local interest, regulations of the parks, and special projects.