BONAIRE:--- The Board of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance recently held their online Board Meeting in a virtual session, making decisions and discussing strategies crucial to the ensuring of the continuation of the conservation management activities executed by the Park Management Organizations of all six islands of the Dutch Caribbean. Usually, DCNA Board Meetings are held twice a year, with spring meetings being held in the Windward and fall meetings being held in the Leeward Islands. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Board Meeting was held in a virtual setting.
The Board meeting was critical for discussing and strategizing on the most effective way to support protected area management organizations in the Dutch Caribbean, especially in light of the significant challenges brought about by the global Covid-19 pandemic. Park Management Organizations also had the opportunity to update each other on some of the challenges and successes the parks are experiencing considering the current global situation. Various governance decisions were also taken including decisions related to financial good-governance, the disbursement of the Conservation Trust Fund and the support the DCNA network provides in terms of its regional and international lobby on behalf of the conservation organizations in the Dutch Caribbean.
The conservation network provides support to the Protected Area Management Organizations on all six islands of the Dutch Caribbean: Aruba National Parks Foundation Aruba, STINAPA Bonaire, CARMABI Curacao, STENAPA St. Eustatius, the Saba Conservation Foundation, and the Sint Maarten Nature Foundation. Another critical component discussed during the Board Meeting is the importance of implementing a strategy that will help foster the development of sustainable tourism for the islands, enabling the Dutch Caribbean to emerge from the challenges brought about by the Pandemic with a greater focus on green and blue economies. Aside from conservation managers and the various experts of the Board of DCNA, observers from
World Wild Fund for Nature the Netherlands (WWF-NL), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN-NL), and BirdLife Netherlands also participate in DCNA Board Meetings.
