Statia Conservation Project, St. Eustatius, Dutch Antilles, Caribbean

The main aim of the project is to assist St. Eustatius National Parks Foundation with the conservation of their two parks – the Marine Park and the Quill National Park.  You will have the opportunity to acquire new skills and knowledge about conservation, the local flora and fauna of Statia and take part in trail work and tropical gardening.   

 

St. Eustatius, better known as Statia, is located in the Netherlands Antilles islands of the Caribbean, and is only 8 km long and 3 km wide.  It is a tranquil and beautiful island which gives a visitor the feeling of stepping back in the Caribbean of decades past – islanders enjoy striking up conversations, stray goats and chickens wander around the streets and the pace is calm and slow.

 

Visitors don’t go to Statia for its beaches, but rather for its amazing diving and snorkelling opportunities as well as for its hiking trails in the National Parks, and for visiting its old Dutch colonial buildings and forts.  Statia has a population of approximately 3200 people, most are of mixed African and European descent. Dutch is the official language, but English is predominantly spoken.

 

 

The Quill National Park was pronounced the first official National Park of the Netherlands Antilles on May 4th, 1998.  The area is now a protected Nature Reserve, which consists of the dormant volcano, The Quill, and the limestone formation to the south of it, called White Wall.  Within the National Park, there are several good hiking trails for visitors – you will be working on these trails.

The St. Eustatius Marine Park (SEMP) is defined as the waters surrounding Statia from the high water mark to the 30m (100ft) depth contour.  It was designated the Statia Marine Park in 1996 through the St. Eustatius Marine Environment Ordinance, with the objective to preserve and manage Statia's marine resources for the benefit and enjoyment of the people and future generations.  During 1997, initial funding was received from World Wildlife Fund - Netherlands and the framework (moorings & visitor centre) was put in place. The Park became actively managed in 1998.

 

STENAPA also manages the Botanical Garden which is located in on the windwardside of the island, at the base of the Quill National Park with a view of St. Kitts.

 

 

As volunteers, you will be supervised on all of the projects by resident qualified interns either in the botanical garden, on the trail or in the marine park.  The supervisors will receive training before you arrive, and you will also receive orientation and proper training at the beginning of the project.

 

You will be based at the botanical garden in a peaceful out of town location on the Atlantic side of the island, with a view of St. Kitts, at the base of the Quill volcano.  The area is ideal for camping, so you will be camping in the pavilion area, surrounded by the plants, vegetables and facilities of the botanical garden.  The garden is also managed by the National Park.  In addition, all facilities for cooking on stoves, basic toilets and showers are provided.  Please note, you will have to provide your own tent for camping.

 

You should be 21 years old and over, fit, healthy and capable of carrying out manual work in all conditions in a hot climate. (If you are under 21 yrs, have relevant experience, are mature and wish to be considered, please email Victoria.McNeil@workingabroad.com).  The upper age limit is 45 yrs old, due to the nature of the physical activities in this project. No specific skills are needed, but those with previous experience of manual conservation work, trail work, gardening, sea turtle monitoring etc. would be particularly useful, as well as those who are self-motivated, as you will get more out of the project if you are.  The project will especially appeal to those with an interest in conservation, tropical botany and marine biology.  Anyone with additional skills, such as ornithology are especially welcome.  In addition, for the trail work, some geometry and planning skills are needed, so those with mathematical and logical thinking would greatly benefit the project!

 

The cost for the 2 month project is £1130 (1 month cost is £640), which covers all project costs, including all food for 2 months, camping in botanical garden, 4WD truck exclusive use for volunteers, (as there is no public transport on the island), gas and gas stove for cooking, drinking water, materials for trail project, all training and supervision by project manager and resident interns, pickup and drop off from airport in Statia, project t-shirts, WorkingAbroad Projects backup and placement support, and so on. (Click here for more on costs breakdown).  For those volunteers assisting with the work at the marine park in addition to the trail work, you will also have free access to all necessary diving equipment, tanks etc.

 

The airfare to St. Eustatius, travel/medical insurance and personal expenses are not included within this price.  It is mandatory for you to take out travel and medical insurance for the duration of the project.  In general, you can travel from your home country to St. Maarten (Air France, KLM fly daily from Europe, American Airlines and others from the USA), and from there, get a connecting flight with Winair to St. Eustatius – this local airline that flies there (flights usually take about 20-30 minutes and there are several flights a day - this can be easily arranged at the last minute or in advance - prices can range from 100 to 150 USD return).