Introduction
STINAPA Bonaire, the foundation which manages the Bonaire National Marine Park and the Washington Slagbaai National Park, will be organizing a series of activities throughout the year to celebrate the International Year of the Reef 2008 and bring attention to the importance of coral reef conservation.
Bonaire’s tourism authority, Tourism Corporation Bonaire (TCB), as well as the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA), and Earth Eco will partner with STINAPA on a number of these activities. The aim is to instil responsible behaviour and raise the environmental awareness of three key stakeholder groups: visitors to the island, local tourism businesses, and the local community. The official kick off will take place on January 31 in downtown Kralendijk with the unveiling of a painting made by high school students in honour of the International Year of the Reef.

Background
The island of Bonaire is known worldwide for its extensive system of coral reefs, which are protected under law by the Bonaire National Marine Park and managed by our organization, STINAPA Bonaire. These reefs, some of the most diverse and pristine in the Caribbean, provide a habitat for a diverse range of marine species including over 50 species of stony coral and more than 350 species of reef fish. Beyond their critical ecological importance, Bonaire’s reefs support over 75% of the island’s economy. They attract around 63,000 tourists a year, with 31,000 taking part in diving and snorkelling activities, and provide the basis for a wide range of businesses such as coral reef education visits, restaurants and realty. The reefs are also valuable as a habitat for many animals and plants on which commercial, artisanal and sport fisheries depend on.

Activities
a) Art work activity with local school children
STINAPA Bonaire will partner with 8 elementary schools, 2 high schools and 1 after-school program to involve school children in a fun and interactive coral reef themed artwork project. The aim of this activity is to raise the knowledge and interest of school children in their island’s reef ecosystem. Each school will be assigned a topic related to coral reef conservation, such as “threats to our reefs”, “fish on our reefs” and “coral spawning”. The children taking part in the project will have to represent the topic through a painting on a large piece of plywood. They will have to work together and decide what the topic means to them and what message they want to give through their painting. Every month one of the paintings will be unveiled and will remain on display in downtown Kralendijk throughout the year. By the end of the year when all the paintings have been displayed, a panel of judges will pick the three best paintings, and the winners will receive a prize.

b) Costume Parade
During TCB’s annual “Dive Into Summer” event, STINAPA Bonaire will partner with Bonaire’s tourism authority to organize a reef-themed “taste of Bonaire” cooking extravaganza in downtown Kralendijk. Children dressed up in reef-related costumes (fish, conch, turtles, etc.) will entertain visitors to this event to the tune of local carnival music. Others will be dressed as divers, with dive tanks on their back made from the dried wood of candle cactus. The goal of this activity is to relate Bonaire’s reefs to an important cultural event and increase the sense amongst local Bonaireans that reefs are an integral part of their culture and must therefore be protected.

c) Sustainable marine recreation training program
In partnership with CORAL and DCNA, STINAPA Bonaire will develop a sustainable marine recreation training program for the island’s diving industry that will a) educate local dive businesses on how to reduce the impact of their business on the reef, and b) engage local dive guides in the promotion of environmentally responsible behaviour amongst their clients. Recognizing the limitations of one-time educational efforts, we will ensure the durability of the training program through the development of a Reef Leadership Network. This network aims to create a Bonaire-based cohort of dive operator Leaders that can provide training to new members of the diving industry. A series of specialized workshops will be held to provide Leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively convey reef conservation education to new dive guides and operators.

d) Fun and interactive conservation workshops for visitors
In partnership with CORAL, TCB and Earth Eco, STINAPA Bonaire will host a series of workshops for visitors during which they will learn about reef ecology, conservation initiatives on Bonaire, and how what simple everyday things they can do to contribute to the lasting protection of the island’s fragile reef ecosystem. A special focus will be placed on the importance of their responsible behaviour, especially when they are taking part in recreational activities such as diving and snorkelling. As a highlight of the program, CORAL’s Program Director will lead specialized dives for those workshop participants who wish to have a more hands-on learning experience. During the interactive dives, participants will learn the tools needed to select dive shops that ensure long-term reef protection, as well as how to easily assess reef health. All participants will receive a “Bonaire Eco Diver” certificate upon completion of the workshop.

e) Waste reduction campaign
STINAPA Bonaire will launch an educational campaign to teach visitors about the importance of waste reduction for such a small island. It will target two of Bonaire’s most hazardous waste products left behind by tourists: plastic water bottles and batteries. The campaign will be divided in two parts:
• Reducing plastic bottle waste – Visitors will be made aware that Bonaire’s tap water is one of the purest and safest in the world to drink, and that there is therefore no reason to purchase bottled water and create unnecessary waste that cannot be recycled. Tourists will also be given a free re-usable water bottle and encouraged to refill it with Bonaire’s clean tap water.
• Reducing battery waste – The island does not have a proper toxic waste disposal system. Yearly more than 100,000 used batteries from visitors end up on our landfill. That is more than 6,000 pounds of heavy metals and toxins. Corroding batteries leak toxic chemicals into the soil and, ultimately, the sea. STINAPA will develop and distribute educational outreach materials that will outline the hazardous impact of batteries left behind on Bonaire. Tourists will be encouraged to take used batteries home with them where they can be recycled.

f) Reef-themed shop window dressing competition
STINAPA Bonaire will organize, in partnership with Bonaire’s tourism authority (TCB), a window dressing competition for local stores on reef protection related themes. Each participating store will have to decorate their window to illustrate the theme that they have chosen. The reef-themed windows will not only help local store owners to think about the value of Bonaire’s reefs, but will help raise awareness amongst people who walk past them. There will be an exhibition made from pictures taken of all the participating store windows, with the three best winning a prize. The director of STINAPA will give a speech during the prize ceremony to raise awareness among store-keepers of the importance of selling reef friendly products.

DRINK TAP WATER
In Bonaire you can safely drink from the faucet. It is pure and refreshing. The water is made through a salt water desalination process. All the waters around Bonaire are protected and managed by STINAPA through the Bonaire National Marine Park (BNMP). Bonaire does not have heavy industry dumping waste in our waters. The seawater is therefore clean* and what comes out of the tap is safe to drink.
In 2008 as part of the International Year of the Reef (IYOR 2008) campaign STINAPA/BNMP wants to motivate people not to buy bottled water but drink tap water instead.
It has become a fashion to drink bottled water; literally hundreds of thousands of empty water bottles are dumped on our landfill every year. It takes plastic bottles 7 centuries to disintegrate!
Bonaire is a small island which does not have recycling facilities. All the waste produced on island is dumped on a land fill which is very close to its maximum capacity and Selibon N.V., the sanitation company managing it, does not have an alternative way to process our waste yet. While they are searching for a solution that they can afford, we all have the obligation to reduce the pressure on the landfill. WE HAVE TO REDUCE THE WASTE WE PRODUCE.
Stop buying bottled water and drinking from the tap is one way to help reduce the pressure on our landfill.
YOU TOO CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.


* We do not pretend to be totally pollution free. We do have our challenges and are working very hard to counter them. Although these are not so great to make our sea water a danger to the health.

Thank you very much for the information. For those looking for more detail about what else STINAPA does their web site has been recently updated. www.stinapa.org

Under the BNMP section are not only the regulations concerning the park but also links to past and ongoing projects. There is some very interesting material to read site wide.