Children of STENAPA’s Kids Summer Club and park rangers picking up garbage at Zeelandia beach.
ST. EUSTATIUS–St. Eustatius National Park’s STENAPA’s Kids Summer Club has come to a close. Over the past week, the Club hosted educational and fun activities in the National Park and at Miriam C. Schmidt Botanical Garden. Some fifteen to twenty children took part in a variety of activities, including iguana patrols and hikes through the hills of Gilboa in the Boven National Park.
While hiking, the children were treated to beautiful views of Zeelandia beach. They also learned the rules of the National Park, among which was “take only photos and memories and leave only footprints (no trash) behind.”
The children also learned the correct practices to undertake when interacting with the land and sea environment, all the plants and creatures included.
They went on a boat tour, snorkelled and visited Golden Rock Dive Centre. The children had a lot of fun and adventure in the Marine Park.
Golden Rock Dive Centre highlighted that the Park is to be respected and explored safely by those that venture into it.
The children were entertained at the Botanical Garden, where the older group got a quiz-filled tour by Botanical Garden Ranger Nadio Spanner. The other group learnt about all the native lizard species Statia has to offer.
This activity was led by two students from VU University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Wendy Jesse and Rotem Kadan are currently completing a six-week assessment of the effect of Hurricane Irma on the lizard populations on Statia and St. Maarten.
When the older group started their lesson on the island’s diverse lizards, the younger group planted out okra seedlings.
During the final day of Summer Club the children and park rangers did a clean-up of Zeelandia beach, which is a nesting ground to endangered sea turtles. The beach is protected by two international treaties.
The team of children and rangers worked to remove large debris and garbage from the beach.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/79008-stenapa-kids-summer-club-leaves-only-memories-behind
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