A Case Study of Bonaire
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Civil Society & Governance Caribbean Natural Resources Institute Technical Report No. 397 Half a century of civil society participation in biodiversity conservation and protected area management: A case study of Bonaire Half a century of civil society participation in biodiversity conservation and protected area management: A case study of Bonaire Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) Technical Report No. 397 September 2011 Acknowledgements: This technical report was prepared by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) under the “Building civil society capacity for conservation in the Caribbean UK Overseas Territories ” project funded by the Darwin Initiative of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the “ Going from strength to strength: Building capacity for equitable, effective and sustained participation in biodiversity conservation in Caribbean islands ” project funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The report was researched and written by Gillian Cooper and edited by Sarah McIntosh. Special thanks are due to the following persons for their contributions: Elsmarie Beukenboom, Director, Stichting Nationale Parken Bonaire (STINAPA) Anna Cadiz, Senior Technical Officer, Caribbean Natural Resources Institute Ramon De Leon, Bonaire National Marine Park Manager, STINAPA Bert Denneman, Caribbean Account Manager, Vogelbescherming Nederland Kalli de Meyer, Director, Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) Paul Hoetjes, Nature Policy Coordinator, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation, Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland and former Senior Policy Coordinator, Department of Environment and Nature for the Netherlands Antilles (1998- 2010) Jose (Juni) Junga, Washington Slagbaai National Park Manager, STINAPA Esther Wolfs, Director, WolfsKater International Consultancy Services and former Assistant Director, DCNA (2008 – 2009) Special thanks are also due to STINAPA and DCNA staff, who helped to coordinate the study visit in December 2010. Citation: Cooper, G. 2011. Half a century of civil society participation in biodiversity conservation and protected area management: A case study of Bonaire. CANARI Technical Report 397, Laventille. ISBN 1-890792-18-7 Table of Contents Acronyms 4 1. Why this case study? 5 2. Methodology 6 3. Bonaire - general context and background 7 3.1. Geographic 7 3.2. Political 7 3.3. Socio-economic 8 3.4. Bonaire’s unique biodiversity 8 4. The evolution of conservation policy and institutions in Bonaire 9 4.1. 1960s – 1970s 9 4.2. 1980s – 1990s 9 4.3. 2000 - 2010 12 4.4. 2010 - present 14 5. What facilitates effective participation of civil society in conservation and protected areas management in Bonaire? 16 5.1. A shared vision for the development of Bonaire and the importance of biodiversity conservation in achieving it 16 5.2. Clear technical and financial strategies underpinning biodiversity conservation efforts in Bonaire (and the Dutch Caribbean as a whole) 16 5.2.1. Designation of protected areas 16 5.2.2. Establishing a regional trust fund to cover recurrent park management expenses 16 5.2.3. Park user fees 17 5.3. Effective civil society participation in decision-making ‘spaces’ 18 5.4. Development of strategic alliances 20 5.5. Institutional structure with clearly defined and complementary roles and responsibilities 21 5.6. CSOs with strong management skills and systems 22 6. Actual or potential challenges 23 6.1. Maintaining member support for DCNA 23 6.2. Influencing island governments’ conservation policies 23 6.3. Capitalising the trust fund 24 6.4. Succession 24 6.5. Fostering equitable participation of all resource users in Bonaire 24 6.6. In the Caribbean but not engaged in regional processes 24 6.7. Additional impacts of the constitutional changes 25 7. In conclusion 26 REFERENCES 28 APPENDIX 1: The evolution of Stichting Nationale Parken (STINAPA) Bonaire and its current structure 30 Appendix 2: The evolution of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance and its current structure 32 APPENDIX 3: Management Contract STINAPA and Bonaire Island Government (1991): Bonaire National Marine Park 35 Acronyms ARLG Action Research and Learning Group BIG Bonaire Island Government BNMP Bonaire National Marine Park BONHATA Bonaire Hotel and Tourism Association BVI British Virgin Islands CANARI Caribbean Natural Resources Institute CSO Civil society organisation CURO Council of Underwater Resort Operators (Bonaire) DCNA Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance EU European Union GDP Gross Domestic Product IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature IUCN NL Netherlands committee of IUCN MEA Multilateral environmental agreement MINA Afdeling Milieu en Natuur (Department of Environment and Nature for the Netherlands Antilles) MPA Marine protected area NA Netherlands Antilles OCT Overseas Countries and Territories (of the EU) OE Overseas Entity (of the EU) OT Overseas Territory (of the EU) RCN Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland (Netherlands Government delegation to the Dutch Caribbean) STINAPA Stichting Nationale Parken (National Parks Foundation) UK United Kingdom UKOT UK Overseas Territories VBN Vogelbescherming Nederland (BirdLife Netherlands) WSNP Washington Slagbaai National Park WWF World Wildlife Fund WWF NL World Wildlife Fund Netherlands 4 1. Why this case study? This case study examines several aspects of civil society reviews some of the actual and potential challenges of the participation in biodiversity conservation in Bonaire that current institutional arrangements. As such, it aims to have been of particular interest to participants in the provide lessons that will be of value not only to CSOs in Action Research and Learning Groups (ARLGs) for the other Caribbean Overseas Entities (OEs) of the European projects under which this case study is being produced 1. Union (EU) but also to those in the wider Caribbean - as They include: well as the organisations that support and partner with • funding and institutional arrangements for civil society them. (co-)management of protected areas; The case study is complemented by other documented • the organisational and institutional structures that pro - activities and studies under the two CANARI projects 1, mote effective civil society participation in biodiversity such as: conservation; and • field visit to the Blue and John Crow Mountains • the structure and role of networks and strategic National Park in Jamaica and analysis of the institu - alliances in strengthening the voice of civil society tional and power structures for co-management organisations (CSOs) and building their capacity for (CANARI 2008); biodiversity conservation. • field visit to the Reserva Científica Ébano Verde pro - Bonaire was selected as the focus of this case study because tected area in the Dominican Republic and analysis of of its long history of civil society involvement in protected the factors that facilitate management of this private areas management and advocacy on conservation issues park (CANARI 2009); and because it is the headquarters of the regional network, • field visit to the Centre Hills National Park in the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA). Montserrat and analysis of the participatory planning Specifically, Stichting Nationale Parken (STINAPA), the process that underpins the current management plan National Parks Foundation in Bonaire provides an (CANARI 2011 and McIntosh 2011a); interesting model of a CSO that has full responsibility for • case study of the environmental network in the managing the island’s two protected areas while DCNA is Dominican Republic, Consorcio Ambiental now one of the few regional CSOs that provides a Dominicano (Buglass 2011); collective voice for its members on conservation issues and • participation of ARLG members in a 2010 study tour advocates for policy changes on their behalf. to Bonaire to examine the operations and impacts of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) and The case study therefore sets out to examine what have National Parks Foundation (STINAPA), which provid - been the enabling factors in Bonaire, at both the ed the basis for this more detailed case study (CANARI institutional and organisational level, that promote 2010); effective civil society participation in biodiversity • analysis of the enabling factors for and challenges fac - conservation. It traces the evolution of CSO involvement ing the regional network, the Caribbean Network of in protected areas management in Bonaire and its impact Fisherfolk Organisations (CANARI 2011). on the wider Dutch Caribbean. It examines the structure of both STINAPA and DCNA and how these contribute to effective stakeholder participation. The case study also 1 “ Building civil society capacity for conservation in the Caribbean UK Overseas Territories ” project, funded by the Darwin Initiative of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the “ Going from strength to strength: Building capacity for equitable, effective and sustained participation in biodiversity conservation in Caribbean islands ” project, funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. For more information on the projects and their Action Learning Groups see http://www.canari.org/ civil.asp. 5 2. Methodology The case study was developed through a mix of primary and desk research, including: • a study tour to Bonaire in December 2010, led by Gillian Cooper and Keisha Sandy of CANARI, with representatives from each of the ten organisations par - ticipating in the Building civil society capacity