UNITED NATIONS EP United Nations Environment Original: ENGLISH Program Proposed areas for inclusion in the SPAW list ANNOTATED FORMAT FOR PRESENTATION REPORT FOR: Mt. Scenery National Park The Kingdom of the Netherlands Date when making the proposal : 10/10/2018 CRITERIA SATISFIED : Ecological criteria Cultural and socio-economic criteria Representativeness Cultural and traditional use Conservation value Socio-economic benefits Rarity Naturalness Critical habitats Diversity Area name: Mt. Scenery National Park Country: Kingdom of the Netherlands Contacts Last name: HOETJES First name: Paul Focal Point Position: Policy Coordinator Nature Email: [email protected] Phone: (+599) 781 0206 Last name: WULF First name: Kai Manager Position: Parks Manager, Saba Conservation Foundation Email: [email protected] Phone: (+599) 416 5750 SUMMARY Chapter 1 - IDENTIFICATION Chapter 2 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Chapter 3 - SITE DESCRIPTION Chapter 4 - ECOLOGICAL CRITERIA Chapter 5 - CULTURAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CRITERIA Chapter 6 - MANAGEMENT Chapter 7 - MONITORING AND EVALUATION Chapter 8 - STAKEHOLDERS Chapter 9 - IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISM Chapter 10 - OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION ANNEXED DOCUMENTS • Map of Mt. Scenery National Park and landscape ecological vegetation map of Saba • Management plan for Mt. Scenery National Park • lsland Ordinance National Park Mt. Scenery and protection of animal and plant species and artefacts Chapter 1. IDENTIFICATION a - Country: Kingdom of the Netherlands b - Name of the area: Mt. Scenery National Park c - Administrative region: Saba, Caribbean Netherlands d - Date of establishment: 18/9/2018 e - If different, date of legal declaration: not specified f - Geographic location Longitude X: - 63°14'20.00"W Latitude Y: 17°38'5.00"N g - Size: 3.4 sq. km h - Contacts Contact adress: [email protected] Website: https://english.rijksdienstcn.com/agriculture-nature-and-food-quality/nature Email address: [email protected] i - Marine ecoregion 64. Eastern Caribbean Comment, optional none Chapter 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Description of the proposed area and its principal characteristics, and the objectives that motivated its creation: The Mt. Scenery National Park comprises the northern part of Saba plus the centrally located Mt. Scenery above 550 m height, an area of approximately 25% of the total island area (see map) ranging from the shoreline to the highest top of the island. The area is predominantly wilderness and contains all six of the vegetation zones found on Saba. Why the proposed area is proposed for inclusion in the SPAW list The Mt. Scenery National Park comprises the northern and central part of the Island of Saba which are the most biodiverse parts of the island. This includes the following species: Plants: Two threatened species (Nectandra krugii, Guaiacum officinale, both EN) 20 endemic plant species, including 4 species restricted to only a few islands of the Lesser Antilles (Chromolaena macrantha, Begonia retusa) The Elfin forests are mainly composed by Mountain Mahogany (Freziera undulata), a plant species restricted to the Lesser Antilles. Invertebrates: 3 butterflies and 4 orthoptera endemic to Lesser Antilles Reptiles: 3 endemic reptiles, including Anolis sabanus strictly restricted to Saba and Alsophis rufiventris (EN) endemic to Saba and St-Eustatius. Lesser Antillean whistling frog (Eleutherodactylus johnstonei), Annex II SPAW The Saban iguana (Iguana iguana) is a unique island population, possibly an endemic subspecies. Birds: 3 bird species restricted to the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico. Presence of important populations of Audubon’s Shearwater (Puffinus lherminieri). Largest Caribbean breeding population of Red-billed Tropicbirds (Phaethon aethereus). Mammals: five bat species, of which the St. Vincent fruit‐eating bat (Brachyphylla cavernarum) and the free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis antillularum) are listed in Annex II of the SPAW Protocol. Ecosystems: All of the island’s vegetation zones are represented in the protected area, from the dry croton thickets on the dry lowest slopes of the mountain, going up to dry evergreen forest, secondary rainforest and ravine primary rainforest, tree-fern brake, palm brake and ‘elfin woodland’ on the top of the mountain. The Mt. Scenery elfin forest is regionally unique due to its relatively low elevation (825-870 m), which allows the dominant Mountain Mahogany (Freziera undulata) to grow much taller and forming a much higher canopy than in other such cloud forests in the region. Cultural and traditional use: The area includes remnants of the traditional small scale subsistence agriculture plots that are an important part of the island’s heritage and that will be allowed to continue and promoted. The protected area will also protect and highlight the historical ruins of the abandoned settlement of Mary's Point, which is a part of the island’s colonial history and an archaeological site. There are also several Archaic Amerindian sites. Socio-economic benefits: The area contains a large part of the island’s historical trail network (the historical ‘roads’ connecting the small settlements of the island) currently one of the main tourism attractions of the island. The Mt. Scenery National Park will ensure maintenance and improvement of these hiking trails, and allow further development of tourism through guided bird tours and orchid and fern tours on the trails. Criteria it conforms with (Guidelines and Criteria B Paragraph 2) Representativeness Conservation value Rarity Naturalness Critical habitats Diversity Connectivity/coherence Cultural and socio-economic criteria Productivity Cultural and traditional use Socio-economic benefits Chapter 3. SITE DESCRIPTION a - General features of the site Terrestrial surface under sovereignty, excluding wetlands: 3.4 sq. km Wetland surface: 0 ha 0 sq. km Global comment for the 3 previous fields (optional): This is exclusively a terrestrial area from the shore line to the top (877m) of the island. It consists off the steep slopes, deep ravines and rock formations in the northern quadrant of the island, rising up to the top and including everything around the top above 550 m height. b - Physical features Brief description of the main physical characteristics in the area: The Mt. Scenery National Park comprises the north and north-west coast and steep northern slopes of the island of Saba all the way up to the upper parts of the centrally located Mt. Scenery and including the entire area around the top above 550 m height, comprising 26 % of the total island area. Map of the Mt. Scenery National Park The steep slopes are cut into by deep ravines that form refuges for mostly untouched vegetation including primary rainforest. The less steep parts of the slopes were farmed (small scale subsistence farming plots) until around the middle of the previous century after which most plots were abandoned. Since then the area is predominantly wilderness and contains all six of the vegetation zones found on Saba, from sea level up: dry coastal shrub, dry evergreen forest, secondary rainforest (with primary rainforest in the ravines), tree-fern brake, palm brake and elfin woodland Schematic representation of the island of Saba with the various vegetation zones Geology: Saba is the northernmost volcanic island in the Active Arc of the Lesser Antilles with an area of only 13 sq. km. It is rhomb shaped and is a single volcano measuring 4.6 km east to west and 4.0 km north to south rising to a central peak of Mt. Scenery at 887m. The island has the appearance of a deceptively simple stratovolcano, but this is not the case as it has been built up of a large number of Pelean domes with their aprons of coarse pyroclastic deposits that form a distinctive shoulder on the island at about 450 to 500 m above sea level. Mt. Scenery is a younger cone perched somewhat eccentrically to the north on this foundation of Pelean domes. Hot springs are present on the northwest (and southeast) coast of the island and on the sea floor immediately offshore of these areas. Orange areas of discoloration are present on the flanks of the volcano marking the sites of former fumarolic activity. On the northeast coast immediately underlying the prominent basaltic andesite lava flow, is a layer of yellow sulfur mineralization that has been mined in the past and is also included in the protected area Soil: ‘Clay loam’ on the top of Mount Scenery, followed by various intergrading degrees of ‘very stony loam’ and ‘cherty sandy loam’, going down to the shore. Topography: Saba, and in particular the northern side, has a rugged, steep topography, with most of the island sloping (dramatically) to the sea. Hydrodynamics: The top of Mt. Scenery with its dense forest and montane cloud forest, acts as a sponge for the precipitation that is generated by the high elevation rising steeply from the ocean. Water is stored in retained in the vegetation and released slowly to lower elevations. This is an essential ecosystem service. The deep ravines (guts) are thickly forested as well, slowing down run-off from heavy rains. Volcanic formations: The entire island of Saba is a volcanic formation with a number of older volcanic domes on the north side of the island mostly covered by the most recent dome of Mt. Scenery Sand dunes: N.A. Underwater formations: N.A. c - Biological features Habitats Brief description of dominant and particular habitats (marine and terrestrial)*: List here the habitats and ecosystems that are representative and/or of importance for the WCR (i.e. mangroves, coral reefs, etc): A landscape ecological vegetation map of Saba was completed in 2016 (Freitas et al. 2016) distinguishing a total of two main and nine different sub-landscape types based on geology, geomorphology and nine distinguished vegetation types. In Saba, sharp contrasts in soil, geomorphology and climatic factors are found on a small spatial scale and this meant that there is relatively little mixing and merging of vegetation types at the landscape vegetation level: M1. HELICONIA - CHARIANTHUS MOUNTAINS Only one vegetation type is found in, and is also restricted to this sub-landscape: the Heliconia - Charianthus type (type 1).