St Eustatius National Marine Park Management Plan 2007 MacRae, D.R. and Esteban N. (2007), St Eustatius Marine Park Management Plan. C oastal Zone Management (UK) and St Eustatius National Parks Foundation (STENAPA ) Cover image courtesy of http://eol .jsc.nasa.gov Image number ESC _large_ISS010_ISS010-E-21423.JPG Nicole Esteban, Manager Duncan MacRae, Director Gallows Bay St. Eustatius Netherlands 22 Rosemundy, St Agnes, Cornwall, UK Antilles St. Eustatius [email protected] www.cozm.co.uk Phone/Fax+599-318-2884 ++44 (0)1872 552 219 ii Contents FIGURES ........................................................................................................................................................ V T ABLES ......................................................................................................................................................... V BOXES ......................................................................................................................................................... VI I MAGES ........................................................................................................................................................ VI I MAGE GROUPS ............................................................................................................................................ VII ACRONYMS AND A BBREVIAT IONS .................................................................................................................... VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................................. VIII HOW TO USE THE ST. EUSTATIUS M ARINE P ARK M ANAGEMENT P LAN .................................................................. IX SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................................... X I MPLEMENTATION AND REVISIONS ................................................................................................................. XIII I NTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ XIV STENAPA and the Parks of St Eustatius ............................................................................................xiv Purpose of the Managem ent Pl an ....................................................................................................... xv Adaptive management and tim eframes ............................................................................................. xv PART 1: ST. EUSTATIUS BACKGROUND INFORMATION. ...............................................................16 LOCATION ...................................................................................................................................................17 HISTORY AND CULTURE ................................................................................................................................19 History ...................................................................................................................................................19 Culture ..................................................................................................................................................21 Population .............................................................................................................................................22 P OLITICS AND ECONOMICS ...........................................................................................................................24 Politics ...................................................................................................................................................24 Economy ...............................................................................................................................................24 Economic dev elopment ........................................................................................................................25 C LIMATE .....................................................................................................................................................28 GEOLOGY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY ..................................................................................................................31 O CEANOGRAPHY ..........................................................................................................................................34 T ERRESTRIAL FLORA AND FAUN A ...................................................................................................................36 Flora ......................................................................................................................................................36 Fauna.....................................................................................................................................................37 M ARINE HABITATS , FLORA AND FAUNA ...........................................................................................................38 Open Water...........................................................................................................................................39 Seabed – Seagrass...............................................................................................................................41 Seabed – Sand and Algae....................................................................................................................43 Seabed - Coral reefs ............................................................................................................................44 Intertidal -Beaches...............................................................................................................................50 Intertidal - Rocky shores .....................................................................................................................54 SPECIAL INTEREST SPECIES ..........................................................................................................................56 HUMAN USE OF THE M ARINE E NVIRONMENT ....................................................................................................57 Tourism and recreati on........................................................................................................................57 Fisheri es................................................................................................................................................58 Artificial reefs........................................................................................................................................59 Shipping/ industry................................................................................................................................60 REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................................61 PART 2: MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENT. ............................................................................................62 I NTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................................63 ST. E USTATIUS M ARINE P ARK ......................................................................................................................64 Activities of the Marine Park................................................................................................................65 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE AND VALUES ....................................................................................................67 Statement of significance ....................................................................................................................67 A summary of values associated with St. Eustatius Marine Park.....................................................68 V ISION , M ISSION AND GOALS ......................................................................................................................70 VISION ..................................................................................................................................................70 MISSION ...............................................................................................................................................70 GOALS ...................................................................................................................................................70 ZONING .....................................................................................................................................................72 Zone l ocation ........................................................................................................................................72 iii GOVERNANCE ..............................................................................................................................................74 Board .....................................................................................................................................................75 Institutional arrangements ..................................................................................................................76 St. Eustatius Marine Environment Ordinance ....................................................................................77