Category Archives: Conservation

Sustaining Tourism

Development for tourism on St. Martin has often been associated with the environmental decline on the island. I think this is a pretty reasonable view, and without the development of a robust tourism industry the island would be much poorer, have a much smaller population and be much less developed, causing less environmental stress. In the future, however, tourism has […]

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At the Festival

Here’s a third set of photos from the festival, with guests checking in and getting their bird checklists, chatting about birds and a few shots of the beach where the tour wrapped up (and where Kristin and Marc were able to pick up lots of trash, big and small). Thanks again to everyone who came to the festival!

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With the Kids

We had a ton of kids at the Migratory Bird Festival and did a lot of bird-related art, including coloring, drawing and clay sculpture. Les Fruits de Mer member Stephen was the ringleader of the kids area and Tumay from Art Summer Camp Sxm brought clay and helped the kids make some amazing bird sculptures. Art supplies were sponsored by […]

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On the Trail at the Migratory Bird Festival

We’ve got a ton of great photos of the Migratory Bird Festival from Olivia Roudon. We’ll be sharing them in a few sets, this first one showcases the mangrove discovery trail and folks enjoying the guided tours as well as just exploring the trail on their own. We were incredibly excited to have about 200 people visiting this beautiful site […]

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Festival des oiseaux migrateurs!

Le 29 septembre 2013 de 8h00 à 11h00 à Cul de Sac, les amoureux de la Nature de tous âges sont invités à participer à l’édition saint-martinoise de la journée internationale de la migration d’oiseaux (IMBD en anglais ; 23 septembre). L’événement aura lieu sur le sentier de découverte de la mangrove de l’Etang de la Barrière, à proximité directe […]

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Grand Case Clean-up

Lots of wildlife depend on our salt ponds and wetland areas. There was a great clean-up this morning on the canal in Grand Case, the second of many events to help make my favorite town even better. Huge thanks to everyone who came by and helped out. We did a lot of cleaning along the canal as you can see. […]

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Migratory Bird Festival in Cul-de-Sac

Get ready for the biggest birding event of the year! We will be hosting a special event in honor of the birds that fly thousands of miles to visit St. Martin each fall. Part of International Migratory Bird Day, there will be plenty of activities and guided tours of the mangrove discovery trail at Étang de la Barrière right next […]

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Caribbean Biology 3.0

When looking at Caribbean biology from a historical perspective, I came up with a way to oversimplify things based on how research was/is conducted. (I’m sure there are plenty of other great ways to oversimplify this.) Although it’s an imperfect framework for viewing things, I think it does help explain why we are so ignorant in certain areas and how […]

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Shorebirds Everywhere: Philipsburg Drainage Canal

Shorebirds are starting to show up everywhere on St. Martin as they arrive for the winter and stop by during their migration. I snapped a few photos when I was crossing the drainage canal in Philipsburg after a meeting yesterday. I think we have the solitary sandpiper, killdeer, semipalmated sandpiper and pectoral sandpiper, but some of the sandpipers look alike, […]

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Time to Clean Up?

When birdwatching at your local wetland reminds you of the trash-compactor scene from Star Wars, it’s probably time to do something about it. Some friends decided to start cleaning up some of the mess here in Grand Case, so that’s what we’re doing. Hopefully egrets and herons won’t have to hunt in a sea of junk and gallinules won’t be […]

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