STENAPA
Encyclopedia
STENAPA is the national park
s organisation of Sint Eustatius, which is a small Dutch island
in the Caribbean
. The island is situated within the inner arc of the Leeward Island chain of the Lesser Antilles
, West Indies. It is south of the island of Saba and north of the island of Saint Kitts
. The island of Sint Eustatius is now part of the country of the Netherlands, as a bijzondere gemeente or "special municipality".
STENAPA (an acronym derived from ST Eustatius NAtional PArks) is a non-profit, non-governmental foundation (in Dutch
a stichting) which was founded in 1988, and registered in 1995. The function of this foundation is environmental protection. STENAPA currently manages the National Marine Park, the Quill
/ Boven National Park, and the Botanical Garden.
STENAPA headquarters, the National Parks Office and Visitor Centre, is situated next to the harbour in Lower Town, which is the waterfront part of the capital Oranjestad, most of which is higher up, on top of a cliff. The more southerly part of Lower Town faces onto Gallows Bay, on the eastern or Caribbean Sea
coast of the island.
The Board of Directors of STENAPA currently (2010) consists of Irving Brown, Ira Walker, Ruth Pandt, Irving Brown, Daniel Eaton, Kay Boyd, Ingrid Walther and Pamela Berkel.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
s organisation of Sint Eustatius, which is a small Dutch island
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. The island is situated within the inner arc of the Leeward Island chain of the Lesser Antilles
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...
, West Indies. It is south of the island of Saba and north of the island of Saint Kitts
Saint Kitts
Saint Kitts Saint Kitts Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island (Saint-Christophe in French) is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean...
. The island of Sint Eustatius is now part of the country of the Netherlands, as a bijzondere gemeente or "special municipality".
STENAPA (an acronym derived from ST Eustatius NAtional PArks) is a non-profit, non-governmental foundation (in Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
a stichting) which was founded in 1988, and registered in 1995. The function of this foundation is environmental protection. STENAPA currently manages the National Marine Park, the Quill
The Quill
The Quill is a program to write home computer adventure games. Written by Graeme Yeandle, it was published on the ZX Spectrum by Gilsoft in December 1983...
/ Boven National Park, and the Botanical Garden.
STENAPA headquarters, the National Parks Office and Visitor Centre, is situated next to the harbour in Lower Town, which is the waterfront part of the capital Oranjestad, most of which is higher up, on top of a cliff. The more southerly part of Lower Town faces onto Gallows Bay, on the eastern or Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
coast of the island.
The National Parks
This non-profit foundation is responsible for the management of three parks. Two parks are on the land surface of the island; the remaining park is marine and surrounds the island. The combined area of the parks is 33 square km.- The Marine Park surrounds the island from the high water mark down to 30 meters depth, and also encompasses two Marine Park Reserves.
- The Quill / Boven National Park comprises two different areas or subsectors. One is the dormant stratovolcanoStratovolcanoA stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions...
known as the QuillThe Quill (volcano)The Quill sis a stratovolcano located on the island of Sint Eustatius in the Caribbean Netherlands. The summit elevation is above sea-level.The name Quill originates from the Dutch term kuil , meaning pit or hole, which was used originally with reference to the volcanic crater...
, which is in the southern part of the island. The other area is a group of five hills in the northern part of the island: Bergje, Boven (the highest of the five), Venus, Gilboa Hill and Signal Hill. These five hills are the remnants of another stratovolcano. - The Miriam C. Schmidt Botanical GardenBotanical gardenA botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
was started in 1998. The main emphasis is on species that are or were native to the island and the surrounding islands. There is also an experimental area where researchers are studing methods of controlling the problematic invasive species Antigonon leptopusAntigonon leptopusAntigonon leptopus, commonly known as Mexican Creeper, coral vine or San Miguelito Vine, is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae, it is a perrenial, that is native to Mexico...
, the corallita vine.
Staff
The current Director of National Parks is Kate Walker. The Office Administrator at STENAPA headquarters is Violet Busby. The Marine Park Manager is Jessica Berkel. The two Park Rangers are Nadio Spanner for the National Marine Park, and Hannah Madden for the Quill / Boven National Park.The Board of Directors of STENAPA currently (2010) consists of Irving Brown, Ira Walker, Ruth Pandt, Irving Brown, Daniel Eaton, Kay Boyd, Ingrid Walther and Pamela Berkel.