Abstract

The St. Eustatius Marine Park is relatively obscure in comparison to sister island Marine Parks, Bonaire, and Saba, partly due to its young status. The Marine Park did not become actively managed until 1998. The park surrounds the island of St. Eustatius from the bigh water mark to the 30 meter depth contour, and contains two reserves. The park's basic infrastructure is in place, with over thirty (30) dive and yacht moorings installed and maintained, and regulations and user fees are in force. The creation and implementation of the Marine Parkoccurred without input from the local dive shops, fishers, and other stakeholders. Therefore, STENAPA has many stakeholder challenges to face and community awareness and education are now a primary focus of the Marine Park. Cooperative management and empowerment of stakeholders are slowly being integrated into the park's management scheme. User fees are not sufficient to sustain the Marine Park due to a lack of substantial tourism, and scarcely cover the cost of two (2) full-time employees. Consequently, a worldwide volunteer program was established in order to carry out many of the tasks needed to manage the park effectively. Volunteers use the two (2) to six (6) month experience as an internship or practical training for their university. Although the volunteer program is successful, it does not preclude the need for donors to increase funding availability for permanent staff and, in particular; overhead. Carrying capacity is far from being reached, therefore promotion of the Statia Marine Park as a dive destination is imperative in order to realize self-sufficiency. The Statia Marine Park has excellent potential given its young status combined with a fairly comprehensive infrastructure. If effectively managed, it will achieve its goal of resource protection that will allow appropriate sustainable uses.

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