The Experts on Planning, Tourism Development and Environment from the Central Government and the five Islands of the Netherlands Antilles, from the Netherlands, Aruba and regional organizations,

Gathered in a Conference on Sustainable Tourism for the Netherlands Antilles that was held in Sint Maarten and Saba from 11-13 June 1997,

In their effort to secure a sustainable tourism development for the Netherlands Antilles in which the economic and social needs will be fulfilled, while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems,

Have formulated and agreed upon the following points of departure for a National Policy on Sustainable Tourism for the Netherlands Antilles:

• Aspects of nature and the environment should play a major proactive role in physical planning and tourism development planning for sustainable tourism;

• Evaluation of the environmental impacts should become a prerequisite for development of tourism and related infrastructural and construction projects;

• The most eco-friendly ways of international transport should be encouraged; collective transport and other ways and means of environmentally friendly 'on island' transportation should be stimulated;

• Reception facilities for waste water and garbage from cruise-ships and other vessels should be set up in accordance with the international regulations (MARPOL) for Antillean ports;

• Island Governments should develop eco-friendly construction and greening criteria for tourism facilities; island hotel associations should promote existing 'green your hotel' initiatives amongst their members and hotels should be stimulated to participate in Green Your Hotel Programs;

• Island Governments should stimulate—when proven (macro)economically and environmentally attractive—the decentralized (private) production of electricity and water and treatment of waste water through adequate regulation and pricing;

• Fiscal mechanisms to facilitate 'green' construction and upgrading measures as well as 'green' water and energy production and waste water treatment should be created and applied;

• A policy on beaches, entailing guidelines for public use, protection of natural beaches, land and sand use and (artificial) beach construction and beach quality guidelines should be developed as part of the national policy on sustainable tourism;

• The protection of valuable natural areas should be pursued through a combination of physical planning, nature policy plans, legal protection of the areas and a properly planned management on the various islands;

• The restaurant sector should be persuaded not to include endangered specieson their menu’s and the souvenir trade should be prohibited to sell parts of our natural heritage;

• Tourists should be informed about the beauty and vulnerability of each islands’ biodiversity and environment and about the consequences of what they consume and buy in terms of endangered species (CITES);

• Environmental theory and practice should become a major theme in the training programmes of the tourism sector;

• Environmental education together with tourism awareness should become an integrated element within the education system at all levels on each island;

• A monitoring network for potential environmental disasters—such as the pink mealy bug—should be set up;

• Maintaining our cultural integrity should go hand in hand with environmental issues when planning for sustainable tourism;

Sint Maarten, June 13 1997.