last updated: June 30, 2004

NANCI Established

Some of the participants in the Nature Forum 2000 on top of the Seru Mateo, during an excursion to Plantage Portomari.

During the 3rd National Nature Forum, held in Curaçao in August 2000, the gathered nature conservation organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, issued a declaration. One of the action points in that declaration was to launch a concerted effort to improve nature conservation and management. This so-called Netherlands Antilles Nature Conservation Initiative or NANCI is targeting 8 identified fields of attention through the formation of several working groups. 

The areas of attention are:    - Funding    - Ecosystems    - Species    - Threats    - Awareness and Support    - Sustainable Use of Resources    - Research    - Regulations and Enforcement  Four priority projects/programs were identified by the forum on which work should start right away:

Working group discussing NANCI during the National Nature Forum 2000

• the construction of a database of available literature on nature research in, or dealing with, the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, 
• the setting up of an internet mailing list server as a communication tool for a network of people and organizations involved with nature conservation, 
• the construction of a biodiversity information clearing house for the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, 
• the effectuation of a Netherlands Antilles Coral Reef Initiative (NACRI), specifically targeted at the conservation of coral reefs in the Netherlands Antilles, 

The forum also appointed a working group to formulate a plan for the financing of the management of the most important parks in each of the islands, suitable for presentation to funding agencies. This plan has now been completed and can be downloaded here as a PDF file (size 350 Kb).
 Download now

The NANCIweb mailing list server is now in place and is open to subscription for anyone involved or interested in (activities relevant to) nature conservation and/or management in the Netherlands Antilles, or adjacent regions. The environmental section (MINA) was appointed as webmaster for the list and will screen subscriptions.

To subscribe to the NANCIweb list, just type your e-mail address below and hit 'enter'.

To access the other facilities the listserver offers, such as viewing the message archive, or downloading files stored on the server, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NANCIweb