Mount Scenery National Park

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Mount Scenery National Park
Mount Scenery National Park (Saba)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
Coordinates: 17 ° 38 ′ 20 ″  N , 63 ° 14 ′ 0 ″  W.
Location: Saba , Netherlands
Next city: Zion's Hill
Surface: approx. 350 ha
Founding: 2012/2018
The national park is located on the northwest coast of the island and includes Mount Scenery in the center.
The national park is located on the northwest coast of the island and includes Mount Scenery in the center.
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The Mount Scenery National Park is a national park on the island of Saba , one of the special communities of the Netherlands in the Caribbean . Until it was significantly enlarged in 2018, the park was called Saba National Land Park and only protected an area of ​​around 43 hectares on the north coast of the island.

geography

The national park protects an area of ​​approx. 350 hectares in the north and west of Saba, 35 hectares of which are donated by a private individual, which made up the core area of ​​the former Saba National Land Park. The Land Park comprised the area between the island's airport at Flat Point in the far northeast, the All-Too-Far ridge in the north and Mount Scenery in the interior of the island. The park is accessible via four trails of varying lengths: the North Coast Trail , Sulfur Mine Trail , Sandy Cruz Trail, and All Too Far Trail , all of which start from the village of Zion's Hill . Some of the hiking trails offer a view of the neighboring island of Sint Eustatius . Since the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles and Saba joined the Netherlands as a “special municipality” on October 10, 2010, the park has also been home to the highest point in the Netherlands with the 877 meter high summit of Mount Scenery. It replaced the 322 meter high Vaalserberg in the triangle between the European Netherlands, Germany and Belgium . After the expansion in 2018, the national park now also includes the sparsely populated and inaccessible north-west of Saba, which is characterized by dense forests and deep gorges. It also extends into the center of the island and includes the summit of Mount Scenery from a height of 550 meters above sea level. Of particular tourist and archaeological interest are the ruins of the village of Mary's Point, which was abandoned in the 1930s, and the remains of a Caribbean aboriginal settlement that are currently the target of an excavation.

geology

The area of ​​the national park includes hot springs and various extraordinary geological formations, such as the Behind-The-Ridge Formation . The geology of the area testifies to Saba's past as an active volcano , so here are mostly volcanic agglomerates and tuff . In various places the subsoil consists of pyroclastic materials , in two places cooled lava flows form headlands that reach down into the sea. A plug of hardened lava once formed in the main crater of Mount Scenery, which today forms the foundation of the top of the mountain. More lava domes formed around the main summit. Before the end of its active phase, the volcano formed a layer of sulfur and gypsum , which was also partially exploited in the past.

history

Entrance to the former sulfur mine

In 1866 the mining of the sulfur deposits began in the area of ​​what is now the national park, initially by a number of private individuals and a few years later by the Sulfur Mining Company . However, the work was stopped in 1915 because the operation was no longer profitable.

After the death of the former owner, Earl Thissel, the ownership structure remained unclear for a long time, until a Saban senator managed to locate the heiress Muriel Thissel Murphy from Auburn , Maine in 1993 . Thissel Murphy initially saw no use for the inherited land, as there were neither roads nor access to the sea. Therefore, in 1998 she decided to give the area as a gift to the residents of Saba. This was on the condition that a nature reserve would be established in the area and no commercial ventures would be carried out.

As a result, the area was placed under protection as Saba National Park in 1999 and the administration of the Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF) was transferred. Founded in 1987 and based in Fort Bay , the goal of this non-governmental organization is the preservation of Saba's cultural heritage and natural resources. Among other things, the SCF promotes scientific research in the areas it administers and strives to teach Saba's residents how to deal responsibly with nature on their island.

In 2012 the park received the official status as a national park. It has since been referred to as Saba National Land Park to prevent confusion with the Saba National Marine Park , founded in 2010, which protects the waters around the island and also borders the Land Park on the north coast.

Enlargement 2018

Since the beginning of 2017 there have been plans to expand the rather small Saba National Land Park. The new area created in this way was initially to be named North Saba National Park . In addition to the expansion of the area, the goals of the project were better species protection and the restoration of derelict hiking trails and historical buildings. Furthermore, the area should be increasingly developed for tourism. One of the difficulties of the project was the unclear owner situation in large parts of the proposed area, as it mainly consists of private property, some of which was abandoned and given up in the 1920s. In August 2018, citizens' meetings were held on Saba, at which the residents of the island were informed about the planned expansion of the park. It was proposed to rename it Mount Scenery National Park and to enlarge the protected area to about a quarter of the island's area. In its meeting on September 18, 2018, the Island Council decided to implement the plans presented in August, and the decision took effect immediately. However, the council made it a point to note that land ownership in the expanded area would not change. The - hardly existing - agriculture in the new park area may also be continued. The cost of the extension project amounted to a sum of about 855,000 US dollars , jointly by the European Union were worn and the Dutch Ministry of Economic and climate policy.

Flora and fauna

Vegetation zones

Vegetation in the national park as seen from the All Too Far Trail

The Mount Scenery National Park is home to all vegetation zones found on Saba. In the predominantly arid coastal region, the sweet grass Bothriochloa pertusa dominates , some shrubs are scattered in the landscape. In the lower areas of the slopes of Mount Scenery, sequoias and plants of the genus Fuchsia grow, among other things . Colocasia is just as numerous as the plantain , and various cactus plants are also found in this region. A species-rich mountain rainforest grows around the summit of the mountain , which, in addition to the dominant species Freziera undulata , consists of palm trees and tree ferns . Numerous epiphytes such as orchids , liverworts or bromeliads grow on the trees .

Since around the turn of the millennium , the spreads as invasive species applicable Knöterichgewächs Antigonon leptopus from Saba. For some years now, this species has been threatening to displace the native and sometimes rare plants in the national park.

Birds

Antilles pigeon

The steep cliffs of the national park offer important resting and breeding places for species such as the red-billed tropical bird and the shearwater . Further inland, the avifauna changes depending on the vegetation zone, a total of 26 breeding species have been detected here. There are also 36 other species that visit the island as migratory birds on their migrations. In the more open landscapes near the coast, among others, the Antilles hummingbird , the coastal pigeon , the bearded finch and birds of prey such as the red-tailed buzzard and the great hawk live . The higher and more humid locations are used as habitat by the pearl-eye mockingbird and the rare Antilles pigeon , for example .

Mammals

The only mammals found in Mount Scenery National Park are five different species of bats.

Reptiles and amphibians

The species Anolis sabanus occurs only on Saba

The lizard species Anolis sabanus from the genus Anolis is endemic to Saba and can also be found in the national park both near the coast and in the higher areas. Furthermore, a species of non-poisonous adder lives in the national park , which, besides Saba, only occurs on Sint Eustatius. There are also two types of iguanas that can often be seen along the hiking trails. The only representative of the amphibians found in the park area (and all over Saba) is Johnstone's whistling frog . This little frog hole, also called “Coquee” by the locals, often creates a characteristic background noise , especially after dark.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tourism Strateic Plan for Saba 2011-2014. In: spaw-palisting.org. Executive Counsil of Saba, April 18, 2011, accessed August 4, 2018 .
  2. ^ Saba - Saba National Park. In: dutchcaribbean.nl. July 30, 2012, accessed July 18, 2018 (Dutch).
  3. ↑ Vaals is no longer the highest point in the Netherlands. In: brf.be. October 11, 2010, accessed July 18, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b New national park protects Saba's nature and artefacts. In: thedailyherald.sx. The Daily Herald, December 31, 2018, accessed March 27, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b Nederland is a nationaal park rijker: Mount Scenery. In: bonaire.nu. Bonaire Nieuws, December 31, 2018, accessed March 27, 2019 (Dutch).
  6. ↑ Management Success Data Report. In: dcnanature.org. Dutch Carribean Nature Alliance, October 2015, accessed on July 18, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Will Johnson: The Sulfur Mine. In: thesabaislander.com. March 23, 2016, accessed July 18, 2018 .
  8. ^ Bob Payne: Philanthropy . In: Joan Tapper (Ed.): Islands Magazine . Islands Publishing Company, Santa Barbara, CA April 1999, pp. 20 .
  9. ^ Saba National Park. In: dcnanature.org. Dutch Carribean Nature Alliance, 2014, accessed July 18, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Menno van der Velde: North Saba National Park, Phase I. In: best2portal.org. Public Entity of Saba, accessed July 18, 2018 .
  11. ↑ a b Flora & Fauna. In: sabapark.org. Saba Conservation Foundation, accessed July 18, 2018 .
  12. ^ Nature management in the Caribbean: invasive plants and an elfin forest. In: wur.nl. May 3, 2018, accessed July 18, 2018 .
  13. ^ Anna Rojer: Biological Inventory of Saba . Ed .: Carmabi Foundation. Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles November 1997, p. 30-35 .
  14. ^ Hugh H. Genoways, Peter A. Larsen, Scott C. Pedersen, Jeffrey J. Huebschman: Bats of Saba, Netherlands Antilles: a zoogeographic perspective. In: duke.edu. Museum and Institute of Zoology PAS, September 30, 2006, accessed July 18, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Anita Malhotra, Roger S. Thorpe: Reptiles and Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean . In: Caribbean Pocket Natural History . Macmillan Education, London / Oxford 1999, ISBN 0-333-69141-5 , pp. 61-63 .