INTERNATIONAL – Against the backdrop of a large share of the world’s audiovisual heritage already lost forever, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today warned that only 10 to 15 years are left to transfer remaining audiovisual recordings to digital media before they too vanish.

“In that spirit, for this world day, I am asking all Member States, the producers and consumers of sounds and pictures, and the institutions in charge of safeguarding them to join forces to protect and share our common audiovisual wealth,” said Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, in a message issued for the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.

Saying films, radio and television programmes and audio and video recordings are “an incomparable source for understanding the 20 an 21st centuries,” Ms. Bokova noted that “its capacity to instantly summon up sounds and pictures, often from well beyond local borders and language barriers, makes this heritage an essential complement to more traditional archives and documents.”

But, she said: “A large share of the world’s audiovisual heritage has already been lost forever through negligence, destruction, bad luck or a lack of appropriate resources, competencies and structures, thereby depleting the memory of humanity.”

“That vulnerability is especially acute in conflict situations,” the top UNESCO official said. “We have 10 to 15 years left to transfer available audiovisual recordings to digital media and prevent their loss.”

UNESCO is participating in this safeguarding effort, she noted.

“We need to join forces to change the situation – for it is of the utmost importance that this recent history be understood and shared not only for issues of identity and affiliation but also for a clearer grasp of relationships and challenges in contemporary societies,” Ms. Bokova added.

Dear Editor, COMMENTARY, SINT MAARTEN - Last week I had the honor of joining colleagues from the World Wildlife Fund, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and from Research Institutes and Nature Management Organizations from around the region on a research expedition to one of the most significant Marine Protected Areas in the Caribbean: the Saba Bank. During the expedition, on which we remained at sea on an expedition ship for six days, we researched fish populations using scuba in waters that are famously deep and rough. We understood the importance of our work considering that it would contribute to the proper management of fisheries on the Saba Bank and the conservation of its resources for generations to come. My fellow scientists and I researched fish ranging from Grouper to Snapper, Damselfish to Butterflyfish. From Barracuda to what was undoubtedly everyone’s favorite animal: sharks. We saw sharks on every dive on healthy reefs, evidence that these animals keep the population of especially commercially important fish species healthy by maintaining a healthy reef.

On the morning of Wednesday the 21^st of October I connected my phone to the satellite receiver of the expedition ship and I was first quite upset, then saddened to see what many of my friends and colleagues from St. Maarten, St. Martin, Anguilla and around the world tagged me in: it was a Facebook video allegedly taken in Anguilla of a Tiger Shark caught close to St. Martin. The animal was dragged to shore; a rope tied around its tail and pulled quite unceremoniously up the beach by a truck. It was then left to suffocate, suffer and die.

I was upset and saddened at how, in 2015, with all of the information out there on how sharks are so important to our ocean’s ecosystem, that they are not the mindless killers that they were made out to be by the media, that they are one of the most endangered animals on the planet, how can us island people who have such a close connection to the sea not realize that we have now removed one of the most important animals in the oceanic food chain? I then realized that misconceptions are still a major issue regarding how we perceive sharks.

Sharks are essential to the health of our ocean: they are top-level ocean predators and their essential role in the ecosystem is to keep it in balance, ensuring that the whole food chain remains intact and functioning. If sharks are removed the population of animals that they prey on will become unbalanced and our reefs, and the fisheries which depend on them, will collapse. The recent Yarari Marine Mammal and Shark Sanctuary that was established through the blessing of Dutch State Secretary for Economic Affairs Sharon Dijksma in September, protects all sharks. And the text establishing the Sanctuary specifically mentions their importance to fisheries.

Sharks are also not the mindless predators we have been led to believe by movies and books and television series. I would recommend your readers to consider this the next time they use their telephone cameras to take a picture of themselves and their friends at say, a nightclub: the act of taking a selfie has killed more people in 2015 than in three years by sharks. And New Yorkers have bitten more people than sharks ever can and ever will, often times with more deadly consequences. Think about this the next time a flight arrives from JFK. Yet we are led to believe that these animals are mindless killing machines out to consume unsuspecting bathers. All this while annually humans kill one hundred million sharks a year. 100.000.000. Annually. Some estimates say that some sharks will be extinct by 2030, followed by many other species of fish, followed by the way of life we know as Caribbean people.

Aside from these facts, all of them established in science, the act of tying up a live animal, which from the video looks like a pregnant female, and dragging it up the beach causing it to suffocate is just cruel. Where is our moral compass, our realization that we are part of a whole with all of the creatures of this planet? Where is the realization that we should and must show compassion for all life? I find it difficult to believe that the people who were seen dragging this animal up the beach and seeing it suffocate and die did not feel some type of remorse, did not consider that this is a living thing that had a life, an animal that has seen things in the ocean that we never will, that has evolved much earlier than us and has formed the foundation of our very existence. I find it hard to acknowledge that somewhere, deep down in their hearts, they did not feel some form of negative emotion in doing this to such a magnificent example of God’s creation.

The Nature Foundation, with its other partners in the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance, has embarked on a three-year shark conservation program that not only involves research and protection but also has a large educational component. It seems as if we have a long way to go in changing people’s perception of sharks, which luckily, are protected in the territorial waters of St. Maarten.

These animals are some of the most misunderstood, maligned yet most important creatures in our seas. Healthy Reefs Need Sharks. And to do this we should collectively Save our Sharks. Not only for their sake but, ultimately, for ours.

Tadzio Bervoets

Manager Sint Maarten Nature Foundation

Guana Bay Rd 78

Sint Maarten.

COMMENTARY: The content above is the sole responsibility of the author.

BES ISLANDS (Bonaire, St. Eustatius, Saba Caribbean Netherlands) - “18% population growth in the Caribbean Netherlands since 2010”

“14% decrease in import value in 2014 on St Eustatius”

“58% of the population of Bonaire is born on one of the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles or Aruba”

“5% of the population of Saba is born in the European part of the Netherlands”

This and many more interesting facts are included in the new CBS publication: “Trends in the Caribbean Netherlands 2015” that was published on Wednesday, 21^st October.

The publication is also electronically available:

http://www.cbs.nl/en-GB/menu/themas/dossiers/nederland-regionaal/publicaties/artikelen/archief/2015/2015-trends-in-the-caribbean-netherlands-en-pdf.htm

If you are interested in this publication you can visit the office on Bonaire or contact CBS through facebook (statistiekcbs.cn) or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (RCN Caribbean Netherlands)

GREAT BAY, (DCOMM) – The Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a government department under the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, is calling on the community to take action to prevent mosquito breeding as a reminder since current rain showers has the potential to increase the number of mosquitos.

Preventative measures are needed and will go a long way in preventing one getting dengue, zika or chikungunya.

Dengue fever, zika and chikungunya are transmitted by the female vector Aedes Aegypti mosquito. The Aedes Aegypti mosquito is distinguished by its markings. The body of the mosquito has alternate black and white horizontal stripes. The Aedes Aegypti mosquito lays her eggs in clear (clean) stagnant water. Within eight days the mosquito can complete its life cycle from egg, to larvae to pupae and to and adult mosquito.

Persons are therefore requested to keep their homes, yards, neighborhoods and work environment free from potential mosquito breeding sites.

Actively destroy or dispose of tin cans, old tires, buckets, unused plastic swimming pools or other containers that collect and hold water. Do not allow water to accumulate in the saucers of flowerpots, cemetery urns/vase or in pet dishes for more than two days.  Throw out the water and turn them over every time it collects water.

Clean debris from rain gutters and remove any standing water under or around structures, or on flat roofs. Check around faucets and air conditioner units and repair leaks or eliminate puddles that remain for several days.

Change the water in birdbaths and wading pools at least once a week. The treatment of ornamental pools should be discussed with the experts. Fill or drain puddles, ditches and swampy areas, and/or remove, drain or fill tree holes and stumps with mortar and regularly treat and monitor.

Eliminate seepage from cisterns, cesspools, and septic tanks. Eliminate standing water around animal watering troughs. Flush livestock water troughs twice a week.

Check for trapped water in plastic or canvas tarps used to cover boats, pools, plastic bags, foam dishes or even plastic cups strewn on the road side.

Clean the dead leaves from banana and coconut trees.  Adult mosquitoes prefer to rest on weeds and other vegetation.  Homeowners can reduce the number of areas where adult mosquitoes prefer to rest on weeds and other vegetation.  Trim overgrown vegetation.

Check around construction sites or do-it-yourself improvements to ensure that proper backfilling and grading is realized to prevent drainage problems which can be a source for standing water.  Empty all construction containers such as blue tanks, buckets, paint cans etc.

Irrigate lawns and gardens carefully to prevent water from standing for several days.  If ditches do not flow and contain stagnant water for one week or longer, they can produce large numbers of mosquitoes. Report such conditions to the respective government agency. 

Mosquitoes can be kept out of the home by keeping windows, doors and porches tightly screened (16-18 mesh). Those insects that do get into structures can be eliminated with a fly swatter or an aerosol space spray containing synergized pyrethrum.

Adult mosquitoes prefer to rest on weeds and other vegetation. Homeowners can reduce the number of areas where adult mosquitoes can find shelter by cutting down weeds adjacent to the house foundation and in their yards, and mowing the lawn regularly. To further reduce adult mosquitoes harboring in vegetation, insecticides may be applied to the lower limbs of shade trees, shrubs and other vegetation. Screen off cistern outlets, cover and screen septic tanks properly.

The aforementioned measures should also be taken in and around the workplace, social gatherings and living quarters to eliminate mosquito breeding sources.

An increase in the mosquito population puts residents at risk. For information about dengue fever, zika and chikungunya prevention measures, you can call CPS at 542-2078 or 542-3003.