Last year, a group of citizen conservationists in the Caribbean made a map of Saba, the smallest and lowest-lying island in the Dutch West Indies. The map was meant to help identify which areas should be protected, but it also raised an important question. Why weren’t local people already doing that?
The island of Saba has long been a popular tourist destination and home to many people who have decided to live there. The main draw is the massive Saba Cave, a popular diving spot known for the beautiful marine life inside. However, the island also hosts a few endangered species, like the lesser crested lizard and many birds.
Recognizing that this would also be an important part of conservation efforts on Saba, a local group called Wild Saba, led by Mitch Goldberg, started organizing citizen science projects in 2015. “They wanted to engage people more in species conservation and provide alternative income generation opportunities for local villagers,” says Christopher Dobbie from Cornell University in New York State.
Now, the group and their partners have started a project that aims to do this in a big way. The Saba Cave Initiative (SCI) is a public-private partnership that aims to support tourist-oriented conservation efforts on Saba.
“We invited and received support from a number of international conservation organizations, such as the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), Species 2020, Animal Welfare Institute, and others,” says Goldberg. “They came over to Saba with the idea of working with local partners and providing funds for on-the-ground projects that are sustainable for our social fabric.”
The collaboration has brought together a diverse group of partners. Not only local conservationists but also scientists and technicians who helped them collect data on Saba’s marine life. “This has allowed us to get our hands on the data and start a science-driven approach to telling the stories of Saba’s marine ecosystems,” says Martinus Bezuijen from SCI, who is coordinating the project.
The team is currently trying to map out all of Saba’s marine life, identifying which species are found in which areas of the island. Data collected so far has already shown that the island harbors three endemic species of fish — those found nowhere else on Earth.
This is not a small thing in a marine environment like Saba’s, where other species have landed there as invasive species. These include cichlids, which were probably introduced to Saba by aquarium collectors and are now in native waters. “Cichlids significantly impact the diversity and abundance of native reef fish,” says Bezuijen. In some areas of Saba, populations of endemic fish have been completely replaced by cichlids.
The SCI team is now working with local fishermen and organizations to remove invasive species like cichlids. “We are initially targeting species known to be harmful to native habitat,” says Goldberg.
Another project that has been started with the help of SCI is an initiative where local organizations and businesses have come together to promote sustainable fishing practices on Saba — protecting existing fish stocks while also providing a source of income for locals.
Bezuijen and his team are also working with Saba residents to create an underwater trail through a marine protected area on the island — complete with markers and interpretative methods to tell visitors about the marine life they can see there.
While they are still in the early stages of these projects, Bezuijen is hopeful that they can have a long-lasting impact. “Sharing local knowledge with our partners also opens up new ways of doing things and may lead to new ideas and initiatives,” he says.
This is what the Sabans need at this point, says Dobbie. He points out that their island has become far more developed than it was some decades ago, and many people now work in tourism, which has led to a lot of changes — from using plastic water bottles to changing fish habits and possibly even introducing new species on the island.
“The locals and their leaders have called for a more sustainable way of life, which could be brought about by targeting marine protected area at the reefs — as well as the caves — and integrating sustainable livelihoods,” says Dobbie.
Currently, SCI is working with local communities to come up with ideas on how they can make the Saba Cave Initiative sustainable. For example, they are thinking of creating a trail inside the caves that would help divers learn more about the species that live there and also give them an opportunity to learn about sustainable tourism.
