Bonaire National Marine Park in the context of "STINAPA Bonaire"

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⭐ Core Definition: Bonaire National Marine Park

The Bonaire National Marine Park or BNMP is one of the oldest marine reserves in the world. It includes the sea around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire from the high water line to a depth of sixty meters (approximately 200 feet). The park was established in 1979 and covers 2700 hectares (6700 acres) and includes a coral reef, seagrass, and mangrove vegetation. The Lac Bay lagoon is also part of the underwater park.

In 1999, the underwater park received the status of national park from the Netherlands Antilles. The uninhabited island Klein Bonaire was added to the underwater park as a legally protected nature reserve in 2001. The west side of Bonaire teems with diving sites that are easily accessible from the shore. The dive sites around Klein Bonaire are accessible by boat for divers. With the exception of a small area, the BNMP is completely open to divers with a total of 86 public dive sites.

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👉 Bonaire National Marine Park in the context of STINAPA Bonaire

The STINAPA Bonaire or National Parks Bonaire Foundation (Dutch: Stichting Nationale Parken Bonaire) is a non-governmental organization responsible for the management of the national parks on Bonaire in Caribbean Netherlands. STINAPA is a member of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance.

The STINAPA Bonaire was created at the end of the 1980s as the successor to STINAPA N.A. ( Stichting Nationale Parken Nederlandse Antillen ), which had been established in 1962 to protect and manage nature in the Netherlands Antilles. The first activities took place on Bonaire where the Washington Slagbaai National Park was established in 1969. In that year, the Bonaire National Marine Park was added. After this, projects were also started on, among others, Curaçao and Saba, and in the late 1980s separate foundations were established on all Antillean islands.

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Bonaire National Marine Park in the context of Bonaire

Bonaire is a Caribbean island in the Leeward Antilles, and is a special municipality (officially "public body") of the Netherlands. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west (leeward) coast of the island. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao form the ABC islands, 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of Venezuela. The islands have an arid climate that attracts visitors seeking warm, sunny weather all year round, and they lie outside the Main Development Region for tropical cyclones. Bonaire is a popular snorkeling and scuba diving destination because of its multiple shore diving sites, shipwrecks and easy access to the island's fringing reefs.

As of 1 January 2025, the island's population total 26,552 permanent residents, an increase of 10,011 since 2012. The island's total land area is 288 square kilometres (111 sq mi); it is 38.6 kilometres (24.0 mi) long from north to south, and ranges from 5–8 km (3–5 mi) wide from east to west. A short 800 metres (0.50 mi) west of Bonaire across the sea is the uninhabited islet of Klein Bonaire with a total land area of 6 km (2.3 sq mi). Klein Bonaire has low-growing vegetation including cactus, with sparse palm trees near the water and is bordered by white sandy beaches and a fringing reef. The reefs, beaches and on-island reserves located on both Bonaire and Klein Bonaire are under the protection of the Bonaire National Marine Park, and managed by STINAPA Bonaire.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Bonaire ← STINAPA Bonaire
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Marine reserves → Bonaire → Klein Bonaire → Coral reef → Seagrass → Mangrove → Netherlands Antilles → Recreational dive sites →