Nature Foundation St. Maarten and the St. Martin Réserve Naturelle were delighted to each receive a much needed donation from Heineken St. Maarten this week, to put towards their conservation programmes on both side of the islands.

The funds were raised through the sale of black ‘St. Maarten Heineken Regatta’ bracelets during the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta 2008. “During the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, we want to raise the exposure concerning the importance of keeping our island and it’s waters clean”, says Heineken St. Maarten Managing Director John Leone, We started with the green “Meet You There” bracelets which we donated in 2006 and followed up with ‘Serious “Clean” Fun’ bracelets in 2007. Through the sales of these bracelets we were able to donate a total of $6000.00. This year we contributed the black ‘St. Maarten Heineken Regatta’ bracelets. “We are very happy that we were able to generate $4400.00 to share between the 2 foundations.” We hope we can continue to work together to find solutions that benefit both the island's natural environment and the businesses that depend on the island's waterways.

“We are extremely grateful for this contribution,” says Beverly Mae Nisbeth of the Nature Foundation. “The Foundation is funded purely through grants and fundraising efforts. A donation like this makes a significant difference to the work we do. The natural environment is one of St. Maarten’s most important resources – clean beaches, healthy seas and green hills are the reason why many of our visitors come here every year. It is everyone’s responsibility, from the individual to our Government and from small businesses to large international corporations, to protect our natural resources and conserve the beauty and biodiversity of our island for the benefit of current and future generations”.

When asked what Nature Foundation would spend their money on, Ms. Nisbeth replies, “staff training and mooring maintenance”.

“Nature Foundation is proud to partner with corporations like Heineken and is incredibly thankful for having Heineken St. Maarten NV as a positive working partner,” she says. “We hope this continues into the future and that other companies on St. Maarten will follow Heineken’s example and help conserve St. Maarten’s environment”.

The Foundations and Heineken St. Maarten would also like to especially thank the Shipwreck Shop and the St. Maarten Yacht Club for merchandising these items and individual volunteers for their efforts in selling these items during the St Maarten Heineken Regatta.

The new bracelets for the 2009 St Maarten Heineken Regatta will be on sale soon, and the 2007 and 2008 bracelets are still available from the Nature Foundation offices and Heineken St. Maarten. For more information on conservation projects on St. Maarten, please contact the Nature Foundation at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it / tel: 542 0267 or Réserve Naturelle at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it / tel: (0590) 29 09 72.

In 2007, in cooperation with the St Maarten Pride Foundation, Heineken St. Maarten also instituted a new beach cleanup program called bright beaches. This program enables non-profit organizations, which are willing to eliminate trash from our beaches, access to funds that Heineken St. Maarten has allocated from the sales of Heineken products, particularly Amstel Bright beer. For more information please contact the St Maarten Pride Foundation.

From left to right: John Leone, Marissa Brandy, Heather Tackling, Kim Van Loo