The Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF) is a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

that is concerned with the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the small

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

island of

Saba Saba may refer to: Places * Saba (island), an island of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea * Sabá, a municipality in the department of Colón, Honduras * Șaba or Șaba-Târg, the Romanian name for Shabo, a village in Ukraine * Saba, ...

, which is a part of the

Kingdom of the Netherlands The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...

.Saba Conservation Foundation
Official site. Retrieved March 2012. Saba is part of the inner arc of the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

chain of the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

. The SCF was founded in 1987. Its mission is "to commit to the preservation and enhancement of the marine and terrestrial environment on Saba through education, scientific research, monitoring and enforcement." The SCF has seven employees, and a board with ten members. The Foundation forms part of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance. SCF is headquartered at Fort Bay (Saba's only harbor), with a second office at the Saba Trail and Information Centre in Windwardside.

Managed areas

Marine areas

Saba National Marine Park

Completely surrounding the island of Saba is a National Marine Park, which extends from the high-water mark to a depth of . The SCF manages the marine park and also a

hyperbaric Hyperbaric medicine is medical treatment in which an increase in barometric pressure of typically air or oxygen is used. The immediate effects include reducing the size of gas emboli and raising the partial pressures of the gases present. Initial ...

facility for divers.

Saba Bank National Park

In 2010, the very large submerged

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

known as the Saba Bank, which lies southwest of the island of Saba, was designated as a Netherlands National Park. This atoll is the flat top of a

seamount A seamount is a large submarine landform that rises from the ocean floor without reaching the water surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet, or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abruptly a ...

. The Saba Bank park is in size.

On land

Saba Walking Trail Network

The SCF is the management agency for the numerous hiking trails, which are known as the Saba Trail Network.

Land-based nature reserves

Legislation to support the official status of the "Saba National Land Park" was in process in 2012. An "Elfin Forest Reserve" near the top of

Mount Scenery Mount Scenery (pronounced like the word 'scenery') is a dormant volcano in the Caribbean Netherlands. Its lava dome forms the summit of the Saba island stratovolcano. At an elevation of , it is the highest point in both the Kingdom of the Nether ...

(the highest point on the island) is also a possibility.Saba Tourist Bureau
Official site. Retrieved Mar 2012.

References

External links

SCF website

{{Saba Nature conservation organizations based in North America Nature conservation in the Caribbean Saba (island) Environmental organisations based in the Netherlands Environmental organizations established in 1987 1987 establishments in the Netherlands Antilles