All Press Releases

IGY Marinas’ Yacht Club Isle de Sol and Simpson Bay Marina have once again earned the internationally recognized Blue Flag for the 2026–2028 period. EPIC Sint Maarten celebrates the renewed awards, which reflect both marinas’ ongoing commitment to sustainable tourism and environmental stewardship. Their continued recognition highlights the importance of maintaining high environmental standards within Sint Maarten’s yachting sector.

Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC), in partnership with Caribbean Compass magazine, has opened the second annual Seas & Scenes: Love the Caribbean Photo Contest, running August 1–31, 2026. Free to enter and open to photographers of all skill levels, the contest offers more than $3,000 USD in prizes and 12 chances to win. Participants may submit up to five original images celebrating Caribbean life and nature, sailing and yachting, environmental stewardship, and people and places that make the region unique.

Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC), in partnership with Caribbean Compass magazine, is reminding photographers that its second annual Seas & Scenes: Love the Caribbean Photo Contest closes August 31, 2026. The free-to-enter competition offers more than $3,000 USD in prizes and 12 chances to win across four categories. With more than 300 photos representing 26 Caribbean nations and territories already submitted, EPIC invites photographers of all skill levels to enter, vote, and celebrate the region’s beauty, culture, and environmental stewardship.

Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC), in collaboration with the Forestry Department, is conducting a targeted invasive goat removal operation on the islands of Battowia and the Pillories between April 14 and June 10, 2026. This operation forms part of an ongoing effort to protect native wildlife, restore habitat balance, and ensure public safety. Invasive goats have caused significant harm to local biodiversity, and without intervention, continued grazing threatens critical seabird nesting habitats and native plants and animals on these islands.

Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC) is marking 25 years of conservation work across the region with the release of a 2026 anniversary calendar celebrating the Caribbean’s natural beauty. Founded in 2000, EPIC now works across more than 20 islands to reduce pollution, restore habitats, support sustainable tourism, and strengthen local stewardship. Featuring photography from the Seas & Scenes: Love the Caribbean Photo Contest 2025, the calendar highlights 12 islands through imagery, island-specific trivia, and reflections on the cultural and environmental identity of the region, honoring a quarter century of collaboration and commitment to the Caribbean’s future.

Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC) and Caribbean Compass magazine are proud to announce the nine Grand Prize winners of the Seas & Scenes Photo Contest 2025. From 315 submissions across 31 Caribbean nations and territories and 2,824 audience votes from 81 countries, three first-place images rose to the top in Audience Choice, Sailing & Yachting Adventures, and Caribbean Nature & the People Who Love It. The winning photographs showcase the region’s beauty and everyday life from coral nurseries to open-water horizons while inspiring pride in place and care for the Caribbean environment.

Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC), in partnership with Caribbean Compass magazine, is calling for last-minute entries to its first-ever Seas & Scenes: Love the Caribbean Photo Contest 2025. With over $1,000 in prizes across multiple categories, the contest celebrates the people, places, and wild nature of the Caribbean through photography and storytelling. Entries close August 31, 2025. Visit epicislands.org/photo-contest-2025
to submit your photos or cast your vote.

EPIC has launched its most anticipated photo contest of the year: the Seas & Scenes: Love the Caribbean Photo Contest 2025! In partnership with Caribbean Compass magazine, the contest invites photographers of all levels to showcase the region’s vibrant culture, breathtaking natural beauty, and timeless seafaring spirit through their lens. Running August 1–31, this free contest offers over $1,000 in cash prizes, with winning images featured across partner platforms, celebrated throughout the Caribbean community, and inspiring awareness of the urgent need to protect the region’s fragile environment.

EPIC has launched an 18-month seabird habitat restoration project in Sint Maarten, focusing on Brown Pelican and Least Tern nesting sites at Fort Amsterdam and Simpson Bay Lagoon. These species face threats from habitat loss, invasive species, and flooding. The project includes habitat restoration, species monitoring, and community engagement, with support from local and international partners. Funded by the European Union’s BESTLIFE2030 Program, this initiative aims to protect seabird colonies and strengthen conservation efforts on the island.

EPIC has launched a multi-year seabird habitat restoration project in St. Vincent & the Grenadines, focusing on critical nesting sites on Battowia and the Pillories islands. These sites support globally and regionally important seabird populations, which face threats from habitat loss and invasive species. The project includes habitat restoration, species monitoring, and community engagement, with support from local and international partners. Funded by the Deepwater Horizon restoration funds, this initiative aims to protect seabird colonies and strengthen conservation efforts in the Grenadines.

EPIC has wrapped up its field surveys and training for the Sint Maarten biodiversity assessment under the CORENA project. Over 12 days, ecologists Mark Yokoyama and Kevel Lindsay documented over 300 species, including plants, insects, mammals, birds, and amphibians. Training was also provided to local Nature Foundation staff. The final report, due in April, will guide sustainable development and habitat protection efforts in Sint Maarten.

The foundation Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC) has been selected to assess key land areas for biodiversity in St. Maarten as part of the the CORENA project. The CORENA project’s (Coastal Resilience and Needs Assessments) objective is to provide information to guide sustainable management of various habitats found in Sint Maarten, with several components. Field surveys will start in January 2024 to document the variety of plants and animals found in St. Maarten.

IGY’s Isle de Sol Marina has partnered with EPIC to re-establish pumpout boat services in and around Simpson Bay Lagoon. “Slurpy” will soon be able to provide the only sewage disposal service for vessels on the island again after having been out of commission since hurricane Irma in 2017.

Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC) Sint Maarten welcomes Margot Mesnard as Program Manager for the foundation.

More than 100 volunteers attended this year’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) and a little more than 2,000 pounds of trash was collected, of which 763.4 pounds were glass and plastic bottles (~40%) at Little Bay Beach & Pond hosted by EPIC and the St. Maarten Pride Foundation in collaboration with SMDF on Saturday September 16th.

Join Us for the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) on September 16th at Little Bay Beach and Pond near Belair! Prizes await the teams that collect the most trash! May the “trashiest” team win! For more details, visit the Volunteer.sx event page or contact projects@epicislands.org.

Over the next few weeks, anti-littering signage will be placed in ten neighborhoods on Sint Maarten by Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC), assisted by community partners, and funded by Resources for Community Resilience (R4CR).

Thirty volunteers gathered early in the morning at Fort Amsterdam for a clean-up event organized as part of SXM DOET on Friday 10th of March. After two hours, participants were proud of the large pile of trash collected, including car parts, beach chairs, cables and zinc debris left over from previous storms as well as bottles and parts of Styrofoam scattered in the dense vegetation.

EPIC has started a new project to research the status and conservation of the Caribbean Brown Pelican  (Pelecanus occidentalis occidentalis) on Sint Maarten and promote conservation of the pelican through awareness raising and outreach activities. With the data collected, the long-term goal of this project is to improve management of natural resources for the preservation of biodiversity on Sint Maarten.

“Through this three-month EPIC Youth Ambassador program, we hope to inspire young people to appreciate their local environment and continue advocating for its protection,” explain EPIC project coordinators Laura Bijnsdorp and Riddhi Samtani.

EPIC in collaboration with St. Maarten PRIDE Foundation awarded winning volunteer teams and community organizations for their participation in International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). More than 100 volunteers collected >1,480 pounds of trash at Little Bay Beach and Pond near Belair, Sint Maarten.

Haitian national, Anderson Jean has been chosen as the 2022 Bright Award Winner through Stanford Law School, California, USA. The Bright Award is given annually to an individual who has “made significant contributions in the environmental preservation and sustainability area.”

On Saturday September 25th, more than 100 volunteers attended this year’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) at Little Bay Beach & Pond, near Belair, hosted by the St. Maarten Pride Foundation, in collaboration with Environmental Protection in the Caribbean Sint Maarten (EPIC). A total of 1480.5 pounds of trash was collected, of which 692.4lbs were glass and plastic bottles. This was excluding heavy construction material also found during the cleanup.

The nest of an endangered Black-capped Petrel seabird was found for the first time on the slopes of Pic La Selle, Haiti on 24 May 2022 by a small team of Haitian biologists from Action pour la Sauvegarde de l’Ecologie en Haiti (ACSEH) and Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC). The discovery of the Black-capped Petrel nest represents only the third-known nesting area of these seabirds in Haiti. It also represents the first-ever confirmed Black-capped Petrel nest on Pic La Selle.

Researchers have confirmed a sighting of an Endangered Black-capped Petrel (Pterodroma hasitata), known locally as “the Diablotin bird,” in flight over Dominica earlier this year. If nesting is confirmed, Dominica would be the second known nesting island for Black-capped Petrel in the world.

EPIC Sint Maarten invites people interested in becoming volunteer hike leaders to participate in a two-hour training session this Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 9 – 11 a.m.

The Endangered Black-capped Petrel is a seabird so secretive that ten years ago, only one active nest had ever been located and monitored. Despite this tremendous gap in knowledge, the International Black-capped Petrel Conservation Group created an action plan…

Monitoring wildlife can be challenging in remote or difficult to reach places. The use of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), also known as a drone, is one method …

Representatives from government and local organizations in St. Vincent and the Grenadines will participate in training about the operation of unmanned aerial vehicles, also referred to as drones. 

Local field researchers concluded surveys to assess the diversity of species found on remote, uninhabited islands of the Grenadines while also detecting non-native mammals.

On Sunday 9th May, EPIC is hosting an event at Little Bay Pond, Sint Maarten to celebrate World Migratory Bird day. 

A working group is exploring conservation issues affecting remote, uninhabited islands of the Grenadines and mapping out actions to protect the wildlife found there.

Many islands in the Grenadines are refuges for wildlife…As we enter the dry season, the public is reminded to not set fires on offshore islands as fires have negative effects on natural areas.

EPIC and SCIENCE are pleased and excited to announce the winners of their Waste to Art competition held under the theme “Amazing Seabirds: Our Birds, Our Islands, Our Future.” 

Invasive species are organisms that are purposefully or accidentally introduced to areas beyond their native ranges, where they establish and become harmful to the local environment…

EPIC has sponsored coastal litter cleanups on several uninhabited seabird breeding islands of the transboundary Grenadines. To date, hundreds of pounds of garbage have been removed by volunteers…

Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten – Adults and children enjoyed a sunset kayak Saturday evening, 7 November, at a fundraising event for Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC). 

On Sunday, 26 July, Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC) began the removal of PVC pipes installed to protect mangrove seedlings planted in Simpson Bay Lagoon after hurricane Irma. 

With their remarkable adaptations and abilities, seabirds are the only animal to unite the air, land and sea.  Their long-distance migrations also unite nations as they cross borders…

Although seabird harvest and egg collection are prohibited by legislation of both Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, research by EPIC shows that the practice continues to occur…

Get away from technology and the business of our normal lives and enjoy the sights, smells and sounds of nature on one of Sint Maarten’s many hiking trails. 

Project Coordinator Juliana Coffey noted “If there is anything to be learned from the current global crisis, it is that we must begin to adjust our relationship with nature and wildlife…”

Although the Grenadines span approximately 100 kilometers and contain more than 70 islands, rocks and cays, EPIC is bringing people throughout the region together through a shared resource – seabirds…

Maho, Sint Maarten: EPIC Sint Maarten is pleased to announce receipt of a grant award from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Caribisch Gebied (PBCCG) to conduct a bio-inventory of all locally found vascular plants.

EPIC and SCIENCE partnered to reach over 4,000 participants with outreach activities aimed at supporting seabird conservation in the transboundary Grenadines archipelago of the nations of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. 

EPIC continued its community consultation and planning session regarding the seabirds and offshore islands of the Grenadines, this time with a dozen fisherfolk and other interested residents on Mayreau, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

On 20 September, EPIC held a seabird monitoring training workshop for the Sandy Island Oyster Bed Marine Protected Area (SIOBMPA) staff on Carriacou. 

On the 4th of August 2019, executive members of the Grenada Birding Club were invited to the first-ever seabird-specific excursion in the Grenadines, through the EPIC seabird training program. 

Imagine there being more plastic than fish in the ocean. Researchers have predicted that unless we change our behavior, this tragic situation would come true by 2050.

Residents of the Grenadines and fishing communities depend on the ocean, as do seabirds. It is a shared common space.

Members from the Dutch Representation Offices of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten picked up 460 pounds of trash on Mullet Bay Beach during a cleanup organized by EPIC.

Mass migrations and movements of humans worldwide over many millennia have enabled the transport of species, both purposefully and incidentally, into new regions. 

A new year-long initiative called “Conservation of Key Offshore Island Reserves” aims to develop long-term strategies to protect Grenadines seabirds.

EPIC is committed to teaching younger generations about biodiversity issues in the Grenadines, especially seabirds and their role in the marine ecosystem.

This past Sunday, over 80 volunteers joined EPIC for a litter cleanup at Little Bay Pond and beach.  Participants filled 30 large garbage bags with litter.

BirdLife has contracted EPIC to identify Important Bird Areas (IBAs) using existing information and through EPIC surveys in the Lesser Antillean islands of Saba, St Kitts, St Eustatius and St Maarten/Martin.