After two weeks of conducting various studies, international and local experts as well as volunteers have discovered more than 20 new plant species in Aruba.
“Fundacion Parke Nacional Aruba” (FPNA), is an independent foundation in charge of the conservation and management of the terrestrial and marine areas. Together with Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and Carmabi, they have announced that they have discovered 20 different types of new plant species on Aruba. In the two-week period, Dr. Andre van Proosdij and Dr. John Janssen from Wageningen University & Research together with Erik Houtepen, Head of the Carmabi Consultancy Department, Giancarlo Nunes, Research and Conservation Manager for FPNA, as well as local partners and volunteers, visited different areas around Aruba. They went to Saliña Malmok, Saliña Cerca, Ser’i Teishi and Sero Colorado just to name a few, and studied the vegetation at these locations.
Of these 20 new plant species, some are even new for the entire ABC islands as well as for the Dutch Caribbean. Some of these new species are Melochia parvifolia and Cienfuegosia cf. affinis. It is important to emphasize that Aruba has a biodiversity of many diverse plants and it is crucial that we have a proper report of this Aruban vegetation, to be able to come up with a proper plan as to how we can conserve and protect our nature optimally.
The quantity of observations differs per island, the majority (56 %)of them are registered in Curacao, followed by Aruba with 13% and Bonaire with 11%. As for Sint Maarten, the data is still too scarce.
“Fundacion Parke Nacional Aruba” manages roughly 24% of Aruba’s natural terrain and they are designated as natural and protected areas. As a conservation organization, they strive to preserve, protect and maintain our diverse ecology as healthy, diverse, and resilient as they can.
