The threats to sweet St. Martin are many and varied. Some have causes far beyond local control, like global warming. Some problems are local, like trash and pollution. Some come by surprise, like the sudden invasion of sargassum in 2011. Some, like droughts, come in repeated cycles.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, several recent droughts, the arrival of sargassum, an often burning landfill and variety of other concerns, we are very aware that St. Martin is delicate and vulnerable. It would seem that these issues have finally risen to a point of crisis. In fact, the fragility of St. Martin and its resources has been recognized for longer than one might think.

Auguste Descoudrelles.

Consider this passage written by Auguste Descoudrelles in 1772 and translated in the publication St. Martin’s Gazette:

This island in the condition it is now, has no more natural resources except fishing, which is excellent near our coasts…Pigeon hunting is still every important in season, but this resource will diminish as the colony grows bigger. Already because of the number of inhabitants, we have to clear the mountains and woods…The Dutch side has far less resources than we do. As for sea-fishing, their coasts are almost completely ruined as much because of the number of fisherman as by the lack of policy in their area and the fishing gear used.

Auguste Descoudrelles was the Commander of French St. Martin for much of the time between 1764 and 1785. His writing reveals an island already strained by its population. His statements about issues like habitat destruction, overfishing and a lack of nature-friendly policy could easily be made today.

Scaly-naped Pigeons have survived 400 years of hunting.

He writes that Grand Case “took the longest time to get established because the lands of this quarter were generally considered as the most exposed to the drought of all the island.” In his description of Colombier he remarks on “the lignum vitae wood which was once upon a time so common and now become so scarce.”

It is amazing to think that some of the problems facing St. Martin today were already so visible over 200 years ago. It is miraculous that an island that has suffered so long still has so much natural beauty to offer us. The pigeons and fishes and trees that have been threatened for so long have not yet disappeared. While reflecting on Descoudrelles’s warning from the past, we can be thankful that we still have a chance to help preserve St. Martin today.

What parts of St. Martin are in the greatest peril today? Tell us about them by writing in to The Daily Herald or [email protected].

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