The Les Fruits de Mer association invites the public to the Endemic Animal Festival. The festival will take place from 9am to noon this Saturday, April 25th at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House. It is a wonderful chance to learn about the special animals that live only on our island or only in our region. Attendees will enjoy a book giveaway, a craft activity, a scavenger hunt, and more. The festival and all of the activities are free.

“Endemic animals and plants are the most unique part of local nature,” explained Les Fruits de Mer President Jenn Yerkes. “They are the species that live only on this island, or only on a few islands in our area. It’s amazing that there are plants and animals that can only be found here, and nowhere else in the world! They’re an incredible part of St. Martin’s natural heritage. Come out and celebrate them at this free, fun festival!”

Copies of Endemics Around Me, a bilingual coloring book and nature journal, will be given away at the festival. The book presents 40 plants and animals that are unique to St. Martin or to our region.

“We love giving this book to kids,” said author Mark Yokoyama. “It’s a great way to learn about animals and plants that live only here, like the Bearded Anole and the St. Martin Milk Pea. These are some of St. Martin’s most precious treasures.”

The event will feature a snail station where guests can learn how scientists find land snail shells in the soil. Many of these snails are special to our region.

Festival attendees are invited to explore the Amuseum gardens and grounds to find the plants and animals in the scavenger hunt. Kids and adults will also enjoy the event’s craft station, where they can decorate magnetic canvases with endemic plant and animal designs to take home.

The Endemic Animal Festival will be from 9am to noon on Saturday, April 25th at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House on the hill above Coconut Grove in French Quarter. The free festival is sponsored by Delta Petroleum. Development and printing of Endemics Around Me was supported by the Collectivité de Saint-Martin.

The 2026 Endemic Animal Festival is from 9am to noon on Saturday, April 25th and you’re invited! This free event will be at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House. We will have free copies of the Endemics Around Me coloring book, a fun and creative craft activity and more! Come celebrate the special animals that live only on St. Martin or only in our region.

RSVP via the Facebook event page for more info or to invite friends!

The Les Fruits de Mer association invites the public to the Endemic Animal Festival from 9am to noon this Saturday, April 26th at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House. The festival will feature a book launch and giveaway, a craft activity, and the chance to learn about the special animals that live only on our island or only in our region. The festival and all of the activities are free.

“Endemic animals and plants are the most unique part of local nature,” explained Les Fruits de Mer president Jenn Yerkes. “They are the species that live only on this island, or only on a few islands in our area. It’s amazing that there are plants and animals that can only be found here, and nowhere else in the world! They’re an incredible part of St. Martin’s natural heritage. Come out and celebrate them at this free, fun festival!”

St. Martin Unique Nature, a new bilingual coloring book and nature journal, will be launched at the festival. Attendees can take home a free copy. The book presents 40 plants and animals that are unique to St. Martin or our region. The last section of the book features word searches, mazes, storywriting, and other activities starring these special species.

“We are thrilled to launch this book,” said author Mark Yokoyama. “It’s a great way to learn about animals and plants that live only here, like the Bearded Anole and the St. Martin Milk Pea. These are some of our most precious treasures.”

The new book also includes a fun endemic species scavenger hunt. Festival attendees are invited to explore the Amuseum gardens and grounds to find the plants and animals in the hunt. Kids and adults will also enjoy the event’s craft station, where they can decorate canvas pouches with endemic animal designs to take home.

The festival will be from 9am to noon on Saturday, April 26th at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House on the hill above Coconut Grove in French Quarter. The free festival is sponsored by Delta Petroleum. Development and printing of St. Martin Unique Nature was supported by BirdsCaribbean, and the Collectivité de Saint-Martin.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the 2024 Endemic Animal Festival, and special thanks to all the volunteers who made it possible! We had a beautiful day at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House together. Congratulations to everyone who found all 18 animals and plants on the Endemics Hunt, and good luck growing those native thatch palms!

Check out the photos below to see some of the amazing designs created by people of all ages on their endemic-decorated pouches. If you didn’t make it to the event, you can still download Endemics Around Me for free. Also, mark your calendars for the launch and free giveaway of Soualikids Creatures and Soualikids Creatures Coloring Book, 9am to noon this Saturday, May 4th at the Amuseum!

The Les Fruits de Mer association is an all-volunteer nonprofit, and everything we do is made possible by our volunteers. Please come enjoy our free Endemic Animal Festival, 9am to noon this Saturday, April 27th at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House. Learn all about the special animals and plants that are unique to our island. It is also a chance to learn more about our association and how to participate.

Thanks to Agnes Etchegoyen and Gisele Jermin for photos of our fantastic volunteer team!

The Les Fruits de Mer association invites the public to the Endemic Animal Festival from 9am to noon this Saturday, April 27th at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House. The festival will feature a book launch and giveaway, a craft activity, a plant giveaway and the chance to learn about the special animals that live only on St. Martin or only in our region. The festival and all of the activities are free.

“Endemic animals and plants are the most unique part of the nature of this island,” explained Les Fruits de Mer president Jenn Yerkes. “These are the species that live only on St. Martin, or only on a few islands in our area. Lots of people don’t know that there are plants and animals that can only be found here, and nowhere else on the planet! They’re such a special part of St. Martin’s natural heritage. We invite everyone to come have a great time celebrating them at this free, fun festival!”

Endemics Around Me, a new bilingual coloring book and nature journal, will be launched at the festival. Attendees can take home a free copy. The book features 40 plants and animals that are unique to St. Martin or our region.

“We are very excited to release this special book,” said author Mark Yokoyama. “It is a great introduction to animals and plants that live only here, like the Bearded Anole and the St. Martin Milk Pea. These are some of our most precious treasures.”

Kids and adults will enjoy the event’s craft station, where they can decorate canvas pouches with endemic animal designs to take home. There will also be a free giveaway of Thatch Palm seedlings. This beautiful palm is native to St. Martin. Visitors will have the chance to see some of St. Martin’s endemic animals and plants at the event. There will also be an oral history station, where people of all ages can share their stories about life on St. Martin.

The festival will be from 9am to noon on Saturday, April 27th at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House on the hill above Coconut Grove in French Quarter. The free festival is sponsored by Delta Petroleum. Development and printing of Endemics Around Me was supported by the Collectivité de Saint-Martin and the Cité Éducative de Saint-Martin.

At dozens of events on more than 20 islands, people of all ages came together to celebrate and protect their birds. The events were part of the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival, organized by BirdsCaribbean. The festival highlights endemic birds—the ones found only in the region—and how to protect them.

There are over 170 kinds of bird that live only in the Caribbean. Many of these live only on a single island, and many are rare. The events celebrating these unique birds are also unique. Groups all over the region find different ways to celebrate and learn about these birds.

In Puerto Rico, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources took part in several events, including walks, talks and crafts. At the Ponce Museum of Art, a special guided tour shared birds and nature in the museum’s artwork. This was the first tour of its kind in the 60 years since the museum was founded.

This year’s festival theme was Protect Birds: Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution, and many activities featured cleanups and learning about plastic waste. In Jamaica, the National Environment and Planning Agency led activities and games from the BirdSleuth Caribbean program. These activities help kids learn about the problems that birds face, like plastic debris. In Venezuela, the group Ave Zona held a beach cleanup on Isla de Coche. On the island of St. Martin, kids decorated bird feeders made from reused plastic bottles.

“We are so happy that our 18th Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival reached so many people,” said festival coordinator Eduardo Llegus. “We are especially happy to see the many creative ways people have found to share, honor and help our birds. Our birds are unique symbols of our region. To protect them is to protect our heritage, our nature and our communities.”

The Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival is organized by BirdsCaribbean. Thousands of youth and adults participate each year in activities hosted by dozens of local groups on over 20 islands. For more information, visit http://birdscaribbean.org.

A great team of 45 volunteers came together on Sunday to host the Endemic Animal Festival. The event is a showcase for the animals that live only on St. Martin. This year, the festival used the theme Survivors to celebrate many different aspects of local heritage and culture.

“In six years of hosting this event, this was our most amazing team of volunteers yet,” said Les Fruits de Mer President Jenn Yerkes. “People of all ages and backgrounds worked together to share the things that make this island so special. Thanks to this team, we were able to offer more fun activities and interact more with the kids and families that came out to the festival.”

The Endemic Animal Discovery Station has been a feature of the event since the beginning. Guests learn about the critters that live here and nowhere else, and why St. Martin’s nature is so special and unique. Art and craft activities are also a mainstay of the event. This year, guests enjoyed painting bird feeders made from upcycled plastic bottles.

Many exhibits and activities used the Suvivors theme to share other parts of local heritage. At the Story Survival station, guests recorded oral histories about life on St. Martin. A special exhibit of poems, from the recent Lasana M. Sekou book Hurricane Protocol, explored trauma, loss and survival. At the Plantilles Station, guests received seedlings of native trees that can boost survival of native animals. They also took home plants used in bush medicine, which is the island’s oldest healing tradition.

“The festival weaves local nature and culture together in new ways each year,” explained Les Fruits de Mer co-founder Mark Yokoyama. “This island is beautiful and fascinating. It is a joy to share that wonder with young St. Martiners. It’s also a chance for us to learn new things from the guests who come. Listening, recording and sharing are all part of the magic.”

The Endemic Animal Festival was created by the Les Fruits de Mer association. This year’s event was held at Amuseum Naturalis in French Quarter. The Hurricane Protocol and 5,000 Years of Eco exhibits are still on display during museum hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to noon. The 2019 festival was made possible by the support of Gold Sponsor Delta Petroleum and sponsors 97150, BirdsCaribbean, Buzz, IZI Light, L’Auberge Gourmande, Lagoonies Bistro and Bar, L’Esperance Hotel, St. Martin’s Sweetness and Tri-Sport.