Sustainable Curacao

02/08/2024

WILLEMSTAD - Ondanks hun vitaliteit en de vele voordelen die ze bieden, zijn de mangroves op Curaçao momenteel niet beschermd.

02/08/2024

Saturday, October 5th , official start of planting local trees in Curaçao. This year's theme: EVERY HOME A TREE.

01/05/2023

Skillful entrepreneur
Although being positively oblivious to anything related to chickens, Ron Meekel
(1971) realized there are no free-range eggs to be found on Curacao and he knew
he discovered a niche in the market. Meekel is an entrepreneur, a talent inherited
from his parents. He is skillful with his hands, whatever he imagines he can build. In
this manner one project has followed the next in Meekel’s life. He is almost thirty
years old when he arrives on Curacao by boat, a vessel he transformed back in the
Netherlands to a liveaboard ship. The idea is to embark tourists and to moor at
various locations on the island. But first things first, the boat must cross the ocean
through storms, business partners who dropped out, and debts. Ultimately, in 2007,
Meekel disembarked with less than a hundred guilders in change. When someone
inquires if he can build them a ‘palapa’, he has no idea what this is, and he goes to
the beach to assess this structure of wood posts and palm leaf roof. After this first
commission, a second follows, and Palcon (Palapas and Construction) is born. His
business does not stay limited to palapas, soon after more carpentry work follows. At
the Caracasbaaiweg Meekel starts a carpentry and furniture workshop. There, in that
workplace, he starts woodworking courses for women, until his entrepreneurial bug
starts to itch again. Working for private clients is time consuming, it often involves
intense rounds of deliberation and projects dropping off at the last moment.
Therefore, with the mass-production of furniture for hospitality he changes course
once more. Beach loungers, bucket chairs, tables; business takes off. Just then
Meekel strikes up a conversation with the owner of a local supermarket on the topic
of egg consumption. Does he know how many eggs go through in a day? The seed
for free-range egg farm Happy Chicken has actually been planted.
More space for the chicken
“No, I did not have an affinity with chickens, but I saw the potential. Not that a
chicken farm is rocket-science, although I did my research. I found out that it is
prohibited to import eggs on Curacao. The island has two large poultry farms run by
old Portuguese families. They keep their chickens in cages, and that is how I came

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to the idea of a free-range farm. More and more people are making conscious food
choices, buying sustainable or organic food. I started conservatively, with a hundred
chicks. When that took off, and I was able to present figures, I went to the bank with
a business plan. They too saw that there was a market and jumped straight in by
giving me financial backing.”
“In the end I found a lot of 20,000 square meters myself. The guy who rented it from
Domeinbeheer (Public Lands) was the sole inheritor. The deed was transferred to
my name. I wasted no time and expanded to 2,000 chicks. Of the two hectares 8,000
square meters is in use by the farm, and I would like to build a house somewhere on
the rest of the property. To this end the long ground lease needs to be sorted out, so
I can take out a loan. This has been going on for years now. In Curaçao many
people are waiting for land rights to be released. This is so unfair, I find it hard to
take. It annoys me.”
“In the beginning, I ran into my fair share of government barriers. A free-range farm
is considerably more labor intensive than a battery farm, so I had to raise prices. By
contrast, battery chickens, stacked three stories high in cages, lay clean eggs. Those
businesses push a button twice daily, once to take the feed to the cages, the second
time to collect the eggs. My chickens roam free, I incur more costs feeding, picking,
and cleaning. The department for agriculture threatened to recall my eggs from the
shelves, even after the minister had granted my license. That cost me a lot of money
to resolve the issue. That first period was very difficult.”
“Yes, this is quite different from a boat with tourists, yet fun. Chicken farming does
not run in the family, so I had to reinvent the wheel. Right at the beginning I did not
vaccinate against smallpox. Looking at the head of a chicken you notice immediately
whether it is ill or not. Or there were some that looked off and were a bit listless. Two
vets from the Veterinarian Service dissected a chicken on the spot, which made
quite an impression on me. We added supplements and vitamins and they improved.
I understand better and better how it works, and what the chickens need. I am happy
here. I am content. Here I live in freedom and have plenty of space.”

A bunch of chicks
The chicks are from the Netherlands. They are crated the same day that they are
born and, after receiving a clean bill of health, flown by plane to Curaçao. After
arrival at Happy Chicken the one-day chicks, usually counting 2,000, are given a
clean nest in one of the smaller cages. They have virtually no feathers yet and need
to be kept warm and snug after sundown. Meanwhile, farmer Meekel has been
hunting for rats for over a month. He shoots and poisons them, as a rat will easily
devour two to three chicks each night. You cannot have hundreds of those. Meekel
keeps a constant eye on the offspring. One could drop in the water bowl and cool off

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too much. Chicks need to eat and drink well and kept dry. Sometimes the little chicks
do not manage to drink from the spout of the water dispenser, which is why there are
always little containers with water in the chicken run. When the chicks have gained
weight and grown sufficiently, they are transferred to a larger space. They are only
ready to lay eggs after five months, however. The chicken farmer runs a high risk
during these first few months. The breeding and nurturing of the chicks represents a
considerable investment. For a batch of 5,000 new-born chickens the expenditure in
feed alone equals 80,000 guilders in five months.

Happy chickens
There, at a remote location somewhere in the eastern part of Curaçao, about 6,000
chickens are ranging in chicken runs made by Meekel. The chicken wire fencing has
openings here and there to allow natural light. Chickens are sand bathing in places,
they take to the sand as a fish to water. Others are nibbling a drink of water from the
spout of the dispenser, while others still are scraping feed from the edges of a plastic
container. The feed is automatically replenished. That’s how the hens cluck and
scratch around. How many square meters is allocated to each chicken Meekel does
not know precisely, but it is definitely more than the legal norm of nine chickens per
square meter. That norm is simply inadequate. Roosters are not welcome here. A
fertilized egg needs to be hatched and then a hen will stop laying for a while.
The chickens in the runs of Happy Chicken are of the Brown Nick breed. These are
the cream of the crop of the layer chickens. In contrast to broilers, which are
sometimes ready for slaughter in five weeks, layer chickens can last up to a year and
a half. At that point the balance between cost of feed plus labor and proceeds of
eggs starts to shift. The ‘old girls’ are collected or donated. The run is emptied and is
cleaned thoroughly. Over the months a thick layer of chicken p**p has formed and is
scraped off the bottom. After deep cleaning the chicken run is ready for the fresh
crop of layer chickens of five months old, raised at the farm. They first will have to be
vaccinated. Four assistants from the local community are enlisted to give each
chicken a shot, to put them in metal cages, and drive up to the clean run. And so,
through the years the cycle repeats itself. Every five months a new shipment of one-
day-old chicks arrives, and the old guard gives way to a new crop of young and
productive chickens.

World champion in chicken feed
Dry feed is imported from the Netherlands. Each month Happy Chicken orders a
shipping container with approximately 23,000 kilos of chicken feed. The feed has all
the nutrients the chickens need. Farmer Meekel did look at alternatives and tried to

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buy the feed closer to home in either Colombia or Surinam. But these suppliers were
more expensive, so he follows established habits of chicken farmers before him. Not
only is the chicken feed from the Netherlands cheaper, but also of better quality. The
Netherlands is, according to Meekel, ‘world champion in animal husbandry’, with the
best cows, pigs and chickens. This is owing to the excellent cooperation between the
agricultural sector and Wageningen University, a Dutch university specialized in
agriculture. He does feed his crop fruits and vegetables, but less so when compared
to the period when pigs were still roaming the terrain. The chickens suffered from a
calcium deficit as a result. The eggs could break in the cloaca, incurring the risk of
internal bleeding. Or the shell would be too soft, and many eggs would break. The
chicken population is fed additional multivitamins monthly through the drinking water.
The water is drawn from wells on the land and kept in cisterns. Through a piped
system about 1,500 liters of water is sent to the chicken runs each day. With good
feed, plenty of water and extra vitamins the chickens stay healthy. A virus such as
the bird flu, which forced farms in the Netherlands to clear complete populations of
birds, is absent on Curaçao. However, the chickens are inoculated three times
against other diseases, such as the smallpox. Nevertheless, Meekel is forever
careful and does not allow just anyone on the property.

Fresh from the box
An egg from Happy Chicken is a fresh egg. It must be put on the supermarket
shelves in less than a week after collection. That is the strict requirement which
farmer Meekel has imposed on himself. On average a farmworker collects 2,000
eggs daily. They are laid by the hens in special laying boxes in the runs. That is quite
a difference from the battery hen, where the egg is excreted on a metal channel and
rolls off. An egg from the laying box is dirty with sand and p**p. Therefore, the eggs
of Happy Chicken are all cleaned and dried in a special facility before being boxed.
Storing eggs to fill peak demand is out of the question. An older egg is easily
recognized in the pan. The egg white will flow out. With a fresh egg the yolk and
white are cozily sputtering together in a lump. Because of its ‘freshness guarantee’
Happy Chicken was asked to supply

Hidden Green Movement

02/04/2023

26/03/2023

Hidden Green Movement: Luberisse Celestin

Base haitiano
Luberisse Celestin (1979) ta pará entre su kabritunan i karnénan. Buts na su pia,
paña mará na kabes, anto kamisa ku manga hisá pa su barika keda fresku. Goloso e
lamchi na su brasa ta bebe e lechi den e bòter. Atento su yu Dialine di ocho aña ta
wak kon su tata ta kuida e bestianan. Su yu hòmber Jean di 16 aña ta trahando parti
patras riba e tereno. Méskos manera su yunan awor, Celestin a siña bida di
kunukero, tempu ku e tabata mucha serka su famia na Haiti. Simplemente dor di
opservá i yuda. Su mayornan, abuelonan, tio i tianan, nan tur ta den kultivo di fruta i
bèrdura. Pero ta ora Luberisse Celestin a yega Kòrsou numa, el a saka su soño
komo agente polisial for di su kabes.
E tin 21 aña na momentu ku na febrüari 2001 e yega Kòrsou pa Festival di Tumba.
Luberisse gusta músika, ritmo i kanto. Ta su manera pa hasi su kabes bashí. Ora su
amigunan kont’é di e festival na Kòrsou, e mes ke bai e festival pa eksperensi’é
personalmente. Celestin ta keda Kòrsou. E komunidat haitiano estrecho ku tin na
Kòrsou ta bira su famia nobo. Nan ta yud’é ku trabou i kaminda pa biba. E ta kue
djòp aki aya.
Na Bándariba Celestin i su kasá Joselene, ta probechá un oportunidat. For di aña
2012 nan a kuminsá lanta nan mes kunuku. Kompletamente for di sero. Nan ta traha
duru i pasa hopi trabou. Anto tòg nan no lo ke otro. Ya komo ku esaki ta e esensia.
Sin kuminda tur kos ta para. Asta ekonomia. No tur hende ta konsiente di esei. Pues
Celestin mester splika su mes yunan ku trabou di un kunukero no ta ‘fis’ manera otro
hende ta bisa nan. Ta nèt kontrali, e trabou di kunukero ta importante i balioso.
Kompartí
“Nos ta lanta mainta tempran den kareda di kuat’or pa sink’or. Anochi dies or, nos ta
bai drumi. Tin biá mi mester lanta mardugá pa mi kontrolá e bestianan. E ora ei
mésora mi ta wak ku tur kos ta oké ku e tanki, anto riba tereno. Nos ta traha duru i
nos ta hasi loke nos por riba un dia. Mi ta satisfecho ora nos logra traha seis pa ocho
ora pa dia. Nunka un kunukero ta produsí pa su mes so, pero pa hinter komunidat.

Nos ta yuda otro anto si por, nos ta kompartí loke nos tin. Esei ta e úniko manera pa
bai dilanti. Trahandó huntu.”
“Mi ta konsiente ku bida ta algu importante. Ta importante ku nos ta kuida otro, pasó
no tur hende ta haña e mésun oportunidatnan. Un ta mas sabí ku e otro. Esun ta
haña mas gòlpi di bida ku e otro. Pero kada persona ta importante. Un bida sin
amor, sin kontakto ku otro hende, esei no ta bida. Nos tin mester di otro. Mi ta purba
di ta amabel i bon ku tur hende.”
“No, kultivo di bèrdura i fruta no ta difísil. Si bo gusta i hasié ku amor, bo ta siña lihé.
Anto sí, bo mester tin amor pa e trabou akí. Méskos ku un mayor ku su yunan, un
kunukero ta responsabel pa kuido di su mata i bestianan. Mi ta kontentu ku loke mi
tin. Un dia tin sufisiente pa kumpra hopi pan, anto otro dia tin sèn pa ménos pan.
Luho no ta importante. Hende ta bunita di su mes, no pa e pañanan ku e ta bisti i e
kosnan luhoso ku e tin.”
“Nos lo mester tin mas apresio pa loke nos mes ta kultivá na Kòrsou. Hopi hende ta
asosiá trabou riba tera ku trabou di katibu di ántes. Nan ta gusta baila na un hòfi i
kome dushi kuminda, pero nan no ta pensa ta di unda e produktonan a sali. Ta kiko
bo ta buska ora bo bai supermerkado? Ko’i kome! Ta di unda esei ta bin? Fo’i tera!
Nos komo kunukero ta sòru pa hinter mundu. Pa kuminda. Esei meresé hopi respèt.
Kuminda ta bini na promé lugá.”
“Salú ta kuminsá ku bon kuminda. Hende mester kome. Esun ku no kome bon, no
por nada. Esei tambe ta konta pa e hendenan bistí nèchi sintá tras di nan kòmpiuter
na ofisina. Na Kòrsou ainda tin hopi tera liber pa produsí kuminda. Pero tur kos ta
trata di sèn. Lo ta bon si tin mas atenshon pa e problemanan di kunukero. Pa sòru
ku pueblo lo tin sufisiente ko’i kome den futuro. Esei ta bon pa hinter e isla. Bo so ku
bo so, no por logra hopi, pero huntu sí. Huntu nos por yuda ekonomia krese.”
Di mondi te hòfi
Celestin ta kalkulá ku su kunuku ta midi alrededor di dos hèktar. Aktualmente e tera
ta plantá ku tur tipo di bèrdura i palu di fruta. Ora bo kore ku outo, riba parti haltu
pasa e kunuku, djaleu bo ta mira palunan di papaya i palmanan di koko. Esaki ta
totalmente un otro bista kompará ku dia ku Celestin i su kasá a disidí pa kuminsá un
kunuku aki. No tabatin nada. Hinter e tereno tabata mondi. Tera tabata kankan di
yerba malu, arbusto, mata i palu shimaron. Tabata usa e tereno remoto i bandoná
akí, pa tira shushi afó i pa strep outo.
Den e último añanan nan dos a transformá e mondi den un hòfi fruktífero. Nan mes
a planta kada simia den tera. Nan ta biba huntu ku nan dos yunan na un kas ku nan
a konstruí kompletamente nan mes, riba e tereno. Kada piedra di nan kas, ta nan
mes a pone. Celestin mes a traha tur instalashon. Djis banda di nan kas tin un
tereno será ku 52 kabritu i 15 karné. E bestianan ta haña loke sobra di bèrdura i

fruta ku tin riba e tereno. Anto nan ta kontribuí na produkshon di lechi di kabritu i
karni di karné. Tras di e kouchi tin dos baki awa grandi ku ta yen yen di awa.
Un par paso mas aleu bo ta kana subi e kunuku. Tur kaminda bo ta tende e
mulinanan ku ta saka awa for di e posnan, ta krak i pip. Tras di un boske ku palu di
papaya, bakoba i palma di koko, bo ta mira e kunuku hanchu yen di bèrdura i yerba.
Aki riba un tereno habrí entre e solo kayente i bientu ku ta supla duru, tin entre otro
tomati, kònkòmber, batata dushi, yambo, berenhèin, yuka, milon i pampuna. Anto
bou di e sombra di un tela kontra solo ku sa ta hopi pika, e asina yamá
schaduwgaas tin silantro, pitiseli i otro yerba. Di e manera akí un mondi ku bo no por
a kana dor di dje, a kambia bira un botika natural yená ku kultivo saludabel i
kurativo.
Sírkulo di bida
Plug, sembra, kosechá. Riba tera tin un sírkulo di bida chikí ta tuma lugá. Dia aden,
dia afó. Kuantu, ku kua frekuensha mester sembra i kosechá, ta dependé di e
vegetashon. Konsientemente Celestin a skohe pa un variashon di fruta i bèrdura
amplio. Dje manera ei su famia por kome tur dia i e ta fléksibel pa ku su klientenan.
Esakinan ta supermerkadonan i restorantnan. Ya komo ku kada kultivo tin su mes
siklo. Bakoba, yuka i papaya ta kla pa kosechá despues di seis luna. Pero bonchi i
kònkòmber ya despues di seis pa shete dia. Silantro despues di dos siman i warmus
despues di seis siman.
E kultivonan ta alterná. E kunuku ta partí den pida pida anto tin kanal ku ta un poko
mas abou. Den e kanalnan ta planta e simianan òf krio. E ora ei ta kestion di chapi
yerba malu, muha i pèilu wak kon ta bayendo. Méskos ku e ta kuida su mes yunan,
asina Celestin ta kuida su kultivo. Debésenkuando e ta duna nan poko vitamina
èkstra. Si ta nesesario e ta trata nan ku venenu biológiko. Por ehèmpel kontra pispis.
Tres pos i dos renbak
Na Haiti e mésun kultivo ta krese bou di sirkunstansia teribel. Pues ku un solo
masha kayente i bientu ku ta supla duru. Méskos ku na Kòrsou, na Haiti
disponibilidat di awa ta un di e preokupashonnan di mas grandi. Pero aya
kunukeronan por konta ku awa di riu pa un parti di aña. Aki Celestin a haña otro
solushon pa por tin sufisiente awa hinter aña. Na tres punto di e kunuku el a koba
pos. E mulinanan riba e posnan ta saka e awa for di tera. Seguidamente e awa ta
wòrdu di pòmp i transportá te na e kultivo pa medio di un ret di p**a.
Celestin mes a traha hinter e sistema di pos, mulina i p**a. Sigur e konstrukshon di e
pianan di e mulinanan ku mester ta wáterpas, ta un asuntu ku ta rekerí masha
konosementu. El a siña kon tur kos ta funshoná for di buki i kompanianan ku e
tabatin kontakto kuné via imeil. E tabata hasi e kompanianan tur tipo di pregunta.

Ainda e konosementu ei ta sirbié ora algu kibra. E mes ta mantené i drecha e
sistema pa muha e kultivo.
Banda di e awa di pos, e matanan ta risibí awa di e dos renbaknan ku ta komuniká
ku e sistema di irigashon. Na e kunuku mes tur trabou mester wòrdu hasí
manualmente. P**a i slan ku mester kambia di lugá, habri i sera kranchi. Esei ta algu
ku ta riba programa diariamente. Pa Celestin esaki ta sinti komo un kompetensha.
Ora un parti di e kunuki a haña sufisiente awa, e otro parti tin set.
Sistema pa duna mata awa ku kòmpiuter
Huntu ku su kasá, nan yu hòmber i dos òf tres otro hende, Celestin ta logra tene e
kunuku na òrdu. E famia ta hinka tur energia i dedikashon den e kunuku. Ora por
nan ta skohe pa renobashon. Otro simia, mihó opshon pa kombatí malesa di e
matanan òf un solushon pa protehé e kultivo di e solo kayente – manera ku e
“schaduwgaas”.
Si e lo tabatin e sèn, Luberisse lo a invertí den un sistema pa muha e kultivo pa
medio di kòmpiuter. Ya di e manera ei e irigashon lo wòrdu regulá den diferente
fase. Outomátikamente e produkshon lo subi. Méskos ku den kaso di uso di trèktòr i
mashin. E ora ei e tin tur kos den su mes poder i e por tene su mes na un plan. E
kompania lo bai dilanti.
Esei lo ta bunita. Pero nan ta traha ku loke nan tin. Pa Luberisse i Joselene gana
plaka no tin prioridat. Nan ta satisfecho ku e kosecha di fruta i bèrdura saludabel.
Anto asta si e kosecha no ta loke nan a fèrwagt, semper tin sufisiente pa kome.
Fresku i natural.

06/07/2022

06/07/2022

The Double-striped Thick-knee is a large shorebird of dry grasslands and savannahs. Its big yellow eyes give it excellent nighttime vision and therefor the bird is mostly active at night. They feed by walking along and bending over to pick up small invertebrates.
The native range of this bird stretches from southern Mexico to northwestern Costa Rica, Northern South America and Hispaniola.
This individual has been present on the island since late February. It is the second reported sighting of this species on the island and comes 87 years after the first reported sighting in 1934.

Picture by Quinlan Cijntje

Curaçao 2022

Double-striped Thick-knee – Caribische Griel – Snepi di mondi
(Burhinus bistriatus)

06/07/2022

26/06/2022

The Ocean Cleanup has developed the first scalable solution to efficiently intercept plastic in rivers before it reaches the oceans.

14/03/2022

04/03/2022

Reduce your carbon footprint and run a spectacular eco-friendly event with these 24 sustainable event ideas.

24/12/2021

11/09/2021

Nice initiative in the Middle East

“WATCH: More than 42 million old vehicle tyres dumped in Kuwait's sands have started to be recycled, as the Gulf state tackles a waste problem that created one of the world's largest tyre graveyards https://t.co/oTnW4oRrLO https://t.co/CFAtAJlqR9”