Hilma Hooker

• 3 Aug 2026ConservationOngoingApplies to Bonaire

  Bonaire's coral reef is disappearing, researchers warn

  DutchNews.nl

  In August 2026 Dutch researchers told broadcaster NOS that coral covers about 5 percent of the seabed around Bonaire, against more than 60 percent fifty years ago, based on a first analysis of unpublished fieldwork; a 2025 Wageningen report had put cover under 10 percent. Reef Renewal says it has planted 20,000 coral pieces, which it acknowledges is not enough.

  Also reported by NL Times

• 3 Feb 2024RulesOngoingApplies to Bonaire

  Boat Master License 3 Required for Commercial Vessels from January 2025

  Bonaire Insider (infobonaire.com)

  In February 2024 Bonaire's Port Office announced that from 1 January 2025 owners and operators of commercial vessels must hold a Boat Master License 3, with vessels in the marine park also needing a nature permit. The Caribbean Netherlands Shipping Inspectorate confirms the Boatmaster 3 certificate has been obligatory for captains of commercial vessels since 1 January 2025.

  Also reported by Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland

• 27 Aug 2025ConservationApplies to Bonaire

  Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire successfuly breeds rare pillar coral

  DIVE Magazine

  In August 2025 Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire announced that its scientists had bred critically endangered pillar coral in the lab from sperm and eggs collected at a spawning event. The young corals are to be grown in underwater nurseries and later transplanted onto Bonaire's reefs, where pillar coral has declined sharply.

  Also reported by Caribbean Journal

• 20 Feb 2024ConservationApplies to Bonaire

  Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire expands coral restoration plans

  DIVE Magazine

  In February 2024 Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire reported widening its coral nursery and restoration network around Bonaire and Klein Bonaire, with new west-coast nursery sites and more planned through 2024. The work is funded by the Dutch ministry and the Bonaire municipality and uses coral strains that have shown resilience to stony coral tissue loss disease and bleaching.

Summaries are ours, written from the linked reports.