Jan Beaujon retires as chairman of the board of Nature Foundation
After 25 years of faithful service to the Nature Foundation Sint Maarten, Jan Beaujon has retired fromthe board of Nature Foundation Sint Maarten.Mr. Beaujon joined the board shortly after the founding of the foundation in 1997. Following the suddenpassing of Mr. Joe Vliegen in 2000, who was one of the founding fathers of the organization, Mr.Beaujon then took on the post of Chairman.With a long career within the banking world and private sector, Nature Foundation has prospered fromJan Beaujon’s financial background and leadership in guiding the organization to carry out itscommitment to conservation, management and education of natural resources and environment of SintMaarten. Further, his perception and solution-oriented mindset has been instrumental in overcomingcritical periods when funding for executing the work of the foundation was not available.Until his retirement in 2013, Jan Beaujon was the General Manager of the Windward Island Bank and hehas since remained active in efforts heightening the economic, social, cultural and environmentalwellbeing of Sint Maarten, for which he in past years have been awarded “Person of the Year” at theCrystal Pineapple Awards by Sint Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association SHTA and received the royaldecoration as Knight in the Order of Oranje-Nassau.Jan Beaujon is succeeded by Binkie van Es as the new chairman. Binkie is well-known in the communityfor his engagement in nature conservation and bird expertise, and a long career on the island. Currentlythe Board of Nature Foundation consists of 5 members: Binkie van Es (Chairman), Ellinger Paul
(Treasurer), Rikke Bachmann Speetjens (Secretary), Gianne de Weever-Wilson and Eudoxia Williams-James.
“On behalf of everyone within the Nature Foundation, I want to thank you whole-heartedly for all youhave done for the foundation through the many years of voluntary work on the board as chairman”, saidincoming chairman Binkie van Es, during an appreciation event held for the outgoing chairman. “Thefoundation will continue to work towards the goal of strengthening conservation efforts in all aspects,by working with educators, policy makers and the public. Conservation is a state of harmony betweenman and land,” added van Es. Jan Beajon was awarded with a token of appreciation, an artwork madeby local artist Laurey-Ann Fairbairn, representing the brown pelican. The brown pelican is the nationalbird of Sint Maarten and is seen as an epitome for the importance of the natural environment on theisland.“The Nature Foundation has been a part of my life and it makes me very emotional to retire from theboard. I would like to thank all, current and past dedicated board members, managers and staff for
where the foundation is today. I wish the best for the continued work and new projects for thefoundation and will remain available as an external advisor who knows the organization from theinside,” said Jan Beaujon.The Nature Foundation Sint Maarten manages the marine park “Man O war Shoal” and is recognized asthe organization to assist the government on issues related to management of the environment and itspreservation. The foundation is led by manager Leslie Hickerson, and has three core staff members, aswell as four temporary project-based staff members. The foundation is part of the regional network,DCNA (Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance).
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