CFS promotes a sustainable development that will enhance the quality of life and will respect the natural resources for future generations. As a first step to fulfilling that mission an environmental week was organized in October 2007.

Further, the foundation will seek cooperation with schools, other environmental organizations and governments to highlight important issues of sustainability like alternative energy, saving energy, saving water, agriculture, transport, enforcement and control, climate change and projects that can make the community more aware of innovations that can help with a greener and more livable future.

Paul Mooij

Since 1985 he has worked as an assistant prosecutor for the prosecutor’s office in Leeuwarden (The Netherlands). In 1988 the environment became an issue in Holland after several environmental disasters. The Ministry of Environmental Affairs pushed environmental enforcement by financing jobs like environmental assistant prosecutors but also environmental police officers. He made a switch from the regular criminal cases to environmental cases in this new job, financed by this Ministry, in the same prosecutor’s office. The moment that the Minister of Justice recognized environmental enforcement as a part of the criminal enforcement task of the prosecutor’s office was a very important step forward. In the first few years it was an internal struggle, as this full time job was not fully recognized by the chief prosecutor who was still focused on regular criminal investigations.

In this job he set up an environmental unit and started to coordinate the enforcement of the police, environmental (and building) inspectors from city councils and the Province of Friesland, Waterschappen (government body that regulates the quality and quantity of water), and other inspectors working in this field (like animal protection, endangered species etc). And soon also a full time environmental prosecutor was appointed and the enforcement with motivated police coordinators took a big step in the right direction.

In 1997, after 9 years of environmental enforcement coordination he had to switch to the heavy crime unit and in 2001, he moved with his wife Diana and two daughters Stephanie and Cynthia to St. Maarten to assist in the criminal enforcement. Soon after he arrived he realized that environmental enforcement was 20 years behind and he was shocked to see it in the same kingdom. So much littering, wrecks, sewage, outdated laws, lack of permits, polluted lagoon, polluted Great Bay, toxic dump close to town, oil pollution, shacks, waste of water, waste of energy, and hardly enforcement (which is also not (yet) fully recognized by the prosecutor’s office in Curacao).

This was reason enough to pick-up part of his former job and to see what could be done about a little bit more enforcement and making residents and government more aware. During the many inspections with or without inspectors on the island it became clear that a lot needed to be done about awareness within the community and politicians.

If you look around in the world you will see that everywhere people are becoming very aware of their limited natural resources and take action and then it becomes even more clear that St. Maarten is lagging far behind which was the reason to set up this foundation in April 2007.

In September 2007 his contract at the Prosecutor’s Office ended and he started to work as a legal consultant with Stomp Lawyers in Simpson Bay.

Monique Hofman

Monique Hofman was born in the Netherlands and started many years ago practicing law in St. Maarten. She has worked for many years with Van Giffen Law Office but then she and her husband decided recently to join forces in a new Law Office called Bermon Law Office in Frontstreet where they practice civil- and criminal law.

if you work in this small community it is not hard to see the many problems around you. She became very involved with the animal problem on the island and decided to act which has resulted in the establishment of Animals R Friends foundation in September 2003. She is the president of this foundation and through this same involvement with the community and her worries about the degrading environment of St. Maarten she also volunteered to become a board-member of the Caribbean Foundation for Sustainability. With this she hopes to support a better and greener future for St. Maarten.

Donald Webster

Donald Webster was born on the island of St. Croix USVI. At the young age of two his father and mother brought him to Saint Martin, where he was raised by his grandmother.

He was raised entirely by his grandmother although his aunts and uncles at times did assist in parenting.
Living on the French St. Martin (French territory) while attending school on Dutch St. Maarten (Dutch territory) allowed him a deep sense of appreciation and respect for the entire island.

Donald is a strong advocate of sustainable development, at times he can be heard over our local radio waves sharing his concerns about the environment and development of the island.
He believes that the children are the future and it’s the same with our environment, for it is the environment that will have to sustain and protect us all.

As a member of CFS, Donald Webster assists in the many activities that will help promote environmental awareness through-out the community and he is also the spokesperson for the foundation.