Internship Echo Bonaire

Last year around this time I was doing an internship at Echo on the efficacy of invasive herbivore exclusion zone (Roi Sangu) to restore dry forest biodiversity. Together with Echo’s staff and fellow interns I went out into the field multiple days a week to measure, count and identify vegetation. Later, I compared my data with that of 2017 to conclude the efficacy of the fences around Roi Sangu to protect its’ vegetation from invasive herbivores such as goats and donkeys (of which, you might have noticed, are a good few on Bonaire). My internship consisted of around 50% parrot husbandry and 50% of my own research into the biodiversity of Roi Sangu.

Although, at times, I really needed to rely on my discipline to get out into Bonaire’s dry forest jungle to do the repetitive work of my study, and I got sweaty and scratched up a ton in the process, I would not have traded my experiences at Echo for the world. I had never worked with birds before, but I quickly made friends with Echo’s loras and I loved feeding them in the mornings. It was a nice routine that I miss.

Before my internship, I had visited Bonaire twice already, but it was only last year that I really got to know Bonaire in and out. The island and Echo’s staff will forever have a special place in my heart and I often think back on it with a smile on my face.