By Gerbert Kunst, Representative of the Netherlands on Curaçao, Aruba, Sint Maarten
The lights dim and the film begins. A distinguished audience of interested guests, filmmakers, initiators, two prime ministers and the governor sit in Oranjestad, watching the screen with anticipation. They are about to witness something we all cherish within the Kingdom: Our nature – a nature that belongs to everyone and forms a bridge across the Kingdom, connecting the six Caribbean islands with the European Netherlands and back again.
The stories we see focus on Aruba’s rattlesnake and the Shoco owl. In other parts, the film takes us on a journey to the other five islands in the Caribbean-part of the Kingdom. The result is a series of breath-taking and deeply moving images, with nature’s protagonists making a profound impression. Over time, our flora and fauna have managed to endure, often despite the challenges posed by human activity, and today they continue to thrive – thanks to the dedication and commitment of passionate professionals.
Have we underestimated nature – its resilience, adaptability and capacity for innovation? These are precisely the themes we seek to place at the heart of cooperation within the Kingdom. I reflect that building connections and bridges is also the mission of the Representation of the Netherlands in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten.
What can I learn from nature?
In the film, we see dedicated professionals working tirelessly to protect our natural environment. Yet nature itself is also in motion and plays the leading role – in the sea and the sky, on the beaches and across the land. It has done so for generations.
It is wonderful that educational programmes are being developed to help us. Our young people, especially, engage more responsibly with nature, ensuring that future generations can experience the same sense of wonder that we feel today. You can even become an ambassador for WOW! The Nature Film – a so-called WOWie. But, of course, you do not have to, because aren’t we all WOWies at heart?
Recently, through the Small Projects Fund, the Representation had the opportunity to support The Power of Water, an interdisciplinary project by the Children’s Museum. In this initiative, children creatively explore what water means for their island, their lives, and their future. What struck me most was the collaboration between local and international artists. Through photography and performance art centred on water, children engaged with questions of climate change, heritage, and identity. These too are WOWies in the making.
I experienced this first-hand while visiting veterinarian Odette Doest, flamingo Bob, and their many animal companions, the heroes featured in the Curaçao segment of the documentary. Together, they visit schools to provide nature education. At its heart, it is about passion for one another, a sense of purpose, and the power of nature. Sharing that passion is what moves us forward.
Personally, I enjoy walking and cycling through the dunes near my home in the Netherlands and, since my posting with the Representation, through the salt ponds of Curaçao. In those places, silence and untamed nature often come close to me. Nature endures, yet it is constantly changing, and that has always fascinated me.
It brings me back to childhood memories of visiting Terschelling with my parents. That island has always remained in my mind as one of the most authentic parts of the Netherlands, a place that inspired a sense of adventure and discovery. I became fascinated by the vast emptiness of the tidal flats, the magnificent skies, and the restless sea.
I later tried, sometimes with mixed success, to pass on my passion for the meeting point of land and sea, the birds and crabs, the sweeping horizons, and the challenge of anticipating the tides and mudflats to my own children. Not everyone appreciates a rainy mudflat walk to Schiermonnikoog quite as much as I do.
Perhaps it is this foundation that explains the attraction and connection I feel toward the Caribbean islands, and especially Curaçao, where I now live. From Oosterend on Terschelling to Oostpunt on Curaçao, where I can see and have climbed the Table Mountain from my home, there is a continuity that resonates deeply with me. And, thankfully, my family is much easier to convince when it comes to these adventures.
A lesson from the nature of the Kingdom
How wonderful it is that these filmmakers have revealed nature’s strength to us. It is a force that resonates differently with every individual, evoking personal memories and profound experiences, from childhood to the present day, from moments of wonder to hours spent wandering without any awareness of time.
Equally beautiful is the way the film illustrates the connections within the Kingdom itself – a sea that unites rather than divides us; birds that encounter no passport controls; and a unique biodiversity that transcends constitutional boundaries and political structures.
WOW! The Nature Film holds up a mirror to us. It reminds us, through the language of water, that our Kingdom is larger, more diverse, more vibrant, and more colourful than we often realize. Cooperation within the Kingdom is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Nature is the invisible thread that binds us all together and can serve as a source of inspiration.
After all, we all breathe the same air, whether you are standing on Terschelling or on the shores of Caracas Bay.
And with this film, and with every compliment to its creators, that may well be the most valuable lesson that the nature of our Kingdom has to offer us all.
