NETHERLANDS COMMISSION FOR 
INTERNATIONAL NATURE PROTECTION 
Secretariat: P.O.B. 2138, The Hague, Holland 
Juliana van Stolberglaan 148 
Telephone: 070 - 83 91 00 
NETHERLANDS FOUNDATION FOR 
INTERNATIONAL NATURE PROTECTION 
(VAN TIENHOVEN FOUNDATION) 
Library : Herengracht 540, Amsterdam 
Telephone: 020 - 24 6212 
Dr. Alexander Wetmore, 
Research Associate, 
Smithsonian Institution 
Washington D.C. 20560 , 
U.S.A. 
Dear Wetmore, 
It was a great pleasure to meet Bea and you in Wassenaar and The 
Hague, if only for a very short time. 
I told you I visited the Netherlands Antilles in May and June 1970, 
at the invitation of the Netherlands-Antillian Government and in 
order to advise them on the establishment and management of nature 
reserves. 
One of the outstanding nature areas in the Antilles is Northwest- 
Bonaire. The northern part of this area, the National Park of 
Washington, is now safe. The southern part, Brasil with the greater 
portion of the Goto Lake, is owned by the Federal Government. I have 
proposed to the Government to make Brasil a nature reserve. 
The plantation in between, Slagbaai, where you stayed in 19&9, is 
still the private property of the Beaujon family, whom you and Bea 
know quite well. You will agree with me and many nature preservationists 
that it would be of the greatest importance if Slagbaai would form part 
of one large national park covering the whole of Northwest Bonaire. 
During my stay in Curasao I discussed this with Dr. J.H.R.Beaujon 
(Junior), the pharmacist^, living at Berg Carmelweg 4» Curasao. It 
seems that the family would be willing to sell Slagbaai to the Govern¬ 
ment, provided a fair amount is offered. 
So far there is no ordinance which could prohibit the sale of private 
properties to foreign companies which might want to develop these 
areas as tourist resorts. The only remaining possibility is, therefore, 
that the Government buys Slagbaai. 
In my report to the Government I am going to advise them to consider 
such a proposal. As a matter of fact, the money needed for buying 
is not available in Curasao and must be donated or loaned by the 
Netherlands Government (which, generally speaking, is prepared to 
financially assist in such matters). 
Since you and Bea know the Beaujon family fairly well, I would ask you 
to write to Mr. Jan H.R.Beaujon (Senior), Fransche Bloemweg 12, and 
let him know about our meeting at The Hague and our discussing the 
future of Slagbaai. 
Your 
