The Uniek Curaçao Foundation was established in 1991 as a working group during a training program by the Curaçao Tourism Development Bureau, after which the group continued as a project group. They organized various photo exhibitions and released publications that promoted Curaçao as a special and unique island.
The vision at the time was that, no matter how small the island may be, it has a great treasure trove of culture and nature that is not properly appreciated. The people promoting Curaçao tourism were not well informed about what was available and were promoting less than 5% of the possibilities.
In the autumn of 1992, the project group became an official foundation. The founders first worked mainly from a touristic point of view. Over the following years, the range of excursions grew, and the emphasis shifted to introducing Curaçao citizens to their own island, the 'Konosé bo isla' (know your own island) principle. The concept was introduced by De Extra, the largest newspaper in Curaçao, in its column 'Konosé Bo Isla,' which reported on the special places on the island. An interesting consequence of this approach was that it encouraged community organizations to approach the foundation with requests for help. Partly because of this, the foundation became involved in neighborhood-focused excursions, activities, and improvement projects. Over the years, the maintenance and sustainable development of various nature reserves on the island has been added to this.
