Mangrove forest along Palisadoes has remained constant – NEPA
Published:Saturday | June 5, 2021 | 12:09 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Friday’s planting of 20 mangrove saplings at three islets along the Palisadoes strip leading to the Norman Manley International Airport within the Palisadoes-Port Royal Protected Area was a major step in the right direction for the country.
That’s according to head of Caribbean Sub-Regional Office, United Nations Environment Programme, Vincent Sweeney.
Sweeney – who took part in the early-morning exercise along with CEO of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), Peter Knight; academic coordinator of the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory, Camil Trench; and Environment Minister Pearnel Charles Jr – said much more needs to be done to highlight the gains Jamaica has been making in the restoration and preservation of the natural environment.
“I think they sent a very good signal today in terms of the mangrove planting and trying to demonstrate that they want to balance development alongside ecosystems management, and even though the effort this morning was a small step, it was indicative of a much larger effort that perhaps goes unnoticed in Jamaica, in that, there are large mangrove-restoration activities going on across the country by NEPA and supported by The University of the West Indies,” he told The Gleaner afterwards.
Today is being observed as World Environment Day and the mangrove-planting exercise coincides with NEPA’s 20th anniversary as well as the observance of National Environment Awareness Week from June 1-8 as well as the launch of the United Nations’ Decade on Ecosystem Restoration from 2021-2030.
“Certainly, the message needs to get out because Jamaica is doing a lot more than perhaps people recognise. I am not sure that they are doing all that they need to do, but surely they’re signalling that they are serious about ecosystems restoration and ... the United Nations Environment Programme is very happy to know what’s happening and very happy to work with them as we continue to promote ecosystems restoration,” added Sweeney.
Friday’s event also marked the launch of a larger project titled ‘Wetland Restoration along Palisadoes Strip, Palisadoes-Port Royal Protected Area’, which is being implemented by NEPA with support from The University of the West Indies’ Centre of Marine Sciences. The Palisadoes-Port Royal Protected Area is approximately 75.23 kilometre square and was declared under the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act in 1998. It was also designated in 2005 as Jamaica’s second wetland of international importance under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as a Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention).
Proud of its record
In keeping with its international obligations, the NEPA has been keeping an eye out for any breaches that could jeopardise the status of the area, Director of Environmental Management and Conservation Anthony McKenzie told The Gleaner, adding that the agency can be proud of its record over the past two decades in resisting pressure from developers which could alter the status of the area.
“In terms of acreage over the past 20 years, there has not been any significant change in the area of mangrove. We have been having a problem in a lot of the areas in terms of the impact of associated anthropogenic issues. So, for example, the problem of solid waste and garbage accumulation, that has affected the mangroves in a negative way, and so the type and quality of some of the mangroves in the area that face the sea on the side of Kingston Harbour have been impacted.
“The area of the mangrove forest has remained constant based on the data that we have and this has been because of the work of the agency in a lot of the instances because we have tried to ensure, based on the designation that the mangrove areas, the Ramsar Site, the conservation areas within the zoning plan for the area, that those areas are not impacted by development proposals,” he added.
Scientists and engineers have recently told The Gleaner that unfinished works along the Palisadoes strip, including plans to plant mangrove forests on both sides, were exposing the area and the wider city to danger.