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The National Environment and
Planning Agency (NEPA) has partnered with Rare and The Nature
Conservancy (TNC) to implement a project designed to strengthen the
capacity of the Port Royal community for the conservation of the
natural resources. Financial support has also been provided by the
Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA/NEPA) for a number of
activities such as the employment of rangers, beach/mangrove clean-up,
conducting research as well as the refurbishing and installation of
signs and bollards. The resources in the Palisadoes-Port Royal
Protected Area include wetlands, coral reefs, seagrass beds, cays, and
dunes.
Rare is a U.S based conservation
organization that works to assist people in the most threatened areas
of the world to care for their natural resources. The Nature
Conservancy (TNC) is an organization whose mission it is to preserve
the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the
diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and water they need
to survive.
The area is of singular
importance as it was declared a protected area on September 18, 1988,
acts as a major gateway to Jamaica, provides protection for Kingston
Harbour and has been declared a national heritage site/historical
district under the Jamaica National Heritage Trust Act. It is also a
Wetland of International Importance (Ramsar site) under the Convention
on Wetlands.
The conservation campaign will
among other things:
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equip the Port Royal community
to better manage the natural resources
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give the community a “voice” in
conserving their natural resources; and
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help individuals within the
community to improve their standard of living through the pursuit of
sustainable livelihoods.
This campaign is geared towards
ensuring that citizens become life-long environmental advocates. The
multi-pronged approach aims to continue the sensitisation of the
public about the delicate ecosystem that exists in the area and to
improve the conservation of this protected area. The activities have
four phases from June 2006 to March 2011. This time period was chosen
to ensure the sustainability and longevity of the various projects
undertaken and to make changes as necessary to implementation.
The Agency is currently
implementing the first phase of the project which includes reducing
threats to biodiversity, developing NEPA’s expertise in the management
of protected areas, improving partnerships among government,
non-government and private sector organisations, improving knowledge
of the resources in the protected area through research and public
education and generating revenue to sustain protected area management
activities.
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