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The National Environment and Planning Authority (NEPA) will commence a mangrove habitat restoration project at the Trelawny Salt Marsh on Friday (June 7) to mark World Oceans Day 2024.
Monique Curtis, manager of the Ecosystem Management Division at NEPA, told JIS News that the project will be implemented in partnership with the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Sandals Foundation.
She informed that up to 50 volunteers will be recruited to plant around 200 mangrove saplings in the salt marsh area.
“We have drawn up a list of people. Our main focus is to invite local community members and members of the region that crosses or affects the salt marsh area, as the number is limited. We also invite people and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who want to work in the field.
“We invited local representatives from the municipal corporation because we tried to focus on how we can collaborate and motivate the people in the area so that we can protect what is there and restore the degraded ecosystem or habitat,” she said.
Ms Curtis told JIS News that illegal land clearing activities, improper dumping and unauthorised development had been occurring in the salt marsh area before the NEPA got involved.
“This has, in part, led to the erosion of mangrove habitats, and that’s what we’re trying to stop, prevent further erosion and then restore previously degraded areas,” she noted.
The land in the salt marsh area is owned by the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) and was gifted to the Jamaican government by a private landowner to protect the area.
World Oceans Day will be celebrated globally on Saturday 8 June under the theme “Catalyzing Action for Our Oceans and Climate”.
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