Tendai Franklyn-Brown, Staff Reporter

Forrest

A leading environmental consultant is calling for the government to implement social policies, heritage protected areas, and change environmental directives into action which will facilitate and sustain the national development of Jamaica.

Denise Forrest, chair of the National Ozone Commission and Jamaica Institute of Environmental Professionals, told The Gleaner this week that there needs to be a balance between sustaining the environment and enhancing national development.

"If the country does not take on environmental and planning considerations, we are doomed to continue to finance development, as the negative impact on the environment will affect people who rely on the resources and the survival of the country," she said.

Findings

Forrest used a recent Caribbean climate change report, collated for the environmental ministers of the Caribbean region, to reiterate her concerns. The findings stated that, by 2080, the Caribbean climate will increase by one to five degrees and the north-west Caribbean will become 25 per cent drier, causing the degeneration of coastal and marine resources.

Much of Jamaica's income is derived from tourism, which produces many challenges such as the loss of coastline, rising sea levels, ecological systems becoming vulnerable and the unstableness of food sources. These challenges have implications on the economy of the country as well as the environment's ability to sustain such resources.

Gladston White, chairman of the Half Moon Base Fisherman's Cooperative in St Catherine, being a fisherman for nearly 10 years, can attest to the changes he has seen in the marine activity.

"The water dredging and sewerage running in to the sea is from the nearby housing developments," White said. "This has caused nursery areas (wetlands) to dry up, killing the reefs, which the fish feed off. So now they move further away from the coast, so we have to travel further for a catch."

White also cited the economic constraints the erosion of the coastline and the migrating of fish are having on the livelihood of those who rely on this resource.

"Going further out to sea is expensive as you have to buy gas and ice. You have to spend more to catch less and sometimes what you catch does not even cover the expenses," he said.

tendai.franklyn-brown@gleanerjm.com