Saving Jamaica’s West Indian Whistling Duck
RESTORATION OF important elements of biodiversity of the Negril Great Morass, one of the largest natural coastland ecosystems in the Caribbean region, supporting internationally significant species and high species endemism, is the aim of IWEco’s National Subproject in Jamaica.
IWEco is short for Integrating Water, Land, Ecosystems Management in Caribbean Small
Island States. The restoration efforts of the project in Jamaica include the Negril Royal Palm Reserve, which provides refuge, breeding, feeding, and nesting for a number of shore and wading birds, including the rare, endangered, and Caribbean endemic West Indian Whistling Duck (WIWD), known scientifically as Dendrocygna arborea.
Jamaica’s WIWD population is the second largest throughout its limited Caribbean range. The Negril Great Morass is one of the most prominent habitats for the WIWD and other shore and wading birds, its sedges and grasses providing refuge, breeding, feeding, and nesting to support the entire life cycle of these animals. Cuba, Jamaica’s closest neighbour, hosts the largest population of the species.
Of the more than 300 species of birds found on the island, the WWID is one of six species that are globally threatened or endangered.
The International
Union for the
Conservation of Nature Red List categorises the WIWD as near threatened, which means that though the species is not currently at risk of extinction, it may become classified as such in the near future. Destruction of their wetland habitat and predation, leading to decline in their numbers, is the key factor that places species at risk of extinction.
Through the IWEco Project, the National Environmental Planning Agency, which is responsible for execution of Jamaica’s National Subproject, is undertaking a population assessment of the West Indian Whistling Duck within the boundaries of the Negril Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This assessment will pinpoint the critical sites (e.g., breeding and foraging) as well as the threats to the population in the Negril EPA. Following the assessment, a management plan to restore the habitat of the West Indian Whistling Duck will be created.