JPS, UWI and others partner to clean up, plant new mangroves along Palisadoes
LAST FRIDAY marked the first anniversary since the Jamaica Public Service Company Ltd (JPS) adopted the Palisadoes Mangrove and provided $7 million in funding to mangrove restoration in the area as a display of its environmental responsibility.
Sophia Lewis, head of JPS Foundation, said it was important to clean up the environment before planting new mangroves.
“Before we can plant the mangroves, we have to clean up the area. This is a major endeavour for us because we have adopted this area, and we have a vested interest in ensuring that the project is successful. The garbage is choking the mangroves so we’re here to clean up the space so that we can plant mangroves,” said Lewis.
She was speaking during a mangrove restoration and planting activity held along the Palisadoes Protected Area as a collaborative effort among the JPS, University of the West Indies (UWI) Marine Lab and other stakeholders.
This year’s celebrations are being held under the international theme, ‘Wetlands and Human Well-being’.
CHALLENGES
The current mangroves, originally planted by the UWI Centre for Marine Sciences, face challenges as many areas are devoid of mangrove plants due to excessive garbage pile-up that affects the growth of saplings. To prevent further build-up, a fence at the shoreline was installed on December 23.
Meanwhile, Italee Patterson, environmental officer in charge of the Protected Area Branch of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), said the installation of a mesh system has been effective, but waste build-up from before still affects the mangroves with waste coming from multiple sources.
“To some extent there are people that come down here and do litter. We’re trying to push that narrative that when, people visit for recreational purposes, leave with your waste. For the most part, the different gullies that empty into the harbour, the majority of the waste, depending on the wind, comes right here. We’re trying to remove this and hope that the barrier helps with garbage to come,” said Patterson.
Additionally, she said NEPA conducts quarterly clean-ups in collaboration with the Port Royal residents to get rid of pre-existing waste that poses a threat to flourishing mangroves. With the garbage pile-ups being significantly worse before, Patterson said she has noticed significant improvements.
The aim behind this project, as stated by Lewis, is to reduce CO2 levels to make the air healthier for breathing and mangroves help with this.
“As an energy company, we have a responsibility to take care of the environment. By nature of what we do we exercise environmental responsibility and taking care of the environment is important to us. Climate resilience falls in line with what we do.”
As the one-year anniversary unfolds, Friday was designated as World Wetland Day, a day for recognising wetlands as critical to people and nature, underscoring the intrinsic value of wetland ecosystems and their benefits and services, including contributions to sustainable development and human well-being.