C-CAM undertakes dry forest project in PBPA

The ‘Enhancing the Capacity for Management of Dry Forests in the Portland Bight Protected Area, Jamaica’ Project, funded by the European Union (EU), is being implemented by the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation (C-CAM).

The project runs from December 2021 to November 2023 and is being undertaken in the Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA), which is Jamaica’s largest protected area. The PBPA includes 210 square kilometres of dry forests in four main areas: Hellshire Hills, Goat Islands, Portland Ridge and the Braziletto Mountains/Harris Savannah.

Part of a bilateral cooperation initiative called Addressing Environmental and Climate Change Challenges through Improved Forest Management in Jamaica, the project will enhance C-CAM’s capacity to manage, protect and monitor dry forests of the Portland Bight Protected area (PBPA), in conjunction with communities within the PBPA, National Environment and Planning Agency, Urban Development Corporation, Forestry Department, National Fisheries Agency and the Jamaica National Heritage Trust.

On Friday, September 9, C-CAM hosted an inception event attended by Agriculture Minister Pearnel Charles Jr, EU Ambassador Marianne Van Steen, as well as representatives from the embassies of Spain, Germany, Belgium and France and other stakeholders.

“We have the responsibility as leaders to give the resources and build the capacity of leaders for them to understand their role in the preservation of the environment,” Charles said in his address. He later committed to providing support to C-CAM to raise awareness about dry forests.

Through a participatory process, C-CAM will engage its partners in working together to develop a practical management plan for the dry forests and conservation action plans for three threatened species. This will include research on the status of forest biodiversity and how communities and stakeholders depend on it. These studies will include a botanical assessment of the Braziletto Mountains and Kemps Hill. Community monitors will collect data on threatened species to inform the planning process.

Commenting on the partnership, C-CAM Executive Director Ingrid Parchment said: “It is important that community leaders are fully involved in the process so that there can be real ownership of project outcomes, which will lead to greater sustainability.”

The project will also involve the communities through the establishment of a Forest Conservation Council. C-CAM will implement education and outreach programmes in at least three communities and provide small grants for the development of sustainable livelihood projects.

The tropical dry forests of Portland Bight are among the most threatened ecosystems in the world, but much more work is needed to assure their future. The project will improve C-CAM’s and the communities’ capacity to protect, conserve and support sustainable uses for the forests and resources.

In her address, Van Steen said: “We know that there are challenges in the Portland Bight Protected Area and this project is a step in the right direction. We are helping to improve data collection and analysis. The objective is for the research to inform solutions aimed at management planning and the expansion and development of specific conservation programmes.”

Other activities under the project include developing the capacity of C-CAM’s conservation nursery at the Portland Bight Discovery Centre, Salt River, Clarendon, to grow seedlings of endangered plants. These will eventually support forest restoration. Participants who attended the inception event got a tour of the nursery, forest space and a boat tour of the river.

C-CAM is an environmental and development charity working in the Portland Bight Protected Area for more than 20 years.

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