Martin HenryI FIRST became aware that something was afoot when I saw the breathtaking wide-angled aerial photograph on the calendar. I had to get one. The mountain humped off the Liguanea Plain in sombre, timeless majesty. The Mona reservoir, big and blue, was tucked into the northern flank. The human settlements of August Town, Mona, Mona Road/Well-ington Drive, Beverley Hills and Eastern Kingston ringed the north, west and south of the mountain. In the distance, Kingston Harbour a ribbon of shimmering blue hedged by the Palisadoes strip.
The UWI (Mona) and Community Co-operative Credit Union chose this sweeping, spectacular shot by Robert Paisley as its calendar photograph for 2002. The scraggy mountain which was always just there, in the lens of a creative photographer assumed presence, charm and beauty. There is always a shock of discovery in seeing familiar things from a different angle. It is often said that the first photographs of planet earth taken from space by the astronauts forever changed our view of our planetary home and gave an enormous boost to the then fledgling environmental movement.
WILDERNESS TOURISM
A new day has dawned for the old mountain. One can well imagine an awesome sunrise coming up over St Thomas, viewed from the top of Long Mountain. Taino people apparently had the view, and 21st century Jamaicans may have the view again. One of the imperatives for environmental conservation is what green space, and most of all natural wild space, does for the human spirit. Wilderness tourism is a big thing in the world.
A Long Mountain Trust has been formed "dedicated to the preservation of Long Mountain's cultural and biological assets, and to promoting the recreational, educational, and research opportunities afforded by this unique natural resource." The Trust involves various departments of the UWI, NGOs and governmental agencies working together to "ensure that Long Mountain's natural attributes will remain for future generations".
The UWI is an important and influential neighbour of the mountain with a wealth of expertise to speak and act on her behalf. An insightful Gleaner editorial pointed out last week Wednesday that "this adoption of an environmental zone by powerful friends provides a useful lesson on how other sections of the environment could acquire better protection." So I am putting up the Blue Mountains and Cockpit Country for adoption. I am a mountain man and the bias is obvious. My last swing through Cockpit, up from North-Eastern St Elizabeth and along the south-north axis of Trelawny, as evening wrapped in swirling mist plunged into night, was a renewal of body, mind and spirit. But that was only running the road. The lure of the wild Cockpit is yet to be satisfied.
But back to Kingston where "Long Mountain persists as an island of natural forest in the middle of metropolitan Kingston and St Andrew, a slice of nature that harbours important natural and historical treasures." The Trust held a launch symposium on "The Future of Long Mountain" on Saturday, February 2 and then went off tramping into the mountain the following Sunday morning at 6:30. Perhaps so early to catch that sunrise. When I read the invitation though, I immediately thought of security concerns, both now and in the future. For decades, the Wareika Hills, the south-eastern slope of the mountain has had the reputation of being a criminal hideout. Some mountain foot communities have developed their own reputation for crime and violence. And there is the mobility of opportunistic urban criminality. Such a pity, but I hope the Trust is at least considering these things.
The symposium brochure is itself a keepsake another aerial map of the area with city landmarks from Harbour to Hope River, from Papine to Stadium and Eastern Kingston, clearly visible. All so calm and peaceful from way up there. There is another reason why the brochure is a keepsake: the photograph as a map is upside down, with the standard north-south orientation of maps reversed south closest to the reader and north pointing away. Like misprints on stamps and other things, this blooper or creative design should give added value to a beautiful brochure.
A large number of plant and animal species found only in Jamaica are to be found in this dry forest ecosystem. There is at least one plant up there which has not been found anywhere else on this island rich so in biodiversity. Some migratory birds over-winter on the mountain.
The symposium brochure is richly illustrated with the wild life of the area along with one photograph of human use a charcoal kiln.
Surprisingly there were Taino settlements around the mountain. I missed the symposium. Were these on the Hope River side of the mountain? The Tainos usually built settlements in proximity to fresh water. They didn't have the technological capacity to put in a Mona Reservoir.
SPECIES INVENTORIES
The Long Mountain Trust wants to study the treasures of the mountain towards responsible use and preservation in an integrated manner. Several types of studies are conceived: habitat assessments, species inventories, and historical and geographical investigations. But please, let us not study Long Mountain to death as we have done Kingston Harbour while things fall apart.
A critical aim of the Trust "is the provision of adequate protection from further destructive land use activities and the rehabilitation of the degraded habitats." As green space, Kingston needs Long Mountain as much as the city needs the Harbour. And what a combo of sea, plain and mountain, of nature, history and culture, for local and international tourism.
The Long Mountain Trust wants to create a National Botanical Park with public recreational and educational facilities and conducting research in the context of a designated protected area like the other park areas already established. As that Gleaner editorial pointed out the "Project is taking the enlightened view of conservation through responsible and sustainable multiple use."
I notice that the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) is on board. Good. NEPA needs to spearhead a far more vigorous programme of responsible use for conservation in the designated protected areas. Money, money is always a problem, but the shift from philanthropy to investment as the way to go should help.
As the mountain rises above the Liguanea Plains, where life can be so hard and cruel for so many, so hope springs eternal. We must hope that the well-appointed Long Mountain Trust can bring to pass its clearly articulated aspirations becoming a model for the adoption of other environmental zones.
Martin Henry is a communications consultant.
