Solid waste strewn in sections of the Port Royal mangroves. - hotos by Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

In a bid to rescue the mangrove forests of the Palisadoes/Port Royal areas, which are under threat from solid waste and other forms of pollution in the Kingston Harbour, the University of the West Indies' Port Royal Marine Laboratory is to embark on a mangrove-restoration project.

Mangroves are tree-flowering plants that are specially adapted for living in coastal conditions. There are over 50 species, but only four are found in the Caribbean.

They have over 200 scientific uses, including coastline protec-tion. They also provide the creation of a nursery or feeding ground for commercially important fish, like the bottle-nose dolphin, and the recycling of nutrients that assures continued productivity of coastal waters, ecotourism (birdwatching) and water-quality improvements.

Collect seedlings

Sophia Davis, administrative officer at the Port Royal Marine Laboratory, told The Gleaner that the unit was in the process of putting together a proposal for restoring the mangroves by replanting them.

The plan is to collect seedlings and plant them in a nursery. When the hurricane season has passed, the mangroves would then be replanted in the areas.

Davis said the plan was to replant some 1,200 mangroves along the Palisadoes strip.

The restoration of mangrove forests by replanting is a successful strategy to mitigate for loss or degraded coastlines.

Garbage prevents mangrove forests from naturally regenerating from seeds, as the young plants are often broken by the solid waste from gullies, or cannot take root in sand/mud covered by garbage.

The Gleaner last month got a first-hand view of the volume of garbage that is dumped into the Kingston Harbour. Our news team was taken on a boat ride from Port Royal to areas of Kingston Harbour, where tons of solid waste, such as styrofoam, plastic, furniture, metal and old refrigerators were strewn along the harbour's shores.

Garbage in gullies

Camilo Trench, scientific officer for the Port Royal Marine Laboratory, said most of the solid waste comes from the 21 gullies that empty into the Kingston Harbour.

Trench said although the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) Act (2001) is on the books, it is not fully enforced and people continue to throw garbage into the gullies, which eventually ends up in the Kingston Harbour.

The NSWMA act is aimed at prosecuting persons who litter public spaces.

Fines for illegal disposal of garbage could be as high as $1 million and imprisonment of up to six months.

The agencies with responsibility for implementing the NSWMA act include the Island Special Constabulary Force, the Jamaica Constabulary Force, public-health inspectors, traffic wardens and National Solid Waste Management Authority officers.

Refuge Cay and its mangroves represent the habitat for numerous species of birds, including the endangered brown pelican, and other forms of life. However, the disposal of garbage results in the death of marine birds that swallow plastics and discarded fishing lines. Sea turtles also get entangled in fishing lines. Refuge Cay is located in the Port Royal mangroves and cays area, one kilometre away from the Norman Manley International Airport runway.

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