Earth Today | 100 kilometres and counting for Cockpit Country boundary
Published:Thursday | January 30, 2020 | 12:00 AM
PERMANENT MARKERS are now in place for 100 kilometres of ground to be included as part of the official boundary for the high-value ecological resource that is the Cockpit Country.
This is according to the Forestry Department, which has been marshalling the ground truth for the area, in accordance with the mandate given by Prime Minister Andrew Holness who in 2017 announced a boundary for the Cockpit Country.
The PM indicated at the time that “a detailed description of the boundary of the Cockpit Country and the Cockpit Country Protected Area, as recognised by the State, will be provided by the Forestry Department after consultations with the relevant public-sector agencies and the necessary ground truthing – a term used in various fields to refer to information provided by direct observation as opposed to information provided by reference, has been undertaken”.
Fast-forward two years, and the ground truth is ongoing, with completion set for the end of this calendar year.
“As at December 2019, verification of 167.7 km of the boundary of the area to be protected as the Cockpit Country has been completed. Permanent markers have been established along 100 km of the 167.7 km mentioned previously. The agency continues the process of installing the permanent markers in the areas that have been ground truth to date,” the Forestry Department said in a written response to Gleaner queries.
In all, some 250 kilometres are to be covered by the agency by the end of this calendar year.
“Eighty-four kilometres are left to be completed. However, this figure may change, as the ground-truthing process is completed,” Forestry revealed.
So far, “the agency is satisfied with the progress of the ground-truthing exercise to date”, adding that as part of the process, they have held “a series of information-sharing sessions” across various media platforms with stakeholders.
Once finalised, a report is to be provided to the Office of the Prime Minister.
The Cockpit Country, meanwhile, is one of the island’s few remaining forest-cover gems and is rich is biological diversity. The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund’s Ecosystem Profile: Caribbean Islands Biodiversity Hotspot 2010 report, reveals that the Cockpit Country is “the source for fresh water used by 40 per cent of Jamaicans”.
In addition, it is “essential in moderating the flow and preventing flooding of a number of western Jamaica’s rivers” while also supporting “the largest number of globally threatened species of any key biodiversity area in the Caribbean islands ‘hotspots’, including 11 amphibians and 40 plant species”, according to the report.
As a result, there has been a long lobby to prevent mining in the area, with, in particular, environmental stakeholders remaining steadfast in their advocacy for its protection. The delimitation of a boundary, once the ground truth is done, is expected to help to yield that protection.