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Media urged to promote environmental issues

Published:Saturday | April 2, 2011 | 12:00 AM
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Journalists listen in amazement as fisherman Keith Myrie points to the disappearing beach at Jackson Bay in the distance. According to Panos, there is evidence to suggest that some of the sand which disappeared from that location is being carried miles away to Rocky Point where the beach is getting larger, and areas which were formerly covered by seawater can now be accessed by walking or driving. - - Photos by Christopher Serju
Mocho farmer Gaulia Reeves (second right) is amused by the efforts of Tannisha Scarlette of the Public Broadcasting Corporation to negotiate the hillside leading to a farm in Dawkins. They were participating in a climate-change workshop for journalists hosted by Panos Caribbean.
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Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer

MOCHO, Clarendon:

Panos Caribbean, the Mocho Community Development Association, and the National Environmental Education Committee hosted a workshop last Tuesday to raise the awareness of journalists on biodiversity and climate-change issues affecting Jamaica.

Participants were taken to a farm in Dawkins, Mocho, to learn how farmers have been coping with the drought affecting the area since last year. They also visited the Rocky Point Beach where sand reportedly transferred from Jackson Bay Beach is being deposited and drastically altering the coastline, as it is doing in Jackson Bay.

While being happy with the day's activity, Panos Caribbean executive Indi McLymont-Lafayette was disappointed that the issue of climate financing was not addressed.

"One of the big issues is how to help the small islands adjust to the impact because they feel it most, and so a lot of developed countries are prepared to put up funding that vulnerable countries like Jamaica will be able to access," she disclosed.

"So I think that's also an area that the media can be looking at because there are at least two climate projects that Government will be taking on. One was announced with the EU (European Union) about last month, and there is another to come on stream with significant US-dollar investment. So how that is spent is an area that the media can look at and track, as well as to ensure that it is being used for the proper purposes," McLymont-Lafayette added.

Fixing data gaps

Asked about the issue of data collection which presenter Kimberly Stephenson of the University of the West Indies Climate Studies Group identified as a major problem, McLymont-Lafayette said Panos would also use the 15-month project to fill in some of the information gaps, passing this information on to the relevant agencies. Noting the importance of research data to inform national development, she said research conducted by German Watch in 2009 placed six Caribbean nations among the top 40 countries in the world which are susceptible to climate change.

"In fact, the forecast is that Barbuda will sink in the next 40-50 years, so we have to pay a lot of attention to the linkages between biodiversity and climate changes. Some research was done by the Caribbean Natural Research Institute, and they are really looking at what climate change will mean for us," McLymont-Lafayette revealed.

christopher.serju@gleanerjm.com