Jamaica's beaches in danger, says UN expert

BY KIMMO MATTHEWS Observer staff reporter matthewsk@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A United Nations environmental expert is predicting that several beaches on the western end of Jamaica could be totally wiped out in the next five to 10 years if local authorities and citizens do not act now to protect the environment.

Pascal Peduzzi, head of the Early Warning Unit, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)/Division of Early Warning and Assessment/GRID-Europe, based his prediction on data coming out of a UNEP study on the role of the ecosystem in disaster risk reduction.

"Coming out of the study, data has been found that beaches in Negril are receding between 0.5 and one metre per year," Peduzzi told the Observer after the study was presented to the Government at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston recently.

According to the study, titled 'Risk and Vulnerability Assessment Methodology Development Project (RiVAMP) -- The Case of Jamaica', scientific evidence shows that over the past 40 years, Negril's beaches have been experiencing severe and irreversible shoreline erosion and retreat.

"Bloody Bay in the northern section of Negril has experienced lower erosion rates than Long Bay, with sections of Long Bay beach without coral reef cover showing higher rates of erosion," the study said. "The highest erosion rates have occurred after 1991, when beach recovery after storms has been slower, and these trends are likely to continue. It is expected that long-term sea level rise, changing patterns of tropical storms and cyclones in the region (in terms of both frequency and intensity), diminishing sand supplies due to coastal ecosystem degradation as well as coastal development will exert an even higher toll on Negril's beaches."

According to Peduzzi, not only were these findings a cause for concern, but there was a strong belief that other areas across the country could be experiencing the same problem.

UNEP said bad environmental and building practices, and illegal dumping of pollutants in the sea were killing sea grass and coral reefs, thus reducing their effectiveness in protecting the beaches from eroding.

According to UNEP, the ecosystem in Jamaica, like many other countries in the world, was under serious threat.

"This is why it is very important for citizens and leaders to come together to do what they can to address the problem," said one UNEP official who did not disclose his name.

UNEP said that one-third of coral reefs and mangroves, two of the world's rarest ecosystems, are already seriously damaged with some countries having already lost much more.

The international body added that "global forest cover in 2005 was estimated to be just less than four billion hectares or 30 per cent of total land area. Ecosystems decline is primarily driven by human-induced activities, such as deforestation, over-fishing, land conversion, poor waste management and tourism. As ecosystems degrade, so do the multiple services they provide to sustain life, livelihoods and human well-being".

According to UNEP, "the increasing frequency and intensity of disasters, both natural and man-made, are resulting in significant social, economic and environmental losses, which further strain ecosystems to restore, protect and maintain livelihoods affected by these extreme events. In addition, climate change can exacerbate ecosystems degradation as a result of sea level rise, increase in global temperatures and changing patterns of hydro-meteorological hazards such as tropical cyclones, wild fires and drought".

Experts also say ecosystems degradation often takes place over a short time span, and its main cause is generally localised and human-induced.

The solutions to these threats to ecosystems can therefore be locally driven and made possible.

According to Peduzzi government in Jamaica in recent times was getting more involved in trying to address the situation, but more was needed.

UNEP collaborated with the Government through the Planning Institute of Jamaica to carry out work on the project.

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Jamaica's beaches in danger, says UN expert