THE Jamaica Conservation Development Trust (JCDT) is seeking to have the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park in Jamaica’s eastern end inscripted, which would place it on the world heritage list that currently boasts 812 properties.

Marolyn Gentles, environmental education and community officer at the trust, made the disclosure at the recent Quao Day celebrations at the Moore Town Maroon Village, Portland.

She said steps were being taken to prepare a dossier for the site to be inscripted.

“We have been nominated locally, and so we are preparing a world heritage site dossier for inscription. It tells what is it you have that makes the site worthy of being a world heritage site, and so we are in the process of preparing the dossier for inscription. Once certain standards are met then you are eligible for inscription, but you have to prepare,” Gentles told the Observer.

She noted, however, that the dossier preparation could take up to a year to be completed, as community education was a significant component of the process.

The World Heritage List includes 812 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. These include 628 cultural, 160 natural and 24 mixed properties in 137 States Parties.

According to Gentles, the Blue and John Crow Mountains would fall under both the natural and cultural heritage classification, given the fact that the Maroon communities of Moore Town and Charles Town in Portland were part of the area.

“For the Blue and John crow Mountains, it is natural heritage and cultural heritage. The Maroon communities form the cultural part, and the natural heritage of the Blue and John crow Mountains National Park is that it is a biodiversity hotspot in Jamaica…,” she explained.

She further pointed out that the significance of Jamaica receiving such a ranking could not be undermined.

“For Jamaica to have a site elected among prestigious groups like the Great Pyramids or the Grand Canyon or the Aztec ruins is significant to us in tourism. The Blue and John crow mountain National Park is of great significance, and once we are nominated then we will be inscripted as one of these areas of world significance,” Gentles noted.

The spin-offs, she said, would spell much for the island’s tourist industry, especially in the area of eco-tourism.

In addition, she said the Charles Town and Moore Town Maroons who live within the boundaries of the National Park as the Trust would also benefit as they would work closely with the groups during the process.

“The Maroons in Moore Town and Charles Town will be a part of the activities for the world heritage site, they form an important and significant role in the development of eco-tourism in the eastern section of island,” Gentles said.

She explained that inscription was now being sought because the park had finally met all the criteria but cautioned that inscription would not be automatic because of this.

“One of the things that world heritage sites have to have is management and conservation, and the park only became a protected area in 1998. So, prior to that, it would have been difficult to apply for nomination,” Gentles said.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica National Heritage Trust said the Seville Heritage Park in St Ann and heritage tourist attractions, namely Falmouth and Jamaica’s Cockpit Country in Trelawny, were also seeking inscription.

The Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park was established in 1990 to provide stricter protection for government land and designated forest reserves. The park covers some 196,000 acres (79,321 hectares), and houses the watershed for the capital city of Kingston, and all communities in the eastern third of Jamaica. At least 150 resident and migratory bird species live in these mountains.

Migratory species include the worm-eating warbler and the Swainson’s warbler. The Jamaican blackbird, yellow-billed parrot, and ring-tailed pigeon are three of the 28 bird species found nowhere else on Earth.

The mountains are also prime habitat for tree frogs, the giant swallowtail butterfly and the Jamaican hutia (a large rodent; also called the coney).