PRIME Minister Andrew Holness has assured that designation of the Pedro Cays and surrounding waters as a protected area will not disrupt the livelihood of fishers who reside there, but Government will put in place mechanisms to ensure the natural resources are used more sustainably.

Holness, who announced the protected area during his contribution to the 2023/24 Budget Debate in Parliament last Thursday, said the designation gives due consideration to fishing, “and this policy creates boundaries that will give the fisherfolk of the Pedro Cays a pathway towards sustainability and, ultimately, greater prosperity”.

“When we take action to preserve these areas, sometimes we come into conflict with people who have been using them for decades; but the challenge is that those fishers, or the man who burns the coal, or someone who uses the slash and burn method for farming, understand that we are not trying to take away your livelihood. What we are trying to do is to preserve your livelihood and make your work, your effort, more prosperous,” he said.

Holness said that whenever the Government seeks to “make these huge social changes” there is always a great level of distrust that “the Government is coming to ‘take away my food, take away my livelihood’, but I think we need to move past that”.

“This Government is not trying to take away anybody’s livelihood; what we are trying to do is to make sure you can have a livelihood. The evidence is that where we have created sanctuaries, and where we have intervened and assisted fishers and assisted farmers, the output is better. So instead of the first response trying to stop it, the response should really be immediately to embrace it and try and work together,” he reasoned.

This latest declaration follows the designation of the Black River Protected Area this financial year, and the Cockpit Country Protected Area last year.

In the meantime the prime minister highlighted the Government’s work to strengthen environmental protection in the country, and declared 15 ecologically sensitive areas that have been identified for enhanced protection across the island.

These are: Industry Cove, Hanover; Bogue and Montpelier, St James; Winns Morass and Oyster Bay, Trelawny; Bengal, Dunn’s River and Fern Gully in St Ann; Holland Bay, St Thomas; Long Mountain, St Andrew; Palisadoes – Port Royal Protected Area Conservation Zones; Shooter’s Hill, St Catherine; Hellshire Hills and Goat Islands in St Catherine; Canoe Valley, Manchester and Clarendon; Great Bay, St Elizabeth; and the Negril Great Morass, Hanover and Westmoreland.

“These geographical areas will have restrictions on the types of activities that may be permitted in order to preserve their hydrological or ecological functions and services. Low-impact development, such as ecotourism, may be permitted in these areas but the restricted conditions and approvals from the relevant regulatory authorities must be received,” Holness said.

– Alecia Smith