PROTECTING the environment is no easy feat, and when that involves 187,975 hectares of dry limestone forest, wetlands and the sea, it makes such a job even more challenging.

This is, however, the mission of the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation (CCAM) which is committed to promoting the “conservation, sustainable development and livelihoods in coastal areas of Jamaica, particularly the Portland Bight Protected Area” (PBPA).

The PBPA stretches from Kemps Hill in southern Clarendon to the Hellshire Hills and surrounding areas in southern St Catherine to include the Brazilleto Mountains, the coastal areas of Portland Ridge and several offshore islands including Goat Island.

As part of its work conserving the flora, fauna and wildlife in the PBPA, CCAM is also engaged in creating fish sanctuaries to stem overfishing as well as protect beaches from erosion. For the foundation’s Executive Director Ingrid Parchment, the work she and her team engage in is not mere environmental idealism but appreciates the economic value it adds to the communities.

“The sanctuaries are really about improving the lives and livelihoods of fishers. It’s really about developing these communities that depend on fisheries… this is really about ultimately the people who depend on those resources and how we can improve it so their lives can be improved, we can get better fish to eat and can have better beaches — all of those things,” Parchment shared with a team from Jamaica Observer after a tour of the Salt Bay Area, a place central to the work of CCAM.

While the foundation faces myriad challenges in achieving its goal, one such being underfunding, having more partners come on board would make this mission possible, or at least Parchment believes so. But even these partners face the reality of insufficient resources.

Funding aside, the organisation finds it difficult to protect fish sanctuaries and to enforce the laws that encourage this. As a civilian organistion, the team at CCAM can only advise fishermen caught fishing in sanctuaries that they are in breach of the law, but cannot make arrests for infractions. As such, waiting for the marine police or Coast Guard can become a task.

“…Even now the Old Harbour Bay team doesn’t have a boat and for us and the rest of the sanctuaries, we are sometimes challenged with that. What has been happening is that the Coast Guard has set up a base in Old Harbour Bay and we’re looking to partner with both of them to give us some support,” Parchment explained.

“But if they had the resources, if they had a boat all the time… while the marine police can come on our boat, the coast guards cannot, so they have to have a separate vessel to give us support,” she added.

She acknowledged, too, that the enforcement officers have other responsibilites to attend and so they will have the hard task of prioritising. To this end, CCAM has engaged the CEO of the Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard for a “different arrangement” that would would yield more consistent support.

“It’s not only dependent on the officer that is there, but is something that the Coast Guard, as an entity, has as part of its responsibility — to support the management of fish sanctuaries, especially in the patrol and enforcement areas,” Parchment outlined.

When asked how the Government can play a more integral role, she pointed out that the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) provides funding and some support in coastal management training. Additionally, the foundation partners with the Natural Resources Conservation Authority, Urban Development Corporation, Forestry Department, and Jamaica National Heritage Trust. Together they constitue the Portland Bight Management Committee.

On a quarterly basis the committee meets to revise the PBPA management plans prepared by CCAM and the annual operations plan. Thereafter, the partners embark on implementation, incorporating recommendations from the plans in their annual budgets.

Still, Parchment believes more can be done.

“First of all, we’ve had some issues in recent times when we had funding coming late. It also needs to be increased; it is the same that it has been since 2011 and yet everything else has gone up,” she disclosed.