NEPA, UWI-CMS, UNEP partner to launch UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), the University of the West Indies (UWI) Indies – Centre for Marine Sciences and the United Nations Environment Programme Caribbean Sub-Regional Office today partnered to host a mangrove replanting exercise along the Palisadoes strip within the Palisadoes-Port Royal Protected Area (P-PRPA) and Ramsar Site.
Minister of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change, Pearnel Charles Jr, and Head of the Caribbean Sub-Regional Office in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Vincent Sweeney, and Councillor for the Springfield Division, Lorraine Dobson, participated in the activity, which involved the planting of 20 red mangrove saplings.
The agency said this was done to commemorate NEPA’s 20th anniversary and the launch of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, 2021-2030.
Speaking during the event, CEO and Government Town Planner of NEPA, Peter Knight, said, “Protected areas management is an important programmatic area of work in our management of the environment and stewardship of the natural resource assets they contain. Our involvement in the P-PRPA dates back to 1998 when the area was gazetted as a protected area. Today’s intervention confirms the agency’s ongoing commitment to the management of the area and is an effort to rehabilitate lost assets for the benefit of the country.”
“While this activity is symbolic, it represents the launch of a larger project titled, ‘Wetland Restoration along the Palisadoes Strip’, that will run from 2021-2022. The project is being implemented by NEPA in partnership with the UWI – Centre for Marine Sciences and will target three islets along the strip being rehabilitated with the planting of mangroves,” he added.
Meanwhile, Vincent Sweeney explained that, “UNEP is grateful for NEPA’s continued cooperation in working toward our shared goal of preserving the environment and achieving sustainable development. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a call to action to rethink our relationship with nature and restore our ecosystems. It is vital that we use this opportunity to focus on restoring and conserving vital Jamaican ecosystems. We wholeheartedly welcome this initiative to restore Jamaica’s mangrove trees, which are a vital component of the island’s ecosystem.”
