JA’s endangered plant species gets lifeline through NEPA’s Restore for Sure Project

KINGSTON, Jamaica—The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Regional Office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean (IUCN ORMACC) convened stakeholders in a recent workshop to advance preparations for a project to conserve Jamaica’s endangered plant species and to restore the critical ecosystems that sustain them. The “Restore for Sure: Conserving Endangered Flora through Critical Ecosystem Restoration in Jamaica,” project is being funded by a US$4.52 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) with co-financing support from the Government of Jamaica. The aim is to target at least 53 globally threatened plant species through ecosystem restoration and strengthened conservation measures.

Restoration work is being planned across five conservation landscapes covering over 740 hectares of priority areas. They include Quaco Rock in Clarendon; the Montpelier Ecologically Sensitive Area in St James and Hanover; Dolphin Head Forest Reserve in Hanover; the Long Mountain Ecologically Sensitive Area in St Andrew; and the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park. Specific intervention sites, higher level outcomes and the associated activities will be further assessed and refined during the preparation of the detailed Project Document.

Stakeholders discuss strategies for a roll-out of the Restore for Sure project to safeguard Jamaica endangered plant species. Held at the Courtleigh Hotel & Suites, the workshop brought together government agencies, technical experts, community members and international partners to advance the planning phase of the initiative. The detailed project document is being prepared through a collaborative effort involving NEPA, the IUCN ORMACC, and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

In his welcome remarks, NEPA’s deputy chief executive officer, Anthony McKenzie, stated that the project is in response to a growing national need for ecosystem restoration and biodiversity protection. “The facts reinforce an important reality that ecosystem restoration is no longer simply an environmental aspiration; it’s a national necessity,” McKenzie informed participants. “Jamaica is internationally recognised as one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.

Our island is home to an extraordinary number of endemic plant species, many of which occur no…