Death by 1,000 cuts

Professor Terrence Forrester, chief scientist at The University of the West Indies' Solutions for Developing Countries (SODECO), last week dramatically described the circumstances which led to the lifeless state of the mangroves in Peake Bay as "death by one thousand cuts", and underscored that their full restoration might not be achieved until long after the present generation of Jamaicans.

"I think an important concept is resilience because you could say that you know this area, and a storm comes and it blocks up an area and nothing died. How do you explain that? Really it's death by 1,000 cuts," Forrester said at the Jamaica Observer Press Club staged last Thursday in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation at Halse Hall Great House in Clarendon.

"I can come and cut you today and you lose blood and you don't die [but] if I keep cutting you every minute, after a while you lose enough blood and the last cut might be the one that kills you. So, too, mangroves," added Forrester...Read more