Save the mangroves plan takes off

The mission: Save the mangroves.

Trouble is brewing, and The University of the West Indies (UWI) Solutions for Developing Countries (SODECO) says it had to step in.

About 45 per cent of the mangroves between Milk River and Salt River in Clarendon are dead, and at a Jamaica Observer Press Club staged in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation at Halse Hall Great House in Clarendon, SODECO unveiled its US$2.5-million UWI Mangrove Restoration project being done in partnership with Sugar Company of Jamaica Holdings Limited and a raft of other agencies.

"The project was to understand what went wrong. Why did half of the mangroves die? We have to develop a restoration plan, do the restoration instead of talking about it and then monitor it. Healthier mangroves mean more fish and shellfish for local consumption, improved ecosystem services, increased coastal protection against hurricanes and storm surges, flood regulation and mitigation," UWI SODECO Chief Scientist, Professor Terrence Forrester told the Jamaica Observer, noting that adaptive management was key...Read more