From Citizen Science to Policy Development on the Coral Reefs of Jamaica

Table 1

Seven-point action plan for Jamaican coral reefs.

(1) The reefs around Jamaica could be designated as the Jamaican Coral Reef Marine Park. This could include all the fringing reefs, seagrass beds, and mangroves from Negril to all along the north coast to the eastern tip of the island. On the south coast it could include Port Royal and Portland Bight. The advantage of this is that one can then consider protection of the Jamaican reefs as a whole. Another advantage is that climate change effects can be considered in a more holistic way
(2) There could be a single body, possibly the National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA), or a subset of NEPA, given authority to manage the Park
(3) There could be a statement drawn up on “protection and wise use” of the Park. Drawing up that statement should include all stakeholders, from fishermen through Industry and tourism to policy makers
(4) The Park could be managed using a “zoning” system. This has been valuable in a number of areas, not least the Great Barrier Reef. This will allow some areas to have greater restrictions (e.g., fishing, resort pollution, ship pollution) than others. Such zoning should help avoid the “tragedy of the commons”. Zoning Plans define what activities can occur in which locations, both to protect the marine environment and to separate potentially conflicting activities
(5) Divisions into zones could be
General Use,
Conservation Park,
Habitat Protection,
Marine National Park,
Another zone might be a Buffer Zone, next to a Marine  National Park
(6) Each zone should have at least one of the following: (i) Community Partnerships, (ii) Local Marine Advisory Committees, and (iii) Reef Advisory Committees. These bodies should be responsible for regulating their own area and should be responsible to the overall Marine Park Management body. They would also be responsible for community involvement and information
(7) Permissions within the zones (e.g., for tourism, fishing, etc.) would be given by the Jamaican Government, through NEPA