NEGRIL CORAL REEF PRESERVATION SOCIETY

Earth Day 2006

Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society

 

NEGRIL MARINE PARK NEWS

June 2006

Volume 3, Issue 2

Inside this Issue:

On Saturday, April 22, 2006, Negril celebrated International Earth Day 2006. This year marked the 11th anniversary of the Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society’s (NCRPS) celebration in commemoration of this environmental holiday in Negril. Over 150 persons were present for the event. A total of 100 students from five area schools and four Kingston area schools (Green Island High, Green Island Primary, Churchill Primary, Negril All Age, Broughton Primary, Denham Town High, Trench Town High, Charlie Smith High, and Operation Christian School) were present for the celebration themed “Climate Change.” The event was sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and IGL Company Ltd.

 

The day’s activities commenced at 10:00 am with Ms. Jean Brown, NCRPS President, welcoming all participants to Earth Day 2006 and examining the theme of “Climate Change”. Glass bottom boat tours to the coral reefs, tree planting, and drum painting activities began shortly after. There were also exhibits from the Negril Chamber of Commerce, Forestry Department and Sandals Negril on display to distribute important environmental information to students. Along with the day’s celebration, there was a display of items submitted for a Mini Mascot, Poetry and Poster Competition. There was also a PET bottle collection done in collaboration with the Jamaica Environment Advocacy Network’s campaign for the implementation of a PET bottle recycling programme in Jamaica. On Earth Day, these bottles were strung together to create a display showing the need for a recycling policy. An awards ceremony completed the day’s activities. Certificates of participation were presented to all schools and winners of the various Earth Day competitions were announced. The celebration culminated at 3:00pm.

 

On Earth Day itself, there were also underwater cleanups organized by three local resorts, Couples Negril, Point Village Resort and Hedonism II in collaboration with the Society’s Earth Day celebration. Their cleanup included areas within Long Bay and Bloody Bay. Water sport operators and guests participated in this event. In total, ten bags of trash were collected.

 

The Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society greatly appreciates the numerous in-kind contributions from the community. We would like to thank the following: Swept Away, Hedonism II, Mariner’s Beach Club, Grand Lido, Merrill’s Beach Resort, Sandals, Juicy J’s, Beaches Sandy Bay, Rockhouse, Juicy Patties, The Caves, Margartitaville, Alfred’s Ocean Palace, Rondel Village, Pirate’s Cave, P& S Wholesale, Rick’s Café, Negril Treehouse, Tensing Pen, CoCo La Palm, Point Village, C& E Hotel and Restaurant Company, Sunset at the Palms, Negril Cash N’ Carry, Hi-Lo Negril, Valuemaster, SuperPlus, Jamaica Tamboo, Kuyaba, Texaco, Petcom, Moon Dance, Idle Awhile, Rayon Hotel, National Commercial Bank, JUTA, Caribic Vacations, Tourwise, The Jungle, Suave Fashions, Beaches Negril, Coconut Industry Board, Forestry Department, Wisynco Company,  Grace Foods.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prepared by:

Deanne Grant

Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society

 

 

 

 

 

Peoples and Corals,

CCA, 2001

Page

 

NEGRIL MARINE PARK NEWS

Many students and environmental stewards often seek out the Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society in search for a wide source of information pertaining to coral reefs, marine ecosystems and many other related environmental areas for research and general interest. Also, many tourists are often eager to visit the Society (Negril Marine Park headquarters is directly beside the town’s craft market) to learn about Negril’s coral reefs, their effect on the environment, the Society’s conservation efforts and ways in which they can help the efforts.  As the Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society (NCRPS) is seen as the key source of information in the community relating to these areas, it was necessary for the Society to fill this need.

Therefore, the NCRPS has recently created a Environmental Resource Center located in the Marine Park Headquarters. This center is funded by a Peace Corps grant issued by the United States Aid for International Development (USAID). The ultimate goal of this Resource Center is to increase availability of information regarding coral reefs ecosystems and various other environmental resources in the effort to raise awareness of preserving them. The objectives for this center are to provide a vast information source of the coral reefs and other natural resources for the wider Negril community as well as expose the community to the conservation efforts of NCRPS through the creation of the center within the Marine Park Headquarters. This project will hopefully build capacity throughout the wider Negril community by creating necessary resources for community members to investigate, learn and understand the importance of their degrading environment. By doing this, residents and visitors hopefully will be encouraged to take on active roles in the preservation of the environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Environmental Resource Center

Earth Day 2006 Contest Winners

ark Photography

Mini Mascot Competition            1 Negril All Age, 2 Churchill Primary

 

Best Kept and Greenest School       1 Negril All Age, 2 Green Island Primary, 3 Whitehall Basic & Prep

 

Poetry Competition                Grand Prize, Anesha Alfowler, Green Island High

                                  [12 & up] 1 Anesha Alfowler, Green Island High, 2 Jason Grey, Negril All Age, 3 Sashatee                                   McKenzie, Green Island High

                                  [11 & below] 1 Sherica Bryan, Broughton Primary, 2 Larey Graham, Churchill Primary,

                                  3 Shadae Campbell, Broughton Primary

 

Poster Competition                Grand Prize, Jason Grey, Negril All Age

                                  [12 & up] 1 Jason Grey, Negril All Age; 2 Ronord Dixon,

                                  Negril All Age, 3 Danisha Walker, Churchill Primary

                                  [11 & below] 1 Tonion Smith, Churchill Primary, 2 Travis

                                  Evans, Broughton Primary, 3 Sherica Bryan, Broughton

                                  Primary

 

 

 

 

Display of posters submitted for competition

Mini Mascot competition winner, “Atmospheric Man”

Inside the resource center — Marine Park Headquarters

Under the NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION AUTHORITY ACT, the Marine Park Regulation 3.1., specifically states, a person shall not except with the written permission of the Authority or except in accordance with the provisions of a licensee granted under any other enactment, carry out any operation for the extraction or mining of minerals in a marine park. If found liable, a person may be convicted before a Resident Magistrate to pay a fine or possibly face imprisonment.

All users of the Negril Marine Park should endeavor to become more aware of the Park, so as to become conscious of the potential threats to the reef and other natural marine resources in general. If you have any questions regarding the NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION AUTHORITY ACT, please call the National Environment & Planning Agency (754-7543), stop by the Negril Marine Park Headquarters or call NCRPS at 957-3735.

Page

Volume 3, Issue 2

Marine Park Regulations

Negril Marine Park Non-Motorized Zone

On March 8, the Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society (NCRPS) was presented the first installment of a 4.8 million dollar endowment to manage the Negril Marine Park. These funds, disbursed by the National Resources and Conservation Act (NRCA) is the first allocation of management fees that was legally declared by the Government of Jamaica when the NCRPS was given management of the Negril Marine Park in 2003.

The cheque was presented to Miss Jean P. Brown, President of the NCRPS by NEPA’s chairman, James Rawle at the offices of the National Environment and Planning Agency in Kingston. At the presentation, both Miss Brown and Mr. Rawle extended their continued appreciation and satisfaction of the collaboration between the two organizations. It is hoped that the allocation of these fees will continue to help preserve and conserve our precious Negril Marine Park.

The NCRPS manages the Negril Marine Park on behalf of the Government of Jamaica. The Negril Marine Park is located within the boundaries of the Negril Environmental Protection Area and is among Jamaica’s nine protected areas established under the National Resources Conservation Authority Act.

Negril Marine Park Management Fees

ark Photography

The Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society (NCRPS) has been installing a non-motorized zone along Long Bay in Negril during the months of April and May 2006 and is expected to continue through June. The non-motorized zone is the final segment of the Negril Marine Park Zoning Project which is endorsed by the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) and is funded by a grant from the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ).

The non-motorized zone will be positioned just outside (seaward) the Long Bay swimmers’ lane and will consist of a line of 75 bright red 18” float balls (buoys) running parallel to and separated from the existing swimmers’ lane buoys by approximately 150 ft.

The newly demarcated zone will provide greater separation between users of the swimmers’ zone and any motorized craft and will effectively minimize the risk of accidents and improve the safety of swimmers. As the name implies, no motorized craft will be permitted to operate within the space between the swimmers’ lane and the non-motorized lane. For their own safety, swimmers should never go beyond the limits of the swim lane buoys (white buoys with red perimeter band) and similarly, motorized craft must only operate on the seaward side of the non-motorized zone.

Your support in making the Negril Marine Park Zoning programme as effective as it can be is greatly appreciated.