March 6-13 highlighted a flurry of ongoing efforts as Jackie and I (this is Les Kaufman blogging) dropped in on Catcha, Kevin Harvey, and Greater Negril and caught up with all things eco around the West End. The two high points are new initiatives: the ecological restoration of the Negril Great Morass, and Negril's part in the national plan to control the invasive Indo-Pacific lionfish. Ground Zero for the Morass restoration is the Royal Palm Reserve and Visitor Center, while the Negril Cluster and Negril Coral Reef Preservation Society are organizing the local lionfish project for Negril, as part of the larger effort being led by the Discovery Bay Marine Lab/UWI.
Monday after we arrived, the Morass exploded in a fearsome wildfire- not an unprecedented dry season event, but this was a bigun. The fire may be what sparked a full-to-the-rafters attendance at the stakeholder meeting about Morass restoration a few days later. Nothing like imminent demise to encourage community participation. At the meeting Mr. Robin Lewis, a restoration ecologists hired as consultant to the project, explained the rehydration process that would bring water, life, and functionality back to the Great Morass. The meeting also underscored the importance of a whole-system view to keep Negril's environment and the people and business community that depend upon it, healthy and thriving. The points of attack in this Negril Environmental Restoration Program would include the morass rehydration, repair and upgrade of the Negril sewage treatment facility, and fishing regulations that allow more parrotfish and doctorfish- especially the large parrotfishes- to survive and serve as reef janitors, clearing away seaweed so corals can thrive. The relationship binding these together is simple. A functional sewage treatment plant will produce water clean enough to be passed through the Morass for a final scrubbing of excess nutrients. This would in turn cleanse the water entering the Negril South River and moving out to the sea, making for a healthier environment for people and corals alike- two kinds of organisms that are very sensitive to pollution and disease. Leaving the parrot and doctorfishes to graze the reef, now bathed in clean, low-nutrient waters, and the coral has a fighting chance. Negril is a single, unified ecosystem.
There are other key fronts in the battle. Nature moves marine sediments around willy-nilly, oblivious of human needs, and when people mess with the restless beach unexpected things can happen. Right now, sediments are piling up at the mouth of the Negril South river, making it hard for the boats that serve both the fishery, and marine ecotourism, to make it in and out of safe harbor in the river. This also traps partially treated sewage in the river's lower sections, creating an extremely unhealthy situation.
So in the end it's all about the water- how much, where it comes from, and where it's going. The water from people's sinks and toilets must be cleansed, but once this is done, the final polishing can be performed by the Morass while also rehydrating and re-enlivening this world-class wildlife habitat. The canals that have been dug into the Morass must be blocked to allow the water to return to the sheet flow that kept the sawgrass prairie of the Morass vigorous and vital. Then, with clean water and abundant weed-eating reef fishes in place, we can turn our attention to the precious coral reefs that supply seafood and aesthetic pleasure to all.
During this week, other pieces also fell in place. We'll examine these in future blogs.
Les
