The Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA) was created by the Jamaican government in 1999 to protect a large marine and terrestrial area on the island of
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
located southwest of
Kingston. Nearby cays such as
Little Goat Island
Little Goat Island along with Great Goat Island are the cays that make up the Goat Islands, located less than a mile off the coast of Jamaica, southwest of the Hellshire Hills. It is part of Saint Catherine Parish. Little Goat Island is adjacent to ...
are included. It is the largest protected area in Jamaica and comprises . Although the first priority in forming the protected area was to protect the
coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.
Co ...
s,
it also serves to protect vulnerable and
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
species. The PBPA includes of
wetlands
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
on the island, and coastlines of
mangroves
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...
, as well as
sea-grass
Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae), all in the orde ...
beds that serve as a nursery for fish and shellfish breeding. The Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation (C-CAM) has been charged with managing zones within the protected area.
On land there are of dry limestone forests, 60 known caves,
and it includes a population of 50,000. Part of the task in forming the PBPA going forward is to find a balance between protecting the ecosystem from destruction by economic development and allowing the human inhabitants a means to live and work.
As of August 29, 2013, the PNP Government of Jamaica is proposing to develop the Goat Islands, in the PBPA, as a transhipment hub in conjunction with the Chinese government. Environmentalists argue that this will have a severe impact on the entire protected area.
As of September 23, 2016, the current Prime Minister,
Andrew Holness
Andrew Michael Holness, (born 22 July 1972) is a Jamaican politician who has been the Prime Minister of Jamaica since 3 March 2016, following the 2016 Jamaican general election. Holness previously served as prime minister from October 2011 to ...
of the JLP, has stated that the Goat Islands are no longer being considered as a base for a transhipment hub.
See also
*
Hellshire Hills
References
External links
Portland Protected Area
Environment of Jamaica
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