On the tightrope to conservation.

• Author: Reidell, Heidi
• Position: Environmental conservation of Jamaica's natural attractions

Balancing Jamaica's ecology and tourism is a precarious dance to an insistent reggae beat. Tourism generates even more foreign exchange for the country than the bauxite industry, creating jobs and a chance for a brighter future. But with tourism comes development, bringing pressures to local people and their environment. The Arawaks, who once populated Jamaica's south coast, were the first to be affected by "civilization." They were decimated by the Spaniards in the name of vangelism and progress.

Yet, centuries after the Arawaks, there are still no officially protected areas on the south coast, where ecological diversity is the rule not the exception. A myriad of microclimates flourish between the rainforested hills, the acacia trees and cactus of Treasure Beach, the thatch palm-fringed black beaches of Alligator Pond, and the manatee's swampy gardens near Milk River.

Conservation at the official level is fairly new in Jamaica. The National Resources Conservation Authority, a regulatory body responsible for the management of the physical environment and for promoting environmental education, was established only two years ago. Recently a number of inter-governmental and nonprofit organizations have joined the conservation cause. Susan Anderson of the Jamaican Conservation and Development Trust (JCDT) states that this private nonprofit organization has been working closely with the Protected Areas Resource Conservation Project (PARC) on the development of national park systems. PARC is a multi-faceted project funded by USAID and the Jamaican Government which receives technical assistance from The Nature Conservancy, in Washington, D.C.

This September Jamaica will be the first Caribbean island to benefit from a debt for nature swap made possible through the joint efforts of the JCDT, The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, USAID and The Nature Conservancy. The initial purchase of the debt in the amount of 7 million Jamaican dollars will go to finance two pilot parks: Montego Bay Marine Park in the northwest and the Blue Mountain/ John Crow National Park in the central eastern region. Aside from supporting the National Parks Trust Fund, JCDT will administer monies for the management of these pilot parks.

Headlines several years ago in the Jamaica Daily Gleaner, which declared Canoe Valley, in Manchester, Jamaica's first national park, were premature. After careful study, PARC determined that the Cockpit country - characterized by steep...