Caring for the cays

With public consultations on a proposed National Cays Management Policy now at an end, Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change Matthew Samuda has promised that the feedback received will be reviewed to ensure stronger conservation measures and stronger scientific capacity to assess the health of Jamaica’s ecosystems and its fisheries in particular. “I believe strongly that environmental policy cannot succeed through legislation and regulation alone, it must be supported by public understanding, public participation, and ultimately public ownership. Our responsibility as a Government is to bring these perspectives together to evaluate them fairly and to develop a framework that serves the national interest. “That is what we are seeking to accomplish, and what I want to assure everyone…is that the ministry remains open to constructive recommendations as we move towards finalising this policy,” said Samuda as he delivered the main address at a virtual town hall meeting on Tuesday, which represented the final engagement in the series of public consultations undertaken by the ministry. According to Samuda, Jamaica’s marine environment — which supports fisheries, tourism, recreation, biodiversity, maritime activities, and the livelihoods of thousands of Jamaicans — is an important component of national resilience. He said the National Cays Management Policy is a critical component of Jamaica’s development as an archipelagic State. “We believe the integrated approach to governance will deliver a sensible policy that can be implemented and measured and monitored by all stakeholders that can give all citizens the confidence that this policy was well thought out,” declared Samuda. He said his ministry will ensure that the resources necessary for the security forces, particularly the Jamaica Defence Force and the marine police, will be provided. “We have entered a new world. The strength of the weather systems that we must confront because of climate change are indeed a reality. As such, a stronger framework for governance and stronger implementation activities are absolutely critical,” added Samuda. Meanwhile, chief technical director in the ministry, Gillian Guthrie, sought to allay fears that the proposed cays management policy would lead to restrictions for Jamaicans. “The policy is not intended to limit access, not at all. In fact, what we are trying to do is ensure that the cays, rocks, islands, and associate ecosystems are healthy so that when Jamaicans recreate on these cays or ply their trade on the cays, they do so in a healthy environment and in a sustainable way,” said Guthrie. She said the policy seeks to categorise Jamaica’s cays, rocks, islands, and associate ecosystems into four groupings based on what is believed to be their primary purpose. “We have cays for conservation, recreational, commercial, and preservation — which we want no activity on those. We are looking at all aspects of management. We are looking at issues related to the environment. We are looking at issues related to sustaining livelihoods because some are used for fishing and tourism [and] there [are] maritime interests [as] well. We are looking also at issues related to security and monitoring and enforcement activities,” Guthrie pointed out. She said the policy is not intended to lead to the displacement of existing vendors and others from the cays which might be placed under new management arrangements as the policy is not intended to enact legislation that will in any way unnecessarily restrict activities. “Of course, illegal activities will not be prohibited, we have those laws already, so... we ask that persons observe the Fisheries Act, the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act, the Wildlife Protection Act, the Maritime Areas Act, all the pieces of legislation that affect our mainland. “So it is not our intention to necessarily move people off any place, what we are intending to is to ensure that the cays, rocks, islands, and associate ecosystems are managed sustainably for the benefit of all Jamaicans,” added Guthrie. She pointed out that assessments will be conducted particularly of the areas for preservation purposes to ensure that there are no activities which are detrimental to endemic and native species. Public and key stakeholders, including fishers, tourism operators, and environmentalists, have until Monday, November 2 to submit formal feedback to ermb@mwecc.gov.jm. The ministry’s target for final completion and tabling of the policy as an executive white paper is March 2027.