The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) will undertake a mangrove habitat rehabilitation project in Salt Marsh, Trelawny on Friday (June 7) in observance of World Ocean Day 2024.

The manager of NEPA’s Ecosystems Management Branch, Monique Curtis, reported that the project is a collaboration with the Discovery Bay Marine Lab of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Sandals Foundation.

According to Curtis, up to 50 volunteers will be engaged to plant some 200 mangrove saplings in the Salt Marsh area.

“We have come up with a list of persons. Our primary focus, because of the constraints in terms of the numbers, is on inviting members of the local community and areas that span or influence the Salt Marsh area. We have also invited persons who are hoping to work in the space, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).”

She added that Trelawny Municipal Corporation representatives were invited to collaborate and energise people to conserve and restore degraded ecosystems and habitats.

Before NEPA’s intervention, Curtis reported that the Salt Marsh area had been subjected to illegal land clearance activities, improper dumping, and unauthorised development.

“This resulted in somewhat of a level of encroachment into the mangrove habitat, and this is what we’re trying to stem, prevent further encroachment and then restore the areas that were previously degraded,” she pointed out.

The lands of the Salt Marsh area are owned by the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA), after being gifted to the Government of Jamaica by a private landowner to enable the protection of the area.

World Oceans Day will be celebrated worldwide on Saturday, with the theme ‘Catalyzing Action for Our Ocean & Climate‘.