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Swansong
published: Wednesday | June 25, 2008
Since 1993, I have been executive director of an environ-ment and development non-governmental organisation (NGO), and I must tell you we have had a rough time of it!
The previous government had the excellent policy to create [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]national [COLOR=orange! important]parks[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], marine parks and other protected areas, and rather than create a state agency to manage them, they decided to delegate management authority to suitable NGOs.
There is no better way to protect biodiversity than through protected areas (because you can focus brain power and resources in a limited area), so we signed on. But we also believed there was no better way to alleviate [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]poverty[/COLOR][/COLOR] and promote sustainable development than by focusing on a small area.
Getting the authority
What is more, picturesque nature with abundant history provides a ready-made poverty-alleviation strategy - nature and heritage tourism.
And we sold the idea to the Government, although it took some time - six years (1993-1999) for the order creating the Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA) in south Clarendon/St Catherine to be signed, and another four years (1999-2003) for the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation (C-CAM) to sign a five-year contract with the government giving us authority to manage the natural resources therein.
The area is huge - 724 square miles, [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Jamaica's[/COLOR][/COLOR] largest protected area - with thousands of acres of forests, wetlands, coral reefs and seagrass, and [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]fishing[/COLOR][/COLOR] grounds.
In addition, there are over 50,000 residents - most below the poverty line - including 25 per cent of Jamaica's fishers. What an opportunity to have environmental conservation and sustainable development as well! A world-class model!
The strategic approach we developed was sound: co-management, meaning a [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]partnership[/COLOR][/COLOR] of all stakeholders (including government) in planning, execution, monitoring and enforcement.
We formed the Portland Bight Fisheries Management Council (PBFMC) with delegates chosen by the fishers associations (as a prelude, we midwifed associations at landing sites) and relevant government agencies.
We have been scrupulously non-partisan, and have included everyone and are respected by everyone on the ground.
International recognition
The PBFMC will celebrate its 13th anniversary this Sunday on International Fisherman's Day. It has prepared fisheries management plans for Portland Bight, including proposed regulations and penalties.
The plans and strategies received international recognition. The Inter-American Development Bank contacted us and offered a grant of US$4 million because of the endemic biodiversity we would be conserving, and gave a grant of US$330,000 to prepare the proposal for the US$4 million project.
I received the personal honour of a prestigious Pew Fellowship, which came with an award of US$150,000 towards the management effort.
However, there was one small problem that held us back, denying C-CAM and the poor people of Portland Bight the success we could have had: POLITICS!
The People's National Party government took a dislike to me, because, I'm told, of the sort of stuff I would write in this column.
I criticised them for corruption, for state terrorism of poor people through the security forces, for failing to put in place an effective education system, for failing to take the environment seriously, and so on.
Putting it bluntly, I suppose they thought I was a Labourite, which readers of this column know is nonsense! I support no political party; my conscience will not allow me to join any organisation that operates garrisons and gunmen.
And so, we were victimised, and almost no promise made to us was honoured.
Got nothing, lost funding
Our board of directors agreed in writing to the map sent us by the NRCA, and we signed the contract in good faith, even though a copy of the map was not attached.
Weeks later, they sent us a different map, which would seriously compromise our funding, as it excluded from our management purview the vast majority of the endemic biodiversity in the PBPA!
The contract promised funding, but we have received not a cent in five years! We were promised land for a headquarters and ranger stations: Nada!
Although in 1999, we mutually agreed on regulations to apply within the PBPA, to date no regulations have been put in place, which means that in reality, the PBPA is protected in name only.
We successfully prepared the proposal for the US$4 million, but lost the grant because of the machinations of the Government.
Other funding has also been sabotaged. The senior staff have plodded on and have remained faithful to the vision and to the NGO, despite the fact that none of us has received a salary for many years.
This Government has begun well. They talk the right kind of talk, and we all look forward to the action. Our first five-year contract is about to expire, and we are now negotiating our second agreement.
Moving on
In the last few months of my tenure, we have been able to negotiate significant funding from Sterling Asset Management and the NCB Foundation, and the situation is improving. It is now an opportune time for me to move on. To have left the NGO in dire straits would have appeared to be abandoning a sinking ship. I leave a ship afloat and on course, and I have every confidence in the new leadership. Peter Espeut is a sociologist and a Roman Catholic deacon. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.
published: Wednesday | June 25, 2008
Since 1993, I have been executive director of an environ-ment and development non-governmental organisation (NGO), and I must tell you we have had a rough time of it!
The previous government had the excellent policy to create [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]national [COLOR=orange! important]parks[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], marine parks and other protected areas, and rather than create a state agency to manage them, they decided to delegate management authority to suitable NGOs.
There is no better way to protect biodiversity than through protected areas (because you can focus brain power and resources in a limited area), so we signed on. But we also believed there was no better way to alleviate [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]poverty[/COLOR][/COLOR] and promote sustainable development than by focusing on a small area.
Getting the authority
What is more, picturesque nature with abundant history provides a ready-made poverty-alleviation strategy - nature and heritage tourism.
And we sold the idea to the Government, although it took some time - six years (1993-1999) for the order creating the Portland Bight Protected Area (PBPA) in south Clarendon/St Catherine to be signed, and another four years (1999-2003) for the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation (C-CAM) to sign a five-year contract with the government giving us authority to manage the natural resources therein.
The area is huge - 724 square miles, [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Jamaica's[/COLOR][/COLOR] largest protected area - with thousands of acres of forests, wetlands, coral reefs and seagrass, and [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]fishing[/COLOR][/COLOR] grounds.
In addition, there are over 50,000 residents - most below the poverty line - including 25 per cent of Jamaica's fishers. What an opportunity to have environmental conservation and sustainable development as well! A world-class model!
The strategic approach we developed was sound: co-management, meaning a [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]partnership[/COLOR][/COLOR] of all stakeholders (including government) in planning, execution, monitoring and enforcement.
We formed the Portland Bight Fisheries Management Council (PBFMC) with delegates chosen by the fishers associations (as a prelude, we midwifed associations at landing sites) and relevant government agencies.
We have been scrupulously non-partisan, and have included everyone and are respected by everyone on the ground.
International recognition
The PBFMC will celebrate its 13th anniversary this Sunday on International Fisherman's Day. It has prepared fisheries management plans for Portland Bight, including proposed regulations and penalties.
The plans and strategies received international recognition. The Inter-American Development Bank contacted us and offered a grant of US$4 million because of the endemic biodiversity we would be conserving, and gave a grant of US$330,000 to prepare the proposal for the US$4 million project.
I received the personal honour of a prestigious Pew Fellowship, which came with an award of US$150,000 towards the management effort.
However, there was one small problem that held us back, denying C-CAM and the poor people of Portland Bight the success we could have had: POLITICS!
The People's National Party government took a dislike to me, because, I'm told, of the sort of stuff I would write in this column.
I criticised them for corruption, for state terrorism of poor people through the security forces, for failing to put in place an effective education system, for failing to take the environment seriously, and so on.
Putting it bluntly, I suppose they thought I was a Labourite, which readers of this column know is nonsense! I support no political party; my conscience will not allow me to join any organisation that operates garrisons and gunmen.
And so, we were victimised, and almost no promise made to us was honoured.
Got nothing, lost funding
Our board of directors agreed in writing to the map sent us by the NRCA, and we signed the contract in good faith, even though a copy of the map was not attached.
Weeks later, they sent us a different map, which would seriously compromise our funding, as it excluded from our management purview the vast majority of the endemic biodiversity in the PBPA!
The contract promised funding, but we have received not a cent in five years! We were promised land for a headquarters and ranger stations: Nada!
Although in 1999, we mutually agreed on regulations to apply within the PBPA, to date no regulations have been put in place, which means that in reality, the PBPA is protected in name only.
We successfully prepared the proposal for the US$4 million, but lost the grant because of the machinations of the Government.
Other funding has also been sabotaged. The senior staff have plodded on and have remained faithful to the vision and to the NGO, despite the fact that none of us has received a salary for many years.
This Government has begun well. They talk the right kind of talk, and we all look forward to the action. Our first five-year contract is about to expire, and we are now negotiating our second agreement.
Moving on
In the last few months of my tenure, we have been able to negotiate significant funding from Sterling Asset Management and the NCB Foundation, and the situation is improving. It is now an opportune time for me to move on. To have left the NGO in dire straits would have appeared to be abandoning a sinking ship. I leave a ship afloat and on course, and I have every confidence in the new leadership. Peter Espeut is a sociologist and a Roman Catholic deacon. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.