Known primarily as an agricultural community, Pitter said the area is also rich for ecotourism, and plans are now being drafted to develop the area for community tourism.

“We have some heritage sites in this community, which consist of the Canoe Valley area,” Pitter discloses. “We are working with the different agencies – the Jamaica Tourist Board as well as the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica – to get this area declared as a protected area, especially the Canoe Valley region.”

He said outside of a wide range of plants, the community also has the manatee on the south coast in an area called Alligator Hole, and miles of wetlands and mangroves.

Reported Pitter: “We have found artefacts in some of these caves, turtle-nesting sites and sand dunes. We have the longest beachfront in Jamaica. They say Negril is seven miles long, but from Old Woman Point up to the Alligator Hole River it’s more than eight miles. We have at least five rivers from the Guts River to the Alligator Hole River. It’s also two and a half miles from the school in Marley Hill to the seaside.”

Pitter believes there is the potential for further development. However, he says there is the need for capacity building. The Canoe Valley Hiking and Tourism Group was established to identify locations for additional community tourism.

Unity lacking

“We are looking at when the people come on their tour then they can have a community building that we can use for community Internet access, and where persons can also learn about computers because we realise that now is the computer age,” says Pitter. “I believe there are people in the community who are willing to get that training.”

Pitter is hoping that more persons in the community will become involved in the development process. He says one of the issues hampering the development process is that people are reluctant to work collectively. “If we could avoid some of our political bickering and come to one common goal I believe we would be much better off,” argued Pitter.

Sermoneta also said Jamaica’s agriculture and tourism could benefit from closer relations between both countries.

“Israel is a country that lacks natural resources. We don’t have oil, we don’t have a lot of gas … . We have been forced to find alternative sources of energy, and solar is one of them,” Sermoneta said.

He noted that many Israelis have made technological advancements in the area of renewable energy, and said Jamaica could benefit from these developments.

“I think we should try bringing together this expertise with the needs of Jamaica and see how they converge,” Sermoneta said.

The new ambassador was in the island last week presenting his credentials to Governor General Sir Patrick Allen.

On Friday, Sermoneta said while he was not seeking to interfere in the way the Government operates, “if the Government of Jamaica is looking for solutions for energy conservation and alternative energy in order to try and become a little bit dependent on oil, we are there to help, we are there to cooperate.”

The ambassador said he met with Energy Minister Clive Mullings and has extended an invitation to him to visit Israel to see what lessons Jamaica could learn from his country in the area of renewable energy.

Reduce dependency on oil

Barren of oil and surrounded by nations, the Israeli government has said it is aiming at taking renewable energy technology to a level where the world could significantly reduce its dependence on oil.

Israel has also been pioneering techniques of drip irrigation, with an estimated 92 per cent of its wastewater treated, and around 75 per cent used for agricultural irrigation.

No wonder Sermoneta is pointing to two international conferences on water technology which are to be held in his country. He has suggested that Jamaica could benefit from attending those events.

“Jamaica does not lack water resources, but I think we learn how to use our limited water resources. We manage them better, and I think there can be an interest in that,” he said.

“Israel would really be happy to see high-level participation from the Jamaican Government in these two conferences.”

Sermoneta has also pointed to tourism as another possible area of collaboration.

“I would really want to see more Jamaicans in Israel. I definitely want to see more Iraselis in Jamaica. This is a beautiful country. Israel is attracted to this kind of tourism. They love what Jamaica has to offer,” the ambassador said.

He also extended an invitation to sprint sensation Usain Bolt to visit his homeland.

Failure to do so, they insist, will compromise the viability of the sector at a time when the use of clean energy sources are deemed critical to Jamaica’s efforts to help stave off the ill effects of a changing climate.

“Without the waiver, it will prove impossible to create an energy sector that is environmentally sustainable with significantly increased use of economically viable renewable energy sources while fully protecting the environment and an energy sector that reflects a sustained improvement in the ways in which energy is produced,” the Jamaica Solar Energy Association (JSEA) said in a release to the media.

JSEA is a non-governmental organisation comprising manufacturers, retailers, marketers and installers who serve the solar energy and renewable energy market.

The association said further that without the resuspension of the Common External Tariff on the renewable energy products — which expired on May 31 — small and medium-size businesses that sell solar energy products, for example, may begin to fail.

“If these tariff values have to be passed to consumers, soon they will reject clean efficient options in favour of high energy inefficient options and the nation’s progress will be retarded,” JSEA predicted.

The association’s plea follows a statement from the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), who have themselves urged the Government to rethink its decision on the waiver.

“It is critical that the concession be extended to encourage and promote the use of these products, which will reduce our energy bill. It is important that as a country desperately in need of affordable renewable and efficient energy that our policies encourage investment in this vital area,” Opposition spokesman on energy Phillip Paulwell said in a statement last week.

“The removal of the concession, which ended May 31, has seen prices of affected products being increased between 20 and 30 per cent, thereby adding even more burden on top of the already-very-high energy cost being faced by the society,” he added.

Paulwell, at one time Jamaica’s Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology, also repeated the call made by PNP leader and former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller for the establishment of a National Energy Council.

“The Opposition believes it is absolutely essential that Jamaica’s energy policy be removed outside the political area and be overseen by the non-partisan professionals in the industry,” Paulwell said.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/environment/Traders-call-for-extension-of-clean-energy-concessions_9086280#ixzz1RZsH587m

“The Forestry Department’s aim is to ensure there is minimum loss of forest cover across the island. Given that the agency only manages a third of the forested lands in Jamaica, we continue to seek to establish public/private sector partnerships to increase and maintain the present forest cover. These partnerships include our private planting programme, which invites private landowners to put idle lands to use by having them planted with trees,” said Marilyn Headley, the island’s conservator of forests, in a written response to Career & Education queries.

“In addition, we also encourage private landowners who have parcels of land that are forested to declare them a forest reserve and receive benefits, such as tax remission. We continue to replant and maintain reserves through project funding and funding we receive through annual budgetary allocation. We also continue to crackdown on illegal offences in our forest reserves, while seeking to establish greater community partnerships by increasing awareness and building more local forest management committees,” she added.

Jamaica has forest cover amounting to some 328,600 hectares, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO’s) Forest Resource Assessment 2010, Jamaica Country Report — an estimate arrived at through “extrapolation of 1998 data”, Headley said.

Still, an update using satellite imagery is planned for this year, even as the FAO report puts the loss of forest cover at 350 hectares per year over the last five to 10 years.

Meanwhile, Headley said the Forest Department had put greater emphasis on enforcing forest laws and regulations to crack down on those who are illegally cutting down forests, which store some 20 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide — one of the greenhouse gases fuelling climate change which threatens rising sea levels, warmer global temperatures and increased incidents of diseases, such as dengue.

“This is being done through the recently formed Legal and Enforcement Division. A cadre of 40 forest rangers was employed by the division earlier this year thereby allowing for increased detection of forest offences. The agency also intends to launch an enforcement hotline soon that will allow members of the public to call in breaches of the forest act and regulations,” she said.

“Increased public awareness about the forest and its values are also things that we have been doing and continue to do. We have employed additional mediums, such as social networking to reach even more members of the public with the agency’s message of forest conservation and protection. The Forestry Department is also seeking to increase planting through greater partnerships with citizens, companies and other organisations,” Headley added.

At the same time, Jamaica joins the world in celebrating the International Year of Forests — a United Nations designation given to this year to focus attention on the need

for the sustainable management, conservation and development of all types of forests.

“The Forestry Department as the Government’s agency responsible for forests will be spearheading a number of activities to increase public awareness about Jamaica’s forest.. We hope, through our increased awareness activities, that Jamaicans will start to see the value of our forests as more than just “bush”, but something that is important to the sustenance of our lives,” Headley said.

“We also hope that Jamaicans will be inspired to act by planting trees, discouraging others from cutting down trees and generally engaging in sustainable practices that will guarantee that our forests will exist for the generations to come,” she added.

“As a result of the increased awareness we expect greater support from Jamaicans at all levels. We hope, through our efforts, that corporate Jamaica will begin to add forest reforestation projects to their activities. We also expect more Jamaicans to come forward seeking to partner with our organisation in our private planting and urban forestry programmes,” Headley said further.

Head of the Environmental Management Unit in the Institute of Sustainable Development, UWI, Mona campus, Professor Dale Webber, on Wednesday, underscored the importance of sending the right signal to youngsters.

“As we embark on environmental stewardship, it is our goal at the University of the West Indies to get the next generation involved, such that the environment becomes a natural part of what you do. It doesn’t have to be an add-on, it doesn’t have to be a subject, it should be something that you do in your day-to-day activity,” he shared with children and teachers from 13 Corporate Area schools.

They were the latest addition to the cadre of 12 original schools participating in the Plastic Bottle Separation and Recovery Project for Recycling, which targets primarily drink bottles.

The project, which started on the Mona campus in 2008, has been expanded to the UWI’s Western Campus and now involves 25 Corporate Area schools. Professor Webber used Wednesday’s expansion-phase ceremony to bring the newly recruited schools up to speed. Thanking the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica for its invaluable support, he said the project has been successful, hence the decision to expand.

“As we moved through this exercise, we thought it important to spread this joy throughout the wider Corporate Area. We engaged in talking to a number of schools – some with environmental clubs, some without,” he shared before going on to explain some of the new responsibilities.

“These bins carry a lot of significance. One, it means within the school settings we expect certain behaviours to start to change. Within the school operation, we expect to see a change in what manifests itself in the next generation going forward; we expect to get the multiplier effect where those clubs within the schools are gonna grow.

“People will see what’s happening and say, I want to be part of that. We want that to grow and grow outside of the school community to your home communities. We want everybody to think of recycling as a natural part of what we do, not as an environmental focus, that we step away from,” he charged.

Project director Professor Elizabeth Thompson-Hope said it was also environmentally irresponsible to dump plastics in rivers and gullies from where they inevitably end up having a negative impact on plant, animal and human life, she left the children with this charge: Recycling then, is a must for our generation!

Among other things, the report — made public on January 5 and which comes at a time when there exists concern over the impact of the use and disposal of technology tools on the environment — highlighted the company’s progress in meeting its environmental sustainability goals and climate protection.

“It pointed out that, with a goal to become carbon neutral, Xerox’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were down 31 per cent between 2002 and 2009. This, the report contends, is a result of improved energy efficiency, new technologies and improved energy management practices,” said a release from the company.

“At the same time, Xerox exceeded last year’s goal of delivering an increase in ENERGY STAR® qualified equipment; 92 per cent of new product launches met the July 2009 rigorous ENERGY STAR® requirements — up 12 per cent over 200,” it added.

“Additionally, Xerox’s EA toner plant in Webster, New York, achieved waste-free or zero waste to landfill status. The company has set a corporate waste-free goal for facilities to increase recycle/reuse rate to 97 per cent by 2012. To move another step forward in achieving its waste-free goals, Xerox established a partnership with global recycler, Close the Loop, which allows customers more options in returning used imaging supplies, such as toner bottles, cartridges, fusers and toner waste,” the release said further.

The Global Citizenship Report provides a comprehensive overview of the company’s progress in the areas of corporate social responsibility, addressing not only matters of environmental sustainability, but also governance and ethics, customer privacy and satisfaction, employee diversity and development, and corporate giving and volunteerism.

Xerox is a leading, US$22 billion global enterprise for business process and document management which, through its broad portfolio of technology and services, provides the essential back-office support that clears the way for clients to focus on their real business. The company has significantly expanded its global reach while remaining true to its commitment to match good results with good global citizenship.

Jamaica’s Productive Business Solutions (PBS) — the document technology and information technology arm of Facey Commodity Company Ltd, which is one of the largest distribution conglomerates in the Caribbean, with annual revenues in excess of US$1 billion — represents Xerox products in the region.

PBS grew out of the acquisition by Facey, over several years, of Xerox distributor entities throughout Central America and the Caribbean. That business strategy brought together sometimes very different and disparate companies, but also resulted in the creation of a very substantial business which now provides integrated technology solutions to blue chip customers throughout the region.

• In 1975, Jamaica became an active participant in the international debate on environmental education based on the launching of a UNESCO-UNEP International Environmental Education Programme and on the UNESCO-UNEP Inter-Governmental Conference on Environmental Education. Jamaican educators were among the authors of a UNESCO- UNEP IEEP (International Environmental Education Programme) series of curriculum guides.

• In 1980, 1983, 1987 and 1988, Jamaica participated in Caribbean  regional activity on environmental education. A national training workshop on environmental education was held by the Jamaica Ministry of  Education and UNESCO in 1981.

• In 1989, the Caribbean Journal  of Education of the UWI Faculty of Education published a double issue of  its journal devoted to environmental education.

• In 1991, the Natural Resources  Conservation Authority was formed, whose mandate includes the promotion  of “public awareness of the ecological systems of Jamaica and their  importance to the social and economic life of the Island”.

• In 1992, Jamaica participated in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development at both the government and NGO levels and  has since expressed support for the implementation of Agenda 21, including Chapter 36 on public awareness, education and training.

• In 1993, the National Environmental Education Committee  (NEEC) was established in 1993 to guide and mobilize environmental education activities in support of  sustainable development in Jamaica.

• Since 1995, the UWI School of Education has been delivering a  post-graduate, and later, an undergraduate course in EE aimed at creating awareness of the need for EE and equipping educators with  sufficient knowledge and pedagogical skills to effectively infuse EE  into their teaching. These courses also encourage participants to  analyze values, feelings and motivation for active participation with others in promoting environmental protection and improvement.

• In 1998, Jamaica produced a National Environmental Education Action Plan for Sustainable Development. The Plan is a  national framework for incorporating environmental education into all  aspects of Jamaican life. It describes a vision of a sustainable future  for Jamaica and presents specific goals and outcomes to achieve this  vision. Governor General Sir Howard Cooke launched the Plan at a  ceremony in June with the support of Hon. Burchell Whiteman, Minister of  Education & Culture and Hon. Easton Douglas, Minister of Environment  & Housing. Hon. Douglas also tabled the Plan in Parliament in June. The NEEC, supported by the GOJ/CIDA Environmental Action (ENACT)  Programme, developed the Plan, working with a range of stakeholders  throughout Jamaica representing community and national interests.
  

Among the government agencies charged with environmental responsibilities are the Ministry of Health and Environmental Control, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Natural Resources Conservation Authority. The major environmental problems involve water quality and waste disposal. Jamaica has 9.4 cu km of renewable water resources with 77% used for agriculture and 7% used for industrial purposes. About 85% of the people living in rural areas and 98% of the city dwellers have access to pure drinking water. Coastal waters have been polluted by sewage, oil spills, and industrial wastes. Another major source of water pollution has been the mining of bauxite, which has contaminated the ground water with red-mud waste. Another environmental problem for Jamaica is land erosion and deforestation. Forest and woodland decreased 7% annually between 1990 and 1995. Jamaica’s coral reefs have also been damaged. The nation’s cities produce over 0.3 million tons of solid waste per year. Kingston has the waste disposal and vehicular pollution problems typical of a densely populated urban area.

In 2001, four of Jamaica’s mammal species were endangered, as were seven bird species and eight reptile species. About 680 plant species are also threatened. Endangered species in Jamaica

LOCATION: 17°43′ to 18°32′ N ; 76°11′ to 78°21′ W. TOTAL COASTLINE: 1,022 kilometers (634 miles). TERRITORIAL SEA LIMIT: 12 miles.

include the tundra peregrine falcon, homerus swallowtail butterfly, green sea turtle, hawksbill turtle, and American crocodile. The Caribbean monk seal, Osborn’s key mouse, and the Jamaica giant galliwasp have become extinct.

contact – c.ward@architecturalpoint.com

The launch of the webinar series was hosted at the High Commission of Canada in Kingston by HE Stephen Hallihan, high commissioner to Jamaica.

One of the two webinars took place on Wednesday, but another will take place on Tuesday and will look at issues of sustainable community design, which balances the three pillars of sustainability, society, ecology and the economy. The series is developed by the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Jamaica Institute of Architects (JIA).

Fabian Stewart, trade commissioner at the High Commission of Canada, explained that all stakeholders, including the society, business and the government must play a part in ensuring the sustainability of future generations by making the right development choices today.

“Sustainable design really comes out of being able to properly structure communities which do not create any detrimental effect for the design of future communities,” said Stewart.

“What we are trying to do in terms of the designing of those communities is to get all of these together in terms of a synergy. So there are many aspects and complexities that are involved. You really want to set up a design approach that includes a wide spectrum of individuals involved in planning and not just leaving it on one singular discipline,” he added.

He said the issue was also ‘extremely important’ for businesses within Jamaica, based on the combined issues of how communities-business and otherwise-are structured and the country’s dependence on oil.

“There is a great body of evidence on climate change. And with the issue of climate change and the prediction of higher sea levels in the future, but moreso the change in the economic structure and the greater issues of urbanisation, what you are having is there is definitely a need for small economies, particularly those like ours that are energy dependent to actually look at a solution for our communities that allow some sort of reciprocal benefit in terms of how we live,” said Stewart.

He said sustainable design would examine ways of ensuring that both individuals and businesses reduce their carbon footprint.

“This will probably occur when you look at the building envelopes, whether they are designed green, which would then reduce your consumption of electricity. You are then looking at waste water harvesting. How do you reuse waste water in a very safe and environmental way. How do you put back run off in the acquifers. There are many different actions, where the community is designed, or how useable facilities are and distances, which reduces again the need for transportation and the whole issue of the carbon dioxide that will be generated,” Stewart explained.

He added that for businesses in Jamaica, building environmentally friendly structures and retrofitting for sustainability are critical to cost savings and the future of the operations.

“At $94 per barrel now with oil, the question answers itself. The implementation of sustained and green culture is up on us. I think its extremely important.”

“When it comes to business you can only go from strength to strength when you start to look at investing in an operation that can allow you to create a better environment to operate at lower rates of energy,” he added. “Certainly if a business realises now that one of its greatest expense is energy, then its definitely time.”

Tuesday’s webinar which will focus on ‘Leadership in Energy and Environmental Designs (LEED) for Sustainable Communities’, will be hosted by Douglas Pollard, senior analyst at the CMHC and Ghislaine Johnson, Canada Green Building Council at the url: http://cmhc-schl.na4.acrobat.com/international.

Local architects, builders and other stakeholders are invited to participate for free by logging on to the site. Christopher Lue, president, JIA, noted the timeliness and importance of the thrust to build more sustainable Jamaican communities.

“In light of the government’s stated policy regarding renewal energy, conservation, this is critical now as design professionals, builders and developers of this nation’s housing, commercial, institutional buildings and cities, because the whole spatial plan of this is critical in terms of our oil bill,” Lue said. “If you can see what is happening on the Middle East with regime change, whether wanted or unwanted, it is critical that we conserve and find ways of having renewable sources to stretch our finite resources,” he added.

So critical is the programme that Lue noted that local architects can receive professional development points by participating. The high commission of Canada, through the Trade Commission, is also recruiting persons interested in participating in the World Green Building Council’s (WGBC) ‘Mission to GreenBuild 2011′ to be held in Toronto, Canada, October 5-7, 2011.

Thank you JamaicaObserver.com