The Jamaican government is pursuing a $1.5bn Chinese port development inside the island's biggest nature reserve. However, the port would doom a rare conservation success story, the Jamaican iguana, brought back from the brink of extinction after a 20-year effort. The port will also endanger 50 species of plant, including 17 that are endangered.
Furthermore, the China Harbour Engineering Company development risks destroying mangroves and rare forests in the country's biggest nature reserve, the Portland Bight protected area. The Portland Bight protected area extends over 200 miles of land and 524 miles of sea, containing the uninhabited Goat Islands, 30,000 acres of mangroves, and four dry limestone forests. The Goat Islands, which are uninhabited, were being prepared as a sanctuary for the Jamaican iguana.
However, all of those efforts would be swamped by the sheer scale of the project, which would involve flattening the Goat Islands and extensive dredging. Jamaican officials have said the project would also involve an industrial park, as well as a coal power plant.
The development would also wipe out fishing communities, and expose the coastline to greater risk of hurricanes. Saving the reserve would have greater long-term economic benefits, with the entire Caribbean region vying for the same tourists.
Please sign the petition to demand the Jamaican Government does not allow the Chinese port development.
