The Caribbean Coastal Area Management (C-CAM) Foundation is committed to engaging with as many stakeholders in the PBPA in a partnership approach to co-management of the area’s resources As a central principle we also wish to harness the best available scientific information to guide the development of management strategies and interventions that seek to harmonize sustainable use with social, economic and ecological optimization. C-CAM works with our partner agencies to ensure that data collection and analysis is used to help us to determine strategic interventions but to evaluate their effectiveness (or otherwise) and to direct changes and improvements in our management effectiveness. C-CAM and our partners collect bio-physical and socioeconomic data on several key indicators as part of our monitoring program and this data is shared with partner agencies and other relevant groups to help support management decision making.
Baseline Surveys
Initial data collection and habitat assessments began even before the creation of the Protected Area in April 1999. Studies on the status of the Coral Reefs, Mangroves and Wetlands, Fishable Resources and the Dry Limestone Forests were conducted. These reports provided a status update on the status of these resources at that time which is provides a yardstick to which future studies can be compared to track changes in the health of the environment and determine Jamaica’s effectiveness at protecting our resources.
Biophysical Monitoring Programs
The biophysical monitoring program has indicators that are monitored continuously at regular intervals and others which may be conducted less frequently or on an ad hoc basis. These latter indicators are generally only possible when funding or other partnerships provides the capacity to support them and this includes studies or targeted research aimed at filling a specific data gap which may exist. The C-CAM science team coordinates data collection and may work with other agencies to complete the analysis.
Indicators
C-CAM monitors parameters related to weather and climate, beach erosion, coral reef health (including the abundance of coral, fish and algal species), water quality, and birds (including mangrove birds, gamebirds and nesting seabird species).
Beach Monitoring
Beach erosion and loss is a phenomenon that has been observed throughout the Caribbean over many decades. Beaches are an important part of the region’s ecology and are vital for tourism and recreation and therefore have a very high socioeconomic value. C-CAM has been collecting data on beach slopes and length from several beaches including some of the Cays. These beaches are:
- Hellshire (Half Moon Bay)
- Old Harbour Bay
- Welcome Beach
- Jacksons Bay Beach
- Beachamp
- Pigeon Island
- Manatee Bay Beach
- Pelican Cay
- Half Moon Cays
Our monitoring uses the protocols from the Caribbean Sandwatch Project which was developed through the University of Puerto Rico and was designed to allow partners throughout the Caribbean to use simple tools to monitor sand on their local beaches. An Abney level, sighting poles and measuring tape to create a profile of the beach from a landward permanent reference mark. The beach measurements are taken at three locations along the beach typically at quarterly intervals. The records are entered into a database where we can keep track of the net changes in the long-term sand budget for these sites.
Water Quality Monitoring
The health of the PBPA ecosystems are sensitive to the condition of the various water bodies that drain the entire watershed. The PBPA spans the southern portions of two major watersheds in Jamaica, the Rio Minho in the parish of Clarendon and the Rio Cobre in St Catherine. There are major rivers that emanate from the wet central inlier of the island and have suffered from the long-standing impact of agricultural, commercial and industrial abstraction and pollution. In Portland Bight, C-CAM has established a few monitoring sites where water samples are periodically collected for analysis. The program has two components.
In the marine environment the C-CAM field team partners with the National Environment and Planning Agencies’ (NEPA) pollution control laboratory. Our team collects the water samples in the field at the designated sampling sites and sends them to the NEPA laboratory for analysis. These samples provide support in the PBPA for NEPA’s national pollution monitoring program.
Additionally, C-CAM works with other partners to conduct water testing in the terrestrial water bodies such as canals, streams and drainage gullies. In 2024 C-CAM partnered with the International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences (ICENS) at the University of the West Indies (UWI) at Mona to conduct an extensive survey including more than eighty sample sites throughout the PBPA. C-CAM selected these sites and collected the samples to be tested at the ICENS laboratory. The results of this program will help C-CAM to identify the land-based point sources of nutrient pollution and quantify their impact. This will help us to target our approach to working with the communities or companies that are producing excess nutrients to modify their systems to greatly reduce or eliminate noxious waste and ensure that all entities operating in the Protected Area remain compliant with NEPA environmental standards for effluent.
Weather and Climate
C-CAM had an automatic weather station at our Salt River Field Station (SRFS) that provided data on weather in Salt River, unfortunately that station fell into disrepair in 2017. However, in 2018 the National Meteorological Service of Jamaica installed an automatic weather station at C-CAM’s Portland Bight Discovery Centre (PBDC), which is also in Salt River. Data from this station is collected and stored in the system automatically and is downloaded periodically by Met Office Technicians and forms a part of their national weather database.
Bird Monitoring
C-CAM operates a continuous Bird Banding Station in the mangroves at the PBDC. This program is conducted monthly for the period of September to April of the following year. Mist nets are installed along our mangrove boardwalk and our processng station is in our Bird Hide. Neo-tropical Migratory birds are ringed with leg bands issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the data collected is also sent to their database. This allows that data to be accessible through online queries. Local (non-migratory) birds have a separate series of numbers and this data is maintained locally and shared with partners such as NEPA.
C-CAM also conducts annual surveys of the seabirds that nest on the Cays within the Portland Bight. Currently Brown Noddies and Bridled Terns have nesting colonies on the Half Moon Cays and Magnificent Frigatebird nest on the remaining Mangroves of Two Bush Cay (the original nesting site has been damaged by the effects of climate change and this colony has relocated to the other Cay that remains.
C-CAM participated with NEPA in research to establish the management structure for the annual Hunting Season in Jamaica. Presently NEPA continues annual surveys of Gamebird populations during the nesting season across Jamaica to evaluate the status of these populations in order to inform deliberations and subsequent recommendations to the Minister of the Environment for the management of Hunting each year. These recommendations include season dates, shooting times, bag limits among other parameters. This adaptive management approach is the most effective means of ensuring a sustainable harvest that will not over-harvest their populations.
Marine Ecosystems
The marine ecosystem within the PBPA is rich and varied and represents nearly half of Jamaica’s shallow shelf around the main island. PBPA ecotypes include coral reefs, seagrass meadows, coastal mangroves, salt marshes, and mud dominated benthic communities. The large size and connectivity between these ecosystems support important biodiversity including species of high socioeconomic value as fisheries resources. Our monitoring program therefore includes measures of water quality (see above) but as a part of a national network of MPAs we are seeking to collect relevant data to track our management effectiveness.
C-CAM and other MPA partners have trialed techniques to develop a standardized monitoring protocol to be used for Jamaica’s MPA network however at present we are moving to adopt a modified version of the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) protocols. This methodology requires training and capacity to implement and is difficult for many managing entities to implement so a modified Reefcheck method has also been employed. C-CAM has used both methods to survey many of the reefs.
We developed management plans for each sanctuary and will be testing additional methodologies using special nets (a Fyke Net) to measure fish biomass in and around our Fish Sanctuaries. This additional monitoring is targeted to allow us to track the expected improvements in productivity in these areas due to our management interventions.
Terrestrial Ecosystems
The Dry Limestone Forests (Hellshire, Brazilletto, Portland Ridge and Kemps Hill) , are the centers of terrestrial biodiversity within the PBPA as most of the arable lands on the plains have historically been converted to plantation agriculture, mainly Sugar Cane but also Cotton, Bananas and other crops. Commercial facilities such as ports and human settlements make up the rest of the land use. The coastline of the PBPA is dominated by Mangrove wetlands and these are a vital ecological link between the terrestrial and the marine ecosystems.
Baseline surveys and other ad hoc surveys have been conducted by C-CAM and other entities in the wetlands and forests of the area however a continuous monitoring protocol for these areas has not yet been implemented. C-CAM is exploring the potential to establish permanent monitoring plots within these areas that could be assessed periodically to identify and quantify changes that might be occurring in these areas. Capacity constraints (human and financial) have limited our ability to implement these programs. We are also seeking to employ modern technological methods such as remote sensing using satellite imagery to assist with this effort. We have also acquired drones capable of mapping the aerial extent and character of these areas and are actively seeking additional resources to be able to deploy these methods to monitor the wetland and dry forests.