Mangrove Reforestation efforts on track for rehabilitation of Kingston Harbour, 7th largest in the world

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

Ai Art generated from photos of Mangroves along Kingston’s Palisadoes(Airport) strip

Kingston is Jamaica’s most famous city, and it sits on the inside of the world’s seventh larger harbour. It’s a must visit as the capital city of the island and some get to see it first because of the airport also situated in the harbour. Besides its more recent history, Kingston Harbour was a darling in the golden age of piracy(1600s-1700s) when John “Calico Jack” Rackham(whom Jack Sparrow’s character is based on) was hanged for piracy in the harbour as a warning to pirates.

Photos by Gladstone Taylor

Unfortunately many of the mangrove trees that existed in the years before and after this so-called pirate golden age, are now gone. Eighty percent of the island’s mangroves, which once covered the entire coastline, now exist in a bight between two parishes; Clarendon and St Catherine. This protected area is called the Portland Bight, but the rest of mangroves that used to line the coast have been deforested. The reasons vary but most of it has stemmed from development along the coast. Still here we are, jewel of the caribbean, tourist hotspot, with barely any mangrove coverage. At this point the question arises; what makes these trees so important, so what if they are gone?

“Mangroves serve several functions within a marine ecosystem. They are nurseries and of course food source, but they also offer coastal protection which is essential for an island nation like Jamaica. We require as much protection as we can get. Mangroves have been found as one of the largest marine species that sequesters carbon.” says Denise Henry, marine biologist of ten years. Denise helps to manage the Alligator Head Foundation which protects it’s own stretch of mangroves along Port Antonio, Portland’s coast.

For those who may have heard of Mangroves before, you may be aware that they are essential storm barriers for coastal areas. In truth, mangroves offer so much more to the island’s ecosystem. As the only trees able to live and grow in saltwater, they provide an essential barrier and absorbent wall for waves and the deadly penetrative potential of salt in seawater. Soil tends to become untenable for farming because of the salt left behind by storm induced waves. Mangroves absorb salt in the water and release it through their leaves, but similarly the plant also absorbs deadly carbon gasses from the atmosphere, which helps to reduce greenhouse emissions and locks it into the soil at its roots. With a newly emerging carbon market, a mangrove’s carbon sink ability virtually makes it a sitting money tree.

Photos by Gladstone Taylor

“Jamaica in general is just starting to enter the carbon market. It is heavily regulated, so you have to have carbon readiness certificates to show basically how it’s working. I know this is something the Climate change division has been working on at a national level. Getting Jamaica up to that level to enter the carbon market.” Henry informs Backayard.

Besides these seemingly mythic abilities, mangroves are the gifts that keep on giving as its habitat status is perhaps its ace feature. Mangroves are essential habitats for a variety of animals and other organisms, including fish, shrimp, crabs, mollusks, birds, and insects. They provide food and shelter for these creatures, and help to protect them from predators. These same creatures in turn are wrapped in a web of dependence that enhances the inner and outer ecosystems of the mangrove.

Fish: Mangroves provide a habitat for many different types of fish, including juvenile fish that use the mangroves as a nursery. The roots of the mangroves also provide a place for fish to hide from predators.

Shellfish: Mangroves provide a habitat for many different types of shellfish, including crabs, shrimp, and oysters. The roots of the mangroves also provide a place for shellfish to filter food from the water.

Crabs: Mangroves provide a habitat for many different types of crabs, including fiddler crabs and mud crabs. The crabs live in the mud and sand around the mangroves and eat insects, plants, and other small animals.

Photos by Gladstone Taylor

Birds: Mangroves provide a habitat for many different types of birds, including herons, egrets, and kingfishers. The birds nest in the trees and eat the fish, shellfish, and insects that live in the mangroves.

Now after a long culture of deforestation, mangroves have been enjoying a rebirth of sorts, with the Jamaican government enacting a Mangrove conservation plan. This plan is enacted through agencies like the Forestry Department who carry out reforestation efforts like the one currently taking place in Kingston harbour; the cultural heart of the island. Over 450 mangrove saplings were planted along the palisadoes strip in 2011, growing and in great condition.

If you’re ever coming off a flight at the Norman Manley International Airport and rolling down that palisadoes strip, look out the window. There you’ll see some of the mangroves growing alongside the strip, strengthening the landmass, and buffering against waves and the dangers of salt erosion.

Photos by Gladstone Taylor

These trees will go in to become essential to the rehabilitation of downtown Kingston that is currently taking place. With the recent opening of a ship repair dock out in the harbour, the mangroves may very well end up protecting millions of dollars worth of nautical equipment in addition to the bustling livelihood of Downtown Kingston’s entire population.