conference magazine - Caribbean Environmental Health Institute

ance at the macro (government) and micro (household/
community) levels. Human ingenuity is therefore key to achieving
sustainable freshwater management. This paper examines the
public’s perception of freshwater availability and management by
analysing household survey responses of two hundred households
across five parishes. Social themes include, but are not
limited to, disconnection of public perception, and differences in
sex and perception. The paper also presents recommendations
for sustainable freshwater management taking into consideration
social adaptive capacity.
Public awareness process through non-formal environmental
education in coastal communities. Experiences from
a demonstrative area in Cuba, as a part of GEF-IWCAM Caribbean
Regional Project by María E. Castellanos Gonzále,
Ángel R. León Pérez, Clara E. Miranda Vera, Ángel Moreira
González
This paper showcases an informal environmental education approach
for Integrated Watershed and Coastal Area Management
(IWCAM) utilizing a Social Approach to Science and Technology,
as a pathway to increase public awareness within the Castillo
Coastal Community. This community is a demonstration area of
the GEF-IWCAM Caribbean Regional Project, located in Cienfuegos,
Cuba. The development of this work was based on a social
network study and an integrated and participatory environmental
diagnosis. One of the highlights under this environmental education
initiative was the development of a Community Environmental
Education Information Room (IREEC). From this room, a
number of activities have been developed for various community
institutions, but one of the most noteworthy has been the linkage
with the Primary school “Paco Martell”. Children attending Paco
Martell have been engaged in 5 orientation groups on environmental
issues related to watersheds and coastal areas. The children’s
uptake of scientific knowledge was evaluated in a community
scientific exposition, the community in turn generating substantial
social motivation for scientific knowledge. Overall this
study highlights a number of lessons learnt and a suitable methodology
to take science to the community which can be replicated
in other IWCAM initiatives.
The Impact of the Present Drought on NWC Water Supply
Services to Kingston and St. Andrew by Mark Barnett
Water is life, however between May 2009 and present Jamaica
was starved of the precious commodity. There was a significant
reduction in rainfall intensity island wide especially along the
southern sections of eastern parishes (St. Thomas, Kingston, St.
Andrew, St. Catherine and Clarendon). The National Water Commission
(NWC), the state entity charged with the responsibility to
provide water and sewerage services was seriously challenged to
adequately supply customers daily with reliable potable water.
To this end the NWC had to implement drastic measures such as
supply restrictions to communities in order to ensure that the
limited stored capacity was not completely depleted. Such austere
measures had and continue to have serious social, health,
financial and economic implications for the NWC but more importantly
on Jamaica as a whole.
This paper evaluates and discusses the impact of the drought experienced,
and the lessons learnt in charting a path forward that could
guide the process of securing the water supply needs of Kingston in
particular, but more importantly the country on a whole. A discussion
is also presented on an appropriate institutional arrangement, environmental
and social implications, and the economic and financial
feasibility of reusing treated wastewater effluent as a water resource.
Protecting aquatic interfaces: riparian conservation,
restoration and buffer width recommendations
for rivers in Trinidad by Natalie Boodram
Riparian zones are transitional areas between terrestrial and freshwater
systems. They include riverbanks and shores of ponds and lakes.
Along riverbanks, riparian zones extend from the water’s edge to the
areas landward that either experience flooding or have elevated soil
water levels. Riparian zones have high levels of plant productivity and
biodiversity and are important habitats and corridors for animals. Riparian
plant roots trap sediment and pollutants and take up nutrients
from surface and groundwater filtering into the associated watercourse.
In so doing, riparian plants buffer the water quality of adjacent
watercourses. Riparian plant buffers are often created for water quality
protection especially at sites used for recreation and water abstraction.
Baseline data on riparian zone vegetation and environmental parameters
were collected along 12 rivers in Trinidad, at sites selected to
reflect the variations in rainfall, geomorphology and land use in Trinidad.
Cluster analysis and Spearman rank correlations were used to
delineate riparian vegetation groups and identify the most significant
determinants of riparian vegetation groups. Sites clustered into the
following broad vegetation groups: Northern Range Forest, Southern
Forest, Agricultural Vegetation, Abandoned Estate/Secondary Vegetation,
Weedy Vegetation and Bamboo Dominated Vegetation. The
best predictors of riparian vegetation groups included anthropogenic
variables like the degree of upland and riparian zone soil modification,
fire, channel modification, distance from paved roads, land ownership
and pollution. Sites within forests and abandoned agricultural estates
were recommended for conservation. Sites with limited human disturbance
especially limited fire disturbance were recommended for restoration.
Overall, the study recommends a 30m riparian buffer width
along rivers in Trinidad.
EcoEconomics and Management Effectiveness of Marine Parks
and Environs in the Caribbean by Richard M. Huber
Coral reefs are sometimes referred to as “canaries of the sea” because
of their early warning ability to forecast near-shore oceanic
stress. Because of their biological diversity, they are also called
“rainforests of the sea”. Coral reefs are vital to the well being of millions
of people. Tropical marine and coral reef ecosystems, including
mangroves and sea grasses, are vulnerable environmental resources
that provide significant economic goods and services. The health of
these resources is critical to human well-being. By accounting for
coastal marine and coral reef ecosystem economic values in manage-
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FIFTH BIENNIAL CARIBBEAN ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM AND EXHIBITION