On 2 February 2018, Jamaica will join the international community in observing World Wetlands Day (WWD). The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) will host the national celebration at its Johnson Hill Office in Hellshire, St. Catherine under the theme ‘Wetlands for a Sustainable Urban Future’.
The event will run from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm and aims to educate over 200 students and educators from primary, secondary and tertiary schools and the general public across St. Catherine, Clarendon and Kingston and St. Andrew, on the importance of wetlands and their environmental value to Jamaica’s cities. Participants will be actively engaged with various activities including but not limited to wetland tours, exhibits, wetland Olympics, debate competition and other educational games.
World Wetlands Day is celebrated annually to mark the adoption of the Convention of Wetlands signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971. Jamaica became a Party to the Ramsar Convention in 1998.
Hellshire Hills which forms a part of the Portland Bight Protected Area is the largest undisturbed dry limestone forest in the Western Hemisphere and a popular area for nature lovers. The area is managed by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC).
The NRC is the local representative for the international inter-governmental body of the Convention on Wetlands, the Ramsar Committee/Convention.
Jamaica has several wetlands of which four have been designated Ramsar Sites (Wetlands of International Importance), under the Ramsar Convention. The four sites are: Black River Lower Morass Ramsar Site, The Portland Bight Wetlands and Cays Ramsar Site, The Palisadoes-Port Royal Protected Area and Ramsar Site and the Mason River Protected Area, Bird Sanctuary and Ramsar Site.
The UDC is actively engaged where mandated in the deliberate balancing and conservation of Jamaica’s natural resources, including wetlands, coastal and marine areas and ecosystems as a means of ensuring sustainable development and the best quality of life for the citizens of Jamaica in tandem with its development mandate.
Other members of the National Ramsar Committee include the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ), Caribbean Coastal Area Management (CCAM), Water Resources Authority (WRA), the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), the Negril Environmental Protection Trust (NEPT) and the Forestry Department.
For further information, please contact
The Corporate Relations and Marketing Department
Urban Development Corporation
12 Ocean Boulevard
Kingston, Jamaica
Tel: (876) 656-8031 Email cr@udcja.com
www.facebook.com/urbandevelopmentcorporation