Jamaica Pushes to Get Blue, John Crow Mountains National Park on World Heritage List

THE Jamaica Conservation Development Trust (JCDT) is seeking to have the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park in Jamaica´s eastern end inscribed, which would place it on the world heritage list that currently boasts 812 properties.

Marolyn Gentles, environmental education and community officer at the trust, made the disclosure at the recent Quao Day celebrations at the Moore Town Maroon Village, Portland.

She said steps were being taken to prepare a dossier for the site to be inscribed.

The World Heritage List includes 812 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. These include 628 cultural, 160 natural and 24 mixed properties in 137 States Parties.

According to Gentles, the Blue and John Crow Mountains would fall under both the natural and cultural heritage classification, given the fact that the Maroon communities of Moore Town and Charles Town in Portland were part of the area.

The Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park was established in 1990 to provide stricter protection for government land and designated forest reserves.

The park covers some 196,000 acres (79,321 hectares), and houses the watershed for the capital city of Kingston, and all communities in the eastern third of Jamaica. At least 150 resident and migratory bird species live in these mountains.