i Jamaica’s National Ecological Gap Assessment Report May 2009 A component of the Protected Areas System Master Plan of Jamaica ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations ii Preface iv Acknowledgements v Executive Summary vi List of Acronyms xi Introduction 1 Jamaica’s Path Towards Protected Areas 3 Conservation Targets 7 Target Viability and Threats 10 Conservation Goals 12 Identification of Gaps 17 Closing Jamaica’s Protected Area Gaps 21 Recommendations 27 Glossary 32 References 34 Maps 37 Appendices 1. Contributors to National Ecological Gap Assessment 57 2. Marine Conservation Targets Represented Within Existing Protected Areas 60 3. Freshwater Goal Conservation Targets Represented Within Existing Protected Areas 61 4. Terrestrial Conservation Targets Represented Within Existing Protected Areas 62 5. Results of Protected Area Classification Workshop 64 6. Protected Areas Prioritization Workshop Results 67 7. National Biodiversity Research Agenda 74 iii ILLUSTRATIONS TABLES Table 1: Existing Protected Area Categories in Jamaica 5 Table 2: Marine, Freshwater and Terrestrial Conservation Targets 8 Table 3: Major Threats to Marine, Freshwater and Terrestrial Biodiversity in Jamaica 10 Table 4: Conservation Goals for Marine Targets 13 Table 5: Conservation Goals for Freshwater Targets 14 Table 6: Conservation Goals for Coarse-filter Terrestrial Targets 15 Table 7: Conservation Goals for Fine-filter Terrestrial Targets 16 Table 8: Overview of Proposed Add-ons to Existing Protected Areas 23 Table 9: Overview of Proposed Protected Areas 24 Table 10: Consolidated Protected Area Classification System 28 BOXES Box 1: Recommended Priority Areas 29 Box 2: Potential Conservation Mechanisms 30 MAPS Map 1.0: Recommended System of Protected Areas ix Map 1.1: Legally Declared Protected Areas in Jamaica 38 Map 1.2: Current Protected Area Network 39 Map 2.0: Distribution of Marine Targets 40 Map 3.0: Distribution of Freshwater Targets 41 Map 4.0: Distribution of Terrestrial Coarse- and Fine-filter Targets 42 Map 5.0: Distribution of Freshwater and Coarse-filter Terrestrial Targets 43 Map 6.0: Distribution of Freshwater and Fine-filter Terrestrial Targets 44 Map 7.0: Distribution of Freshwater and Marine Targets 45 Map 8.0: Cost Surface Model for Terrestrial Biodiversity 46 Map 8.1: Cost Surface Model for Freshwater Biodiversity 47 Map 8.2: Cost Surface Model for Marine Biodiversity 48 Map 9.0: Integrated Cost Surface 49 Map 10.0: Recommended Marine Conservation Portfolio with Goals Met 50 Map 11.0: Recommended Terrestrial Areas Portfolio with Goals Met 51 iv Map 12.0: Recommended Freshwater Portfolio with Goals Met 52 Map 13.0: Proposed National Protected Areas Portfolio – Priority Ranking: Biodiversity 53 Map 14.0: Proposed National Protected Areas Portfolio – Priority Ranking: Threat 54 Map 15.0: Proposed National Protected Areas Portfolio – Priority Ranking: Feasibility 55 v PREFACE The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at its seventh Conference of Parties in 2004, adopted a set of goals and objectives on protected areas, called the “Programme of Work on Protected Areas” (PoWPA). The PoWPA is divided into three phases which span from 2004 to 2012. The first phase of activities requires that all parties (including Jamaica) complete a Protected Areas System Master Plan (PASMP). Preparing a Master Plan requires undertaking an ecological gap analysis to assess where the nation’s current protected areas systems fall short of protecting all biodiversity; assessing the management effectiveness of existing protected areas; planning to build the capacity of Protected Area managers at local and system level; and assessing the financial gap and planning for long-term financial sustainability. The National Ecological Gap Assessment Report (NEGAR) is the ecological component of the PASMP as required by the CBD guidelines. The Protected Areas Committee (PAC) is leading the development of the PASMP. The committee consists of heads of the government entities with legal responsibility for protected areas declaration and/or management. Formation of the PAC was necessitated due to the number of entities making decisions independent of, but impacting, each other. Members are: o CEO and Conservator of Forests, Forestry Department (Chair) o CEO, National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA); o Senior Director, Environmental Management Division, Office of the Prime Minister; o Executive Director, Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT); o Chair of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Scientific Authority of Jamaica; and o Director, Fisheries Division. The mandate of the PAC is to prepare the Master Plan in accordance with CBD guidelines and national needs, as the road map towards an effectively managed and sustainably financed, representative protected area system. A Secretariat is provided to the PAC by The Nature Conservancy (Jamaica) and NEPA. In 2004 when the PoWPA was adopted Jamaica already had aspects of the plan completed through an Environmental Foundation of Jamaica project: legal, heritage and culture, and public awareness. Subsequently completed components are, Management Effectiveness Assessment and Capacity Development Planning. Ongoing work includes the sustainable finance analysis and planning; institutional mechanisms; and the National Ecological Gap Assessment, the subject of this report. The PAC will have a Master Plan drafted from the components developed, and will, through public consultations, define and publicise the system plan, leading to its formal adoption as a National Plan. The Ecological Working Group (EWG) was given the task by the PAC to prepare the NEGAR. The EWG is a multi-stakeholder grouping (governmental and non-governmental). Members of the EWG are listed in Appendix 1. It should also be noted that the PAC is the entity responsible for the PASMP and all of its components, including the NEGAR, and as such any comments or queries should be directed to the PAC Chair, Miss Marilyn Headley, CEO and Conservator of Forests, Forestry Department. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful to the numerous individuals and institutions that contributed to making this report possible. In particular, we would like to thank BlueMaris Ventures, Dr Matthew McPherson and Mrs. Maya Gorrez-de Jongh, the consultants who wrote the first drafts and facilitated stakeholder workshops. The Nature Conservancy contributed in a number of ways, providing their guidance, technical and other support throughout this project. We would also like to acknowledge the technical assistance of Ms. Shawn Margles, Dr. Steve Schill and Mr. Owen Evelyn who diligently provided the maps as well as ongoing technical and logistical support for GIS-related products. We would also especially like to acknowledge the time and effort of the Jamaican experts and stakeholders who participated in the consultations carried out to review the results of this work (see Appendix 1)—their critical thinking, provided over a period of ten months, was instrumental in shaping the results of the final integrated protected areas system portfolio. vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Jamaica is committed to developing an ecologically-representative network of protected areas designed to conserve at least ten per cent of the nation’s remaining naturally-occurring terrestrial, aquatic and marine flora and fauna. The consensus is that this target is inadequate to protect Jamaica’s biodiversity because of the high levels of endemism. To achieve Jamaica’s goal, the National Ecological Gap Assessment Report was commissioned by Jamaica’s Protected Areas Committee to fulfil two basic objectives: 1) Identify where the existing protected areas fall short in adequately protecting a representative sample of all marine, terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity in the country, that is, identifying the ecological gaps. 2) Based on the identified gaps in representative protected areas, provide recommendations for bridging the gaps and implementing conservation of these areas. Jamaica’s current protected areas cover approximately 18% of the country’s land area as well as 15% of its archipelagic waters. Beginning with the Harbours Act of 1874 and the Morant and Pedro Cays Act of 1907, conservation efforts evolved through a number of legislative acts applied in a largely ad hoc fashion and, as a result, protected areas now fall into 19 different named categories under the jurisdiction of four government agencies within 3 ministries. Jamaica is currently addressing the need to reform the present protected areas complexity to ensure that the country’s resources are supported by viable and well- functioning biological processes. This will enable a robust system—aligned with international paradigms—to be put in place. Although the nature of the impending reform is under discussion among relevant agencies, this document provides parameters for consideration based on consultations with key stakeholders. The integrated ecological gap assessment described in this report builds on the Jamaica Ecoregional Plan (JERP). The latter provided separate gap assessments for marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems that were used to make recommendations to adequately conserve critical biodiversity within each one of these habitats. Expert and stakeholder consultations in conjunction with technical analyses using existing research data and other available information were used to develop the Plan. The work required a series