Towards Ocean and Coastal Zone Management Policy in Jamaica.

This Policy provides several principles and overall issues covering the fact that the coastal zone of the Jamaican marine area is also subject to the presence of factories, households, industrial food complex, and other food processing facilities, also in order to establish, in collaboration with other national programmes, reliable data about the scale, and control mechanisms in respect of sources of pollution of the ocean and coastal environment of Jamaica, and to foster sustainable management of ocean and coastal resources by suggesting mitigating mechanisms that are technically and socio-economically feasible. The proposed National Action Plan on ocean and coastal zone management is a product of national policy to elevate concern for coastal management to the level of planning and action. It recognizes coastal resources as important assets that offer the country manifold economic options. The Action Plan is intended to be consistent with the general direction of the policy on ocean and coastal zone management so that both documents will harmonize in respect of matters relating to the use of coastal resources. The plan is made up of projects that are clustered under programme areas and spread over a period of one five-year cycle in two phases. Phase I spreads over the years zero to two and comprises of eight programme areas, whereas Phase II spreads over years three to five and comprises four programme areas. Within each project the objective, activities (actions), scope, timing/duration, overall and secondary responsibility, and performance indicators have been identified. Many of the actions identified will require new and additional financial resources and technical support, both from external sources and from local inputs. The majority of the actions are project-oriented, but some are non-project in nature.
It is envisaged that implementation of the Action Plan will make coastal management a dynamic process which will evolve over time, through the promotion of the values of coastal patrimony of the country and the involvement of the people. Through the principle of integration of sectors in coastal management, planning will become part of the administrative machinery. The following summarizes the programme areas comprising the Action Plan: Phase I: Foundation Programmes (strengthening the role of the council; programme preparation, project identification and mobilization of financial and technical resources; consolidation of legal, administrative and enforcement framework; human resources and institutional capacity building; research and information related on coastal management issues; public awareness and education; strategies for sustainable use of coastal resources; monitoring, evaluation and reporting over the effective implementation of the programme); Phase II: Consolidation of Phase I and initiation of additional interventions (programme preparation, project identification and mobilization of financial and technical resources; human resources and institutional capacity building; economic valuation of coastal resources; monitoring, evaluation and reporting over this phase).
The overall responsibility for coordinating the implementation of the plan will rest with the National Council on Ocean and Coastal Zone Management. The Council will benefit from capacity-building support during Phase I. It is envisaged that in the second planning cycle active integration of coastal management sectors will be incorporated into the agendas at the sub-national levels. A total of 24 projects have been proposed in the Action Plan. Projects are linked as clusters under program areas. This Plan also determines the relations with sustainable forestry practices and watershed management; multiple benefits of trees in providing fuel, timber, fodder, food and environmental protection; benefits of forest-based conservation practices, and the ways in which forestry can contribute to food security and to rural development.
Annex I provides for budgetary information.