"The Portland Bight Protected Area, established in 1999, has helped to conserve a large stretch of land to the southeast of Kingston, the capital of Jamaica. It is the country’s largest protected area, covering some 520 km2 of land and 1 356 km2 of ocean. The reserve is habitat and home to birds, iguanas, crocodiles, manatees, sea turtles, fish and 50 000 human beings. It contains two ports, part of three sugar production estates, various fish farms, a bauxite-aluminium plant, a feed factory, two electric plants and other industrial and commercial installations (JPAT 2010). Land that was previously in intensive use has regenerated since the 1980s, although the area around the reserve continues to be further occupied, presenting new pressures. Agricultural lands, for example, are giving way to the suburbs of Kingston Portmore. These activities have not left the protected area untouched, affecting its northern sections. The Portland Bight Protected Area is a nesting site for marine birds and endangered turtle species, such as Hawksbill and Green Turtles." - http://www.cathalac.org/lac_atlas/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45:portland-bight-protected-area-jamaica&catid=1:casos&Itemid=5
The protected area has now been jeapordized by plans to contstruct a large harbor in the middle of critical environmental areas:
The planned port would occupy the Goat Islands, in the heart of the Portland Bight Protected Area, which only last year the same government officials were petitioning UNESCO to designate a Global Biosphere Reserve. Instead, the lure of a $1.5 billion investment and a rumored 10,000 jobs has resulted in the deal with China Harbour Engineering Company, part of a conglomerate blacklisted by the World Bank under its Fraud and Corruption Sanctioning Policy.
