( L-r) Claire Bernard, Deputy Director General Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Pierre-Luc Vanhaeverbeke, Project Manager, European Union Delegation, Damion Whyte, Environmental Officer, Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and Chalene Roye, Environmental Monitoring Officer, National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), plant mangroves at a section of the Hellshire wetlands, located adjacent to Fort Clarence Beach. The work being implemented will result in the rehabilitation of several hectares of wetland ecosystem, the removal of debris and the replanting of approximately 2500 mangrove seedlings and the creation of channels. This will serve to strengthen the resilience of Hellshire’s coastline to withstand strong storm surges and hurricanes. The restoration process commenced on August 26 and will end in September 2013. The activity is a collaborative effort between UDC, owners and managers of the Hellshire Hills and NEPA, through its Government of Jamaica, European Union and United Nation Environment Programme (GOJ/EU/UNEP) Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction Project (CCADRRP).
