Cockpitcountry Jamaica

The Cockpit Country

2011-07-23T08:38:00.003-04:00

The Cockpit Country is widely recognized as one of the most biologically diverse places on earth.

The Cockpit Country is one of the most naturally pristine, unspoilt and culturally significant landscapes in the inland area of Jamaica and the world. The Cockpit region represents an essential portal into the roots of Jamaica’s earliest beginnings and future sustainability. This unique physical location has allowed a high biodiversity of flora and fauna to develop and thrive. In fact, the Jamaican Government has designated a portion of the Cockpit Country as a national forest reserve in an effort to help protect and preserve the large numbers of endemic flora and fauna that are indigenous to the region.

A significant portion of the Cockpit Country is recognized as an endangered hotspot within a hotspot – both for the number of species whose global ranges are restricted entirely to the region and for the number for which the Cockpit Country represents a major proportion of their total world population. New species continue to be discovered regularly, which is a testament to the significance of the Cockpit’s ongoing conservation.

Large areas of undisturbed wet limestone forest house a rich cornucopia of native plants, including; the Madame Fate or Horse Poison, a poisonous plant, with bright green leaves and a star shaped white flower; the Fresh Cut, which is used to relieve colds; and the Dog Tongue, whose name refers to the fact that its leaves are shaped like a dog’s tongue, and which has medicinal properties effective for healing open wounds.

At least eight endemic species have been expunged in Jamaica in the last two hundred years: the Giant Galliwasp, the Giant Gecko, the Racer, the Petrel, the Parauque, the Red Macaw, the Green-and-yellow Macaw and the Jamaican Rice Rat. With the exception of the macaws, which may have been hunted to extinction, the small Indian mongoose – introduced in 1872 – is believed to be responsible for the other species’ extinctions. Prominent animal species include land snails, grapsid crabs, amphibians, reptiles, land birds, and mammals.

As a measure to protect the estimated thirty species that are threatened by extinction within the next one hundred years, the Cockpit Country represents an important and vital sanctuary for their survival.

Residents of the Cockpit Country, local environmentalists and geologists are in agreement that the Cockpit Country regions need to be protected. The area’s water and wildlife resources are not only critical to sustain the environment and livelihood of the Cockpit, but are valuable for all of Jamaica. The rivers and aquifers supply the Cockpit and the rest of Jamaica with around 40% of its freshwater, and the Cockpit is home to many of Jamaica’s endemic species of birds, lizards, butterflies and insects.

There is general consensus from the residents that eco-tourism would be a boon to the region. The residents are also in agreement that a level of sensitivity and balance to the type of growth that is best for the area, to ensure that the area is not ‘misused’.

Bauxite mining is seen as the antithesis of this balanced growth: 95% of residents polled are vehemently against mining in the region. The most common reasons cited are that it will destroy the natural resources that the community depends upon, including wildlife and watersheds. The health of the community members will also be compromised.

“The region should be kept intact to maintain the natural ecological balance of Jamaica and the world “

The history of the Cockpit Country begins with the native Tainos, Jamaica’s sole inhabitants prior to Christopher Columbus’s arrival in 1494. Due to the lack of gold in Jamaica, the Spanish invaders quickly developed an economy based on diversified agriculture, enslaving the indigenous Taino people to farm their own land. Within the next 100 years, nearly all of the Taino were exterminated from abuse, malnourishment, and introduced diseases, leading to the first importation of enslaved Africans in 1513.The stories of the Tainos, Spanish, Africans, British, and Maroons are all integral to the narrative of the Cockpit Country. Local legend recounts dramatic battles, mythical warriors, and an unprecedented history of conquest, land seizure, human enslavement, and liberation.

The Cockpit Country is home to some of the oldest Maroon communities for more than 300 years. The descendants of African captives and native Tainos, the Maroons developed a distinctive cultural identity and continue to represent a critical component of the Cockpit Country

The Maroons of Jamaica not only survived the perils of captivity, enslavement and warfare but also created their own dynamic culture – a synergy of indigenous Jamaican, West African traditions. The Maroon culture fuses distinctive life philosophies with spiritual elements and the use of local Cockpit Country plants for medicines, healing, and arts and crafts, all in the spirit of sustainability and moderation.

Cockpit Country Movie preview

2011-07-23T06:23:00.010-04:00

Bart works for STEA and is persuing a documentary film about Cockpit Country, centered in Alps, with a focus on eco-tourism as an alternative to bauxite mining. He is raising funds for the project right now by selling pre-orders and other interesting stuff.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1324944479/cockpit-country-the-green-heart-of-jamaica

Bauxite Meltdown

2010-11-05T13:07:00.006-04:00

Jamaica's bauxite meltdown
Published Date: 10-02-2009 Source Date: 04-02-2009

One of the world's biggest bauxite and alumininum producing states is in deep trouble.
It's a crisis immediately reflected in shutdowns and loss of jobs, but prefigured by an astonishing history of corruption, mis-management, and lack of political and fiscal transparency.
Reflecting on the past fifteen years of what he calls "the loss of our birthright" through reckless privatisation, a former government mininster concludes:: "Government's should always avoid owning commercial enterprises unless there are clear and demonstrable national strategic advantages in doing so."
A lost birthright: The haemorraghing of the bauxite sector
Claude Clarke, Contributor
The Jamaica Gleaner
1st February 2009

The present contraction and threatened closure of Jamaica's bauxite/alumina industry resulting from the global economic crisis takes me back to an evening almost 15 years ago and a small dinner party I had arranged while I was chairman of JAMPRO. Among those present were the stewards of Government's bauxite/alumina interests, the heads of Government's development banks and an executive of a top Wall Street investment bank.
My purpose was to try to determine whether Government would be prepared to convert its holdings in the alumina sector to equity in a highway connecting Kingston and Montego Bay, with the potential for a dam across the Bog Walk gorge to provide water and electricity.
This was purely exploratory and was by no means a new idea, as I had picked it up from engineering types who had been discussing it for years. My clear impression at the end of the evening was that based on the strategic value accorded to Government's ownership of these alumina assets, the possibility of this transfer of equity was next to nil.

I felt at the time that a significant government-equity stake in the project would be essential to its financial feasibility. Based on information gleaned from engineering and financial experts, I had roughly calculated that the project would cost approximately US$800 million and that the only basis on which it would have been affordable for the Jamaican economy was if annual financing expenses could be held to a minimum.
This would be possible only if bilateral and/or multilateral debt at three to five per cent was used and Government put in equity of around US$400 million. This could only have come from the sale of a major government-owned asset, such as Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP), which I had estimated at the time to be worth around US$500 million.

Burden on the public purse
The approximately US$100 million of earnings after non-finance expenses, which a privately financed highway project would need to provide an adequate return to private debt and equity, could not have been generated by an affordable toll. The project would then become an unbearable burden on the public purse.
Over ten years later, in 2006, I found myself chairman of one of Government's bauxite/alumina entities. From this position, it came as a major shock when I found that CAP's value was no longer the approximately US$500 million I had earlier, correctly, estimated it to be, but was now less than US$50 million. This was a mind-numbing discovery.
Government's 50 per cent equity in Jamalco through CAP, which gave it decision-making power in the company and entitled it to 625,000 tonnes of alumina per year, had a market value of approximately US$550 million. In addition, between 1990 and 2007, the Government, through CAP invested a further US$440 million in Jamalco with a combination of direct cash payments and bauxite levy foregone. Government had therefore suffered a loss of almost US$1 billion on the capital value it had invested in CAP. How did this happen?
What is known is that sometime in 2000, CAP took on debt of US$125 million, among other things, to provide budget support to the Government. It also incurred a debt of US$65 million to help finance preliminary work on a planned expansion at Jamalco, from which it later withdrew.
CAP also incurred additional debt to invest a further $140 million in mud storage and mine infrastructure expansion at Jamalco. To the extent this investment was needed to replace depleted mud-storage capacity and new mining infrastructure for ongoing operations, it is surprising that special provisions had not been made over the years to prepare for this predictable expenditure; and loan financing should not have been necessary. However, if these new facilities were required to accommodate the planned expansion at Jamalco, in which CAP had decided not to participate and from which it would derive no commercial benefit, CAP should not have been required to contribute.

Having an equal voice
As it happens, the expansion project has since been aborted, because the low-cost Trinidadian liquid natural gas on which it had been predicated could not be secured. What is remarkable is that after all these investments were made by CAP, its equity in Jamalco was diluted from the strategically valuable 50 per cent, to a relatively weak 44 per cent. This removed the Government's raison d'être for participation in the company, that of having an equal voice in decisions affecting its future; and the strategic value which had hitherto made the idea of selling its interest to finance important infrastructure projects so unthinkable, was lost.

Two 10-year contracts covering the period 2000-2012, and involving almost the entire quantity of alumina controlled by the Government through its investment in the sector, should have provided very significant earnings for the country. However, as the prime minister recently disclosed, instead of earnings, massive losses have been experienced as a result of an unfortunate arrangement to fix the price on approximately 55 per cent of the contracts without an accompanying hedge against production-cost increases. These losses have been exacerbated by the manner in which the remaining 45 per cent of the contracted volumes, appropriately pegged to the London Metal Exchange price, were handled.

Long pricing positions
When the former administration was in office, it unwisely took long pricing positions on the futures market when distant prices were lower than nearby prices. As a result, price-hedging arrangements which were unfavourable to the country were made. This resulted in revenues being almost US$100 million less than might have been earned between 2002-2008. But what is even more unfortunate is that since this administration assumed office and at the same time that it was being justifiably critical of the last government's handling of our alumina sales, it is set to lose a further US$130 million on prices it may be forced to accept for alumina deliveries in 2009 and 2010.
Coinciding with the start of the new administration, there was a reversal in the pattern of prices in the futures market and distant prices were now higher than nearby prices. In addition, prices were rising in US dollars because of a temporary decline in the value of the dollar against other major currencies.
Aluminium prices rose above US$3,500 per tonne for both 2009 and 2010. This situation called for long price-hedging arrangements; but the Government apparently fell asleep and allowed these favourable pricing opportunities to pass. There was a long period of strong prices, peaking in July 2008 and stretching from the first quarter of that year to the end of August, just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Lehman's demise is widely seen as the event which precipitated the international financial crisis.
At a stretch, one could have forgiven delaying price-hedging decisions up to the point of Lehman's failure. But immediately thereafter, the Government should have moved quickly to hedge prices for at least the years 2009 and 2010, the period which most experts think the global economic crisis might last. Why this was not done, I do not know. What I do know is that because of this failure to act, we will be forced to deliver alumina for those two years based on metal prices as low as US$3,000 instead of over US$3,000. This converts to alumina prices some US$200 per tonne below that which would have been possible, were the Government more alert to its opportunities. The cumulative loss could be as much as US$130 million for the two-year period.

Trading losses
The losses to the country through the management of our alumina assets cannot be justified on any count and the Government's ownership position in the sector should have been discontinued a long time ago. The truth is, regardless of who owns the alumina plants, substantial benefits accrue to the country through the value of the local production-cost inputs, including the bauxite levy, workers' compensation and locally contracted services. This amounts to approximately US$90 to US$100 per tonne, or US$360 to US$400 million per year. However, for the past several years, our 'strategic' ownership position in alumina plants has caused us to give up a substantial portion of these earnings through trading losses and interest on debt incurred, essentially by CAP.
What is most amazing though, is that an asset as valuable as the approximately 725,000 metric tons of alumina owned by the Government with an annual potential revenue of US$250 million (J$21 billion) at 2008 average prices, could have been handled in the cavalier manner that it has, with no transparency whatsoever.
The prime minister has now expressed an interest in selling CAP, but because of prolonged losses, the company is now likely to have a substantial net negative value. And, selling it could result in the Government being left with a net liability of as much as US$250 million, as it would be forced to assume all of CAP's debt. Nonetheless, Government needs to end the haemorrhage of ongoing trading losses, although the timing of the sale of the company could not be worse, with the industry's asset prices now on the floor.

Sale was long over due
This decision to sell CAP should have come a whole lot sooner and the proceeds used to finance valuable infrastructure projects to spur economic development. However, the most important lesson which the Government should take from this sad experience is that governments should always avoid owning commercial enterprises unless there are clear and demonstrable national strategic advantages in doing so. And in those cases where ownership is justified, it should always be with full transparency, and management which is conducted strictly along commercial lines. Government should also have the wisdom and the discipline to let go of these assets as soon as the strategic reason for their ownership has passed. If these principles had been observed, this birthright of ours might not have been lost, and at so great a cost.
Claude Clarke is a former minister in the People's National Party government and manufacturer.

Jamaica's largest bauxite company cuts production
Reuters
14th January 2009
KINGSTON - Jamaica's largest bauxite and alumina producing company, Alumina Partners of Jamaica, will cut production by 50 percent and lay off staff, a company official said here late Wednesday.
Officials at the company known as Alpart blamed the global economic slowdown for the cutbacks, which take effect on Thursday. "The economic situation required Alpart to take immediate action," said the Managing Director Alberto Fabrini.
"Alpart has already introduced measures to reduce cost and increase efficiency. We have been in dialogue with the workers and their unions about the measures," he said in a statement.
The company, which has the capacity to produce 1.65 million tonnes of alumina each year, did not say how long the production cut will last.
Fabrini said 250 part-time or temporary workers would lose their jobs on a phased basis.
"The workers are not in agreement with this move, but they understand that the global crisis has impacted on this situation," said Vincent Morrison, president of the National Workers Union, which represents some of the workers.
Representatives from United Company RUSAL, the majority shareholder in the company, have arrived in Jamaica to meet with government and company officials and said they could not rule out further job and production cuts.
Norwegian aluminum group Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL) also owns a stake in Alpart.
Although other bauxite companies operating in Jamaica have not said they will cut production and staff, analysts believe that could occur soon.
(Reporting by Horace Helps; Editing by Jane Sutton)
JLP seeks answers on Bauxite deal
ttp://www.radiojamaica.com

2nd February 2009
Clive Mullings. The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is talking tough to the former administration as it seeks answers about a Bauxite deal it says is now costing the government millions of dollars.
The JLP said that is not the only thing it needs explained by the People's National Party, it also wants the party to come clean about allegations of squatting involving a Member of Parliament.
Thorn in the flesh
At the JLP's Emergency Press conference held on Monday Minister of Mining and Energy Clive Mullings outlined the details of an over $180 million loan agreement with Glencore for expansion work in the bauxite sector.
He said the loan agreement brokered under former finance minister, Omar Davies made no allowance for the consideration of inflation in the paying back of this loan.
Mr. Mullings said this debt has been inherited by his administration and is now a thorn in their flesh.
"We have challenges because we have to find JA$1.5 billion per month for this untenable situation but we can't just turn around and say we are not servicing the debt because you went into the international financial markets and secured a $200 million loan and therefore if we were to renege on those debts it would have consequences for us in the financial market and so we are saddled. We have around our necks not just an albatross but a concrete block," said Mr. Mullings.
The JLP is now asking the former Finance minister to come forward and reveal how the deal was brokered and why consideration was not given as to how the loan will be serviced.
Calls for Ian Hayles to be suspended
In the meanwhile, they are calling on opposition leader, Portia Simpson Miller to come forward and speak on allegations that Opposition spokesman on Investment and Development, Ian Hayles was involving in squatting in a section of Little Bay in Westmoreland.
Government Senator Warren Newby said an investigation should be done and the opposition leader should suspend Mr. Hayles from his position as opposition spokesperson until investigations are complete.
He said they will also be taking the issue to Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
"We further call on our Prime Minister who has responsibilities for land and development to order a full investigation into the matter as it surrounds those lands in Little Bay. We are concerned," said Senator Newby.
Jamaica bauxite gets another blow
http://www.caribbean360.com/
4th February 2009
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaica's bauxite industry has been dealt another blow, with the West Indies Alumina Company (WINDALCO) announcing that it will suspend operations at its two refineries in the island by the end of next month.
The move will see 250 more temporary workers going on the breadline, although the approximately 850 permanent workers will be retained during the plants' temporary closure.
"Preparations for suspension will start immediately," said WINDALCO's Managing Director Andrew Currie. "This decision is in response to the drastic reduction in demand for alumina as a consequence of the global downturn and continued unfavourable aluminium market conditions."
But the island's Mining and Telecommunications Minister Derrick Smith has not given up hope. He said the government is in negotiations to delay the temporary closure.
WINDALCO is owned by the world's largest aluminium producer, United Company RUSAL, which last December announced a 35 per cent cut in production and sent home 150 temporary workers in Jamaica.
The latest job cuts come less than a month after the country's largest bauxite producing company, Alumina Partners of Jamaica (Alpart), announced a cut in production and the laying off of 250 workers over a six-month period.
Alpart's Managing Director Alberto Fabrini blamed the cuts on the global economic crisis which has caused a drop in the demand for and price of aluminium.
Blow to Bauxite
INGRID BROWN, Observer senior reporter
Jamaica Observer
3rd February 2009
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/
Contact:browni@jamaicaobserver.com

West Indies Alumina Company (Windalco) yesterday said it would temporarily close operations at its Kirkvine and Ewarton refineries on March 31, putting more than 250 part-time workers out of a job and leaving the fate of 850 permanent staff hanging in the balance.
The announcement, which took workers and their union by surprise, came three days after aluminium recorded a slight increase over its lowest price in over six years on the London Metal Exchange.
Wire services reported at the close of trading on Friday that the three-months aluminium price was indicated at US$1,338/48 a tonne, up from US$1,316.50 a week before.The Observer front page reporting the birth of WINDALCO in June 2001.
Yesterday, WINDALCO, though not giving a date for resumption, said it would keep 850 permanent staff on its payroll and, over the next two months, cut 250 part-time and contract workers.
Just last week, Prime Minister Bruce Golding said the country should be prepared for setbacks in the bauxite sector, with the possibility of a complete shutdown of one or more alumina plants.
Golding told Parliament that his administration was working hard to avoid any shutdown and to keep the bauxite/alumina sector operating.
WINDALCO started operations in Jamaica on June 7, 2001 when Glencore took control of the Alcan Alumina operations and renamed it. The operation is managed by Russian firm UC RUSAL under a joint venture with Jamaica Bauxite Mining Ltd.
In a statement issued late yesterday afternoon, hours after Mining and Telecommunications Minister Derrick Smith announced the imminent closure in a press release, WINDALCO said preparations for suspension will start immediately.
Managing Director Andrew Currie said that "given the declining global demand for alumina and WINDALCO's position as a high cost producer, we are forced to temporarily suspend our production. This is the only economically appropriate measure".
The release stated further that the company will enter into consultations with its employees and unions to discuss the impact and the changes that will result from this decision.
However, yesterday, the National Workers Union, which represents more than 700 workers at the bauxite company, said it was first informed of the decision when the Observer contacted union head Vincent Morrison yesterday afternoon.
"I spoke with Andrew Currie at approximately 2:30 today and he never told me of any such thing and so this is the first we are hearing of a temporary closure by the end of March," Morrison said.
He said he would be seeking a meeting with the management at the earliest possible time to find out why the union was not informed of the company's decision before it became public knowledge.
When the Observer first contacted WINDALCO after 4:00 pm yesterday, Kayon Wallace, senior communications officer, said the company only got a decision from their owner earlier in the day and were in the process of informing the workers.
Meanwhile, Smith said the Government is currently negotiating with UC RUSAL to obtain an extension to ensure that the appropriate procedures for notification of closure are adhered to as stipulated under the joint venture agreement.
Smith described UC RUSAL's intention as not surprising in the context of the state of the bauxite alumina industry globally.
He said he wanted to assure bauxite/alumina workers and their trade unions that the Government is doing everything possible to delay plans for the temporary closure of UC RUSAL's operations and is exploring all options which will keep the plant open.
Efforts to speak directly to Smith proved futile as two messages left on his cellphone were never returned and permanent secretary in the ministry, Marcia Forbes, said he was the best person to comment on the matter.
The WINDALCO release said the decision was in response to the drastic reduction in demand for alumina as a consequence of the global downturn and continued unfavourable aluminium market conditions.
Source:
http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=9060

More info

http://open.salon.com/blog/theron_mcinnis/2010/01/13/life_after_bauxite

Bauxite mining poses major threat to Cockpit Country wildlife and watershed

2007-03-14T08:39:00.005-04:00

Damage our water supply
Destroy the unique wildlife in the Cockpit Country
Create health hazards (particularly hazards related to bauxite dust)
Breakup our communities resulting in consequences that are still being suffered 30-40 years later by many of those present who have already been once displaced from St. Ann by the Kaiser Bauxite Company.

Alcoa, the world's largest producer of aluminum, has been mining bauxite in Jamaica since 1963. Since 2004 it has been prospecting for bauxite in Cockpit Country. In July 2005, Alcoa's Board of Directors approved plans to join with the government of Jamaica to expand the Jamalco alumina refinery in Clarendon. Jamalco is owned 50 percent by the Jamaican government and 50 percent by Alcoa Minerals of Jamaica. Environmental groups say such damage would be irreparable.

"Unfortunately for the birds, landscape, and many communities Jamaica is pushing hard to extract every bit of bauxite from her soils to export for aluminum production, “said Susan Koenig of the Cockpit Country Stakeholders Group, a coalition of environmentalists, tourism industry representatives and schools. "The ecological damage wrought by the industry is astounding for a medium sized island," said Koenig. Koenig argues that damaging one of the worlds most important and spectacular karst landscapes to get at the bauxite underneath makes no long-term economic sense. Tourism generates 45 percent of Jamaica's foreign earnings and directly or indirectly provides jobs for around a quarter of the working population she claims, adding that mining employs far fewer people and is not sustainable.

The Cockpit Country is in northwestern Jamaica near the tourist resorts of Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. It is about 130 miles (209 kilometers) from the capital city of Kingston. Central Jamaica was once blanketed with wet limestone forests. The 173 square miles (450 square kilometers) of Cockpit Country represent the largest and most intact portion left it is a rugged remote area of western Jamaica that has the world’s most outstanding karst topography – steep-sided hills and deep, round valleys eroded from the limestone bedrock.

The wildlife of the Cockpit Country is specially adapted to this unique landscape and numerous species occur here that are endemic, found nowhere else in the world. This is the largest remaining area of intact wet limestone forest in Jamaica and is a refuge for at least 79 of the 100 bird species found in the island, including Jamaica’s two endemic parrot species (the black-billed parrot, the yellow-billed parrot), also the ring-tailed pigeon and the plain pigeon The Cockpit Country is home to perhaps the only viable population of the endemic Giant Swallowtail butterfly; with a wingspan of up to 8 inches (20 cm) it is the largest butterfly in the Americas. As we write this, a new species of tree frog, endemic to Jamaica and thus far known only from the Cockpit Country, is being described by scientists. At least 101 species of unique plants grow in this region, some isolated to just one hillock, according to the Nature Conservancy. Based in Arlington, Virginia, the group is working with Jamaican conservation organizations to safeguard the region. These species forage mostly on bromeliads - epiphytic plants growing on the branches of trees. But bromeliads are especially vulnerable to forest fragmentation and caustic dust from mining.

In addition to its rich biodiversity, the Cockpit Country supplies water for most of western Jamaica. Five major rivers are fed from the aquifers under the Cockpit Country: the Black River, Great River, Montego River, Cabarita River and the Martha Brae. Five parishes derive their water supply, in whole or part, from this forested area – St. Elizabeth, Hanover, St. James, Westmoreland and Trelawny.

Several of the region's 300 caves, such as Windsor Great Cave and Marta Tick Cave, are notable for the size and diversity of their bat caves. Some caves support colonies of more than 50,000 bats. Three species of bats, including the at risk Jamaican flower bat, are endemic to Jamaica.

The Cockpit Country holds a special place in Jamaican history because of its importance as an inaccessible refuge for the Maroons, who were able to force the British into signing a peace treaty in 1738. Trelawny is also home to the largest group of Maroons in the island.

The Cockpit Country Stakeholders Group is advocating that no prospecting licences or mining leases be issued without careful consideration of the views of this Group, which is planning a national and international ‘Save Cockpit Country’ campaign.

The stakeholders include includes scientists, educators and other members of Birdlife Jamaica, Bluefields Peoples’ Community Association, Bluefields Bay Fishermen’s Friendly Society, Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation, Countrystyle Community Tourism Network, Dolphin Head Trust, International School of Jamaica, Jamaica Environment Trust, Manchester Environmental Protection Association, Negril Environmental Protection Trust, Northern Jamaica Conservation Association, the Plant Conservation Centre, Portland Environment Protection Association, Southern Trelawny Environmental Agency, the Sustainable Communities Foundation, and Windsor Research Centre.

Bauxite is a major driver of Jamaica's economy, generating $900 million in 2004, with $370 million of that staying in the country, according to the Jamaica Information Service. The country is the fifth largest bauxite producer in the world.
The Nature Conservancy is working with three local partners, the South Trelawny Environmental Agency, the Windsor Research Center and Jamaica's Forestry Department, to develop a long-term protection plan for the region.

The plan includes developing a field demonstration site that uses yam sticks made of recycled plastic instead of saplings.

Part of the plan is to offer tax exemptions or direct payments to private landowners who set aside at least 100 acres (40 hectares) of forest as a reserve.

The Conservancy is also training at least 10 residents of Cockpit Country communities as enforcement officers to patrol the area for illegal loggers and miners.

Consultant hired to determine borders of area home to Maroons

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- The Jamaican government has hired a consultant to determine the boundaries of a jungle territory home to descendants of freed African slaves who are fighting plans for bauxite mining in the area, the agriculture ministry said.

Ministry spokesman Rohan Richards said Wednesday the consultant would determine the borders of Cockpit Country, spanning four parishes in northwest Jamaica. He refused to elaborate.

The government could use the consultant's information to decide what land does not belong to the Accompong Maroons -- descendants of slaves freed by the Spanish in the 17th century to repel invading British forces -- and can therefore be mined.

Agriculture Minister Roger Clarke said he withdrew a license for U.S.-based aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. and state-owned Clarendon Alumina Production Ltd. to begin bauxite mining in the area after the Maroons said they would not allow it and environmental activists threatened protests.

Sydney Peddie, the Maroons' leader, has said opening up the area to mining would breach a 1739 treaty signed with the British that gave them some 24,700 acres (9,995 hectares) in the inhospitable terrain of rocky cliffs and limestone towers.

For more information and or interview contact Glenroy Ennis who is an Agriculturist, Economist and Consultant in both field. He is from Alps, Trelawany and works with the local communities.

Environmental Impacts of Aluminum Production

Pollution:
1 ton of cans produces 5 tons of caustic waste
Each ton washed, and refined into alumina before it is smelted, creating about 5 tons of caustic red mud residue which can seep into surface and groundwater. People and animals have suffered from the effects of bauxite mining in Jamaica, Brazil, Australia, and other tropical areas, she noted. of aluminum cans requires 5 tons of bauxite ore to be strip-mined, crushed,

Energy consumption:
3% of the world's electricity goes into making aluminum cans.
According to the International Aluminum Institute, about a third of the primary aluminum produced worldwide uses coal-generated electricity, 10% relies on oil and natural gas-fired electricity generation, 5% is nuclear powered, and about half uses hydroelectricity (dams). These dams flood vast tracts of land in some places and desiccate it in others, wreaking havoc on the ecosystem, threatening biodiversity, and forcing thousands of humans to leave their homes.

Climate Change:
Aluminum smelters release greenhouse gases and toxic emissions
About 95 million tons of greenhouse gases were produced by the global aluminum industry in 2005. Primary aluminum smelting also generates sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, which are contributors to smog and acid rain. In 2005, 50.7 billion U.S. cans were wasted, resulting in the emission of 75,000 tons of SOx and NOx.