LABOUR DAY on Tuesday saw the start of the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust's (JCDT) 'Peak Pride' repair work at the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, which it manages.
Shana-Lee Chai, JCDT
conservation science officer, said she was happy with the turnout which included five volunteers from the Red Stripe Employees Advocating for Care and Hope (REACH) outreach group. Digicel also pitched in with a donation of $100,000.
SUNNY WEATHER
"We were very grateful for the sunny weather, especially since it usually rains up there!" Ms. Chai said. "We got the shelter painted because it was full of graffiti. We have been able to clean up the garbage that people have unfortunately seen fit to leave up there."
However she said there was still more work to be done, with Red Stripe pledging continued support, hence JCDT's need for further volunteers. She noted that there remained a problem created by some hikers who, faced by the chilly nights at high altitude, break off wood from the shelter for firewood.
A similar fate befell the wooden toilet which had to be replaced by a metal one; likewise the shelter now needs a zinc roof.
The JCDT also wants to repair Sherman Trail, which takes hikers from Mavis Bank to Lookout Point just below Portland Gap where the Blue Mountain Peak Trail officially starts.
For more information or to
volunteer contact the JCDT:
960-2848-9
IMPORTANT FACTS
At 2,256 metres (7,402 feet) the Blue Mountain peak is the highest point in Jamaica, and the second highest in the Caribbean.
The Peak, and the last 5.6 kilometres of the trail are within the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park which protects almost 98,000 hectares of forest on the upper slopes of the mountain ranges in the east of the island.
The Blue Mountains are home to more than 500 species of flowering plants.
