The North Gully, one of the most offensive facilities in this resort town, topped the list of environmental hazards fingered by officials of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) and the Montego Bay Marine Park at Monday's World Wetlands Day celebrations.

This is a section of the North Gully. (Photo: Pat Roxborough-Wright)

"I would have to say the biggest problem being faced by the environment is the influx of garbage from the North Gully.
The phosphates and nitrates from human faeces are having adverse effects on the coral system... breaking down critical food chains," said the UDC's environmental officer, Andrew Douse.

Douse was responding to a question posed by one of the many students who participated in the day of activities put on by the UDC in collaboration with the Montego Bay Marine Park to mark the annual observance of the United Nations Convention on Wetlands signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar on February 2, 1971.

According to Douse, who conducted a Powerpoint presentation on the UDC's efforts to preserve the integrity of the environment, the Bogue Lagoon, the designated fish sanctuary of the Montego Bay Marine Park was suffering from the nastiness of its neighbours upstream.

"Whatever they put in the gully washes right down here and the fact is that when you tip the balance even just a little bit by throwing garbage in it upsets the ecosystem," he said.
Overfishing was also identified as a negative practice hurting the sanctuary.

Later during a tour of the lagoon, environmentalists gave students and staff of the Half Moon resort who volunteered to participate in the activities, a close-up look at the fragile ecosystem and encouraged them to spread the message of the importance of environmental preservation.