Dr Maxam’s presentation – The Great Terrain Robbery – My piece of the Rock versus SLR! – was delivered at the Jamaica Institute of Environmental Professionals Annual General Meeting Tuesday November 20, 2015. With much of the island’s population, properties and livelihoods at stake with projected sea level rise, Dr Maxam charged environmentalists with the challenge to create a more balanced form of environmentalism in Jamaica that sees sustainable, practical ways of achieving goals of preserving our environment while allowing the various sectors to flourish. She highlighted those parts of the island’s shoreline that will undergo the worse impacts of sea level rise inundation, including the water resources, critical infrastructure, populations and low-income areas that will be in direct area of inundation. “Everyone has a role to play… from simply imparting awareness, to the difficult task of implementing the right balance of hard and soft engineering methods that maintains integrity of the shoreline.”
