What is KHEAM?
The Mona Geoinformatics Institute (MGI) has partnered with the GraceKennedy Foundation, the Centre of Marine Sciences (CMS) and Newer Worlds Limited (NW), on an environmental project which aims to bolster the defence of the vulnerable, low-lying areas of the city of Kingston against the climate risks of flooding, storm surges, and hurricanes through mangrove restoration, rehabilitation, and conservation within the Kingston Harbour, Jamaica. The MGI-led project titled the ‘Implementation of Eco-System Adaptation Measures for the Kingston Harbour Communities’, dubbed “KHEAM”, spans across a three (3)-year period and is funded by KFW Development Bank through the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) for a grant of US$990 thousand.
Objectives
MGI, along with its partners, has outlined three main objectives for the KHEAM project. These are:
- Restoration and rehabilitation of mangrove habitats to reduce climate risks
- Reduce land-based sources of pollution that have contributed to degradation of marine and coastal zone ecosystems
- Education and engagement of coastal communities and diversifying & supplementing their livelihoods
MGI’s Role
MGI, the leading organization in Jamaica providing advanced geographic information systems solutions and complex data mapping, has been tasked to map, model, visualise, document and baseline issues with mangrove ecosystems related to solid-waste impacts in the project’s target area of Kingston Harbour, Jamaica. Target mangrove areas for restoration and monitoring are found all along the Palisadoes, Port Royal and Hunt’s Bay areas. These include mangrove keys located inside of Kingston Harbour. For solid waste impact assessment, the 3 target gullies are:
- Barnes Gully
- Franklyn Town Gully
- Mountain View Gully