IN JAMAICA: Non-native plant species threaten Black River eco-system......Wild Ginger and Australian paperbark could eradicate endemics — scientists....The Black River is home to the famed American crocodile

BY GARFIELD MYERS Editor-at-large South/Central Bureau myersg@jamaicaobserver.com  Monday, May 05, 2014    

BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — The problem is not yet at crisis proportions, but scientists are voicing increasing concern at the invasion of alien plant species in the ecologically priceless Black River Lower Morass.

Black River

Alpinia Allughas, colloquially referred to as wild ginger, and the Australian paperbark tree, which carries the scientific name Melaleuca Quinquenervia, are the species attracting the most attention.

According to Dr Kurt McLaren, senior lecturer, Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies such “invasives” have the potential to destroy the ecology of the Black River Morass.

Seen as a “natural sponge” crucial to soaking up excess water and mitigating flooding on the St Elizabeth plains, the 15,600-hectare Black River Lower Morass is classified and protected under the Ramsar Convention. Signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, the convention provides for the conservation and sustainable use of important wetlands.

The lower morass is also of direct economic importance, partly because of its plentiful fish and shrimp, but increasingly for its attractiveness to tourists.

On a daily basis, many boatloads of tourists travel up and down the Black River to experience the largest freshwater wetland in Jamaica and the islands of the English-speaking Caribbean.

The Black River is home to the famed American crocodile and numerous species of endemic birds and plants. more