Closed gates: The new barrier to ICC day

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), national coordinator for International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) Day, is concerned about a growing barrier to volunteer action: beach access.

Over the past two years, more and more of our ICC site coordinators have reported difficulty accessing beaches they have cleaned for years. This year, for example, two planned cleanups at Fort Rocky, a long-standing ICC site, cannot go ahead because access to the beach has been fenced. The site coordinators were then told the beach was already cleaned. Similar reports are emerging from other parts of the island where beaches have either become ‘private property’, or their access points have been privatised.

We’ve also noticed some challenges with the National Environment and Planning Agency’s Adopt-a-Beach programme. In some cases, registered organisations focus their cleanups on specific beaches, which has in turn limited participation from long-standing community groups and volunteers who have cared for these areas for years – often without recognition or even resources.

Some may argue that beaches that are privately managed are typically clean. This, however, overlooks two important issues. First, public access to beaches in Jamaica has been a long-standing concern for recreational purposes with families, fishers, and communities struggling against shrinking access to the coastline. Second, ICC Day is not just about cleaning beaches. It is about civic participation, environmental education, and the sense of shared responsibility that comes from people giving their time to care for the country’s coastline.

ICC Day is one of the largest volunteer environmental activities in the country, part of a global movement that has been running for 40 years. Each year, Jamaicans contribute to the international data on marine debris, helping to show the scale of the problem and the solutions needed. Limiting beach access threatens this important work.

Beach access is already a contentious issue for recreation. We never imagined it would become a problem for ICC Day – a globally recognised volunteer activity that benefits everyone.

If we want to protect Jamaica’s natural heritage for generations to come, we must ensure that beaches remain open for both recreation and citizen action like ICC Day.

JAMAICA ENVIRONMENT

TRUST