Letter of the Day | How to lose a beach  

THE EDITOR, Madam:

There is one important aspect of beach access and management that has not entered the discourse: the environmental damage that results from regular or high-volume recreational use of beaches that have no sanitary conveniences or system to ensure collection of waste.  Hellshire beach (Half Moon Bay) is the perfect example of how unmanaged use of a beach can result in beach loss.   

Our whitesand beaches are produced and protected by coral reefs.  The ideal beach should have a healthy reef in front and sand dunes/beach dunes behind.   Sand is very dynamic and is constantly moved by waves and wind.  Beach dunes (small hills of sand behind the beach) are reservoirs that hold wind-blown sand for when it may be needed after storms.  

However, it is the coral reef that provides sand and protects the beach from erosion, that suffers most from poor practices and the lack of sanitary conveniences at our undeveloped public beaches.  Studies done at ‘Hellshire beach’ before and after high weekend use showed increase in nitrates immediately after the ‘beach party’ and an obvious increase in algae (phytoplankton) three to five days later.  From as early as 1990, UWI researchers warned that “with no organised sanitary conveniences or facilities for a fishing village, nutrients are being quickly and crudely released into the waters of Half Moon Bay”.  The reef at ‘Hellshire beach’ could not survive the constant high-nutrient water and the resulting growth of smothering algae.

Beaches are wonderful recreational spaces that all Jamaicans should be able to use, but they are also delicate ecological systems that can be destroyed if we do not find a way to allow use without environmental damage.  So whether we pay an entry fee or the cost of beach upkeep is “factored into the budget” (we pay through taxes), or public beaches are ‘sponsored’ by adjacent businesses and hotels, or all the above, a way must be found to ensure beach access without beach loss.  

The ‘ideal’ beach or sandy area where sea splash and spray can reach has 1. Adequate room for sand movement; 2. No solid construction (e.g., no buildings sitting directly on the sand); 3. A healthy reef ecosystem in front; 4. dunes behind; and 5. low pollution levels in the water or on the sand.   Very few of Jamaica’s beaches can be called ‘idea’ anymore, but let’s work together so we do not reduce any more of Jamaica’s beaches to what we now have at ‘Hellshire Beach’.

MONA WEBBER