2. VISION STATEMENT
.The vision for the Cockpit Country conservation site is to maintain viable populations of focal target species (and as appropriate other endemic and native plants and animals occurring within the site' s natural communities) and intact ecological patterns and processes. This vision will be accomplished through the abatement of activities that threaten the functional integrity of Cockpit Country and through efforts to restore the health of the ecosystem. Participation by all relevant stakeholders will be critical for ensuring the long-term viability of this globally unique landscape and the biological diversity it supports.
3. OBJECTIVES
This report covers the completion of Phase I of Site Conservation Planning (SCP) - Biological Systems Assessment.
The objectives of the present biological assessment were to:
- provide a list of conservation targets for the Cockpit Country conservation site;
- provide a list assessing the current viability of conservation targets;
- provide a list and a comparative ranking of the threats affecting the viability of these conservation management targets;
- provide a list of indicators of biodiversity health and indicators of threat abatement
It was not an objective of the biological assessment to conduct a comprehensive survey on the biodiversity of Cockpit Country as, for example, the " Cockpit Country Conservation Project: Biodiversity Assessment" report prepared for Jamaica's Natural Resources Conservation Authority, Jamaica and The World Bank (Koenig et al., 2001). Instead, the present biological assessment focused on developing a relative comparison of the current viability of biological systems, on identifying and assessing the ecological stresses affecting these biological systems, and identifying and ranking the importance of the human activities that are the sources of these stresses. The intent of this approach was to improve the selection of conservation management strategies to protect the biodiversity of Cockpit Country. A socio-economic assessment will be conducted in Phase II of the SCP process to compliment the current biological assessment.