In August 2018, at the age of fifteen, Greta Thunberg of Sweden began a solo campaign to jolt adults and her Parliament into taking the climate crisis seriously and to take Bold Climate Action. Day after day she stood outside of Parliament, alone with her placard. Her example inspired other young people to also take protest actions, and the school climate strike movement gained momentum under the slogan Fridays for Future. Students took time off from schools on Fridays to protest the actions and inactions that are stealing their futures, and the futures of generations to come.
On Friday 20 September, there will be a world-wide Climate Strike where people of all ages will come together to support the call for Bold Climate Action, to educate ourselves and each other about the local and global issues that fuel the Climate Crisis, and to better understand what we can do individually and collectively to make changes. In Jamaica, we are joining the Climate Strike movement by declaring 20 September, Save Cockpit Country Day. We are holding a lively gathering in Stewart Town Square in Trelawny to call for ALL of Cockpit Country to be protected, not just the designated Cockpit Country Protected Area that was declared in 2017 and is still not protected by law.
Special Mining Lease 173, granted to Noranda Jamaica Bauxite Partners to mine the eastern part of Cockpit Country threatens the Rio Bueno watershed, pristine forests, local agriculture, economic centers like Stewart Town, and will continue the destruction of Jamaica’s rural heritage. Cockpit Country forests, the lungs of Jamaica, are essential to protecting Jamaica from the ravages of global warming and climate change, and must not be destroyed. Jamaica is highly vulnerable to climate change and already feeling the effects of global warming through sea level rise that is eroding beaches and shoreline, killing coral reefs, increasing heat, drought and causing more powerful storms. The recent devastation of the Northern Bahamas by Hurricane Dorian should be a wake-up call to all residents of Jamaica and the Jamaican Government, the same can certainly happen to us.
On Friday 20 September, Cockpit Country Warriors, Vagabond Media and IRIE-FM are organizing a day of Education, Entertainment and Empowerment in Stewart Town, Trelawny to highlight the need to protect ALL of Cockpit Country and to understand Cockpit Country’s role in protecting Jamaica from the Climate Crisis. It will be an exciting day where students and educators from over ten schools will participate with exhibitions, presentations, and skits about the Climate Crisis and Cockpit Country. IRIE-FM will be broadcasting live from Stewart Town Square from 6:00AM to 2:00PM with lots of good music and important information with interviews from experts and community members, and then the program will continue into the evening with more speakers, entertainers including Queen Ifrika and Tony Rebel and cultural practitioners. All are welcome. Come and join us in Stewart Town Square, show your support for Protecting ALL of Cockpit Country and be part of Jamaica’s Global Climate Strike Action! The future is made by the actions we take today – act wisely!
When: Friday 20 September, 2019
Starts 6:00 AM and goes until….
Where: Stewart Town Square, Trelawny
Why: Jamaica is highly vulnerable to climate change and already feeling the effects of global warming through sea-level rise that is eroding beaches and shoreline, killing coral reefs, increasing heat, drought and causing more powerful storms.
Special Mining Lease 173 granted to Noranda Jamaica Bauxite Partners to mine the eastern part of Cockpit Country threatens the Rio Bueno watershed, pristine forests, local agriculture, economic centers like Stewart Town, and will continue the destruction
of Jamaica’s rural heritage. Cockpit Country forests, the lungs of Jamaica, are essential to protecting Jamaica from the ravages of global warming and climate change and must not be destroyed.
What: “Save Cockpit Country Day”
Program of Education, Entertainment and Empowerment
IRIE-FM Outside Broadcast from 6:00AM to 2:00PM
2:00PM until…. Continued presentions, student exhibitions, performances by entertainers and cultural practitioners
Who: Experts on the global climate crisis and the value of Cockpit Country, Cultural Leaders, Entertainers including Queen Ifrika and Tony Rebel, Community Members from areas already suffering from bauxite mining, Educators and Students from area schools including: Westwood High School, Stewart Town Primary, Stewart Town Basic School,
Brown’s Town High School, St. Hildas High School, York Castle High School, Lowe River Secondary School, Cedric Titus High School ( Clarke’s Town), Holland High School. Gibraltar Primary School, Albert Town Primary School
Demands:
* Take the lives of our children and future generations seriously by immediate global actions to counter the devastation of the human-made Climate Crisis
* Protect ALL of Cockpit Country not just the designated Cockpit Country Protected Area
* No Mining in ALL of Cockpit Country
* No Environmental Permit for Noranda Jamaica Bauxite Partners SML 173
* Review the practices of the Aluminum industry in Jamaica which is the leading cause of deforestation, pollutes the soil, water, and air, makes residents ill, damages local agriculture, disenfranchises and impoverishes rural Jamaicans.
* Devise an exit plan for the Aluminum Industry in Jamaica, including options for economic replacement and reparations for the communities that have been sacrificed to the industry.
See the Event page for more information.
Contacts:
Jacqueline Binns: 876-891-9664 ( Digicel) 876-789-8017 ( Flow )
Marcia Campbell: 876-401-7687
Esther Figueroa: 876-407-7439; [email protected]
Photo source: Cockpit Country Warriors
