Information about this report

Agenda 21, the blueprint document for sustainable development, mentions the importance of ensuring that decisions are based on sound information. One of the programmes outlined concerns "the development of indicators of sustanable development to providde solid bases for decision-making at all leels and to contribute to self-regulating sustainability of integrated environment and development systems".

The first State of the Environment Report was produced by the Natural Resources Conservation Authority in 1995/1996.

The State of the Environment Report provides important information to be used by decision-makers in Planning for good environmentally sound management. Once base-line data have been established, it will be possible to see how effective our actions have been. making this information accessible to the public reflects the Government's commitment to transparency and its resolve to work together with all members of the Jamaican society to ensure the best possible use of the nation's resources.

For us to develop an accurate, timely and useful State of the Environment Report, the commitment of the various agencies to providing information and data is vital.

The 1997 State of the Environment Report includes much more data than the first. There is still much more that needs to be done and the future SoE Reports willreflect the use of modern information technology and Geographic Information Systems. Such systems are being put in place in the Natural Resources Conservation Authority, the Survey Department and in several other Government agencies dealing with natural resources and land-related issues.

The Jamaica National Environmental Action Plan (JaNEAP) will reflect the actions to be taken to deal with the issues arising from the State of the Environment Report.