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Tapping into Traditional Freshwater Management Practices
In Jamaica, an Alcoa Foundation Conservation & Sustainability Research fellow is examining community-based management of freshwater supplies among the Winward Maroon community. The successes and failures of that experience over the years and the resulting environmental and social impacts for the Maroon community are providing some valuable lessons for the critical sustainability challenges presented by water management values and practices in other communities.
Conservation of nearby streams and springs was critical to the survival of the Winward Maroon community for more than three centuries, but increased affluence, assimilation, and piped-in water are eroding this Jamaican people’s traditional values and practices as well as the ecosystems in and around their water sources.
“The Maroons had a measure of isolation from mainstream Jamaica, and that presented some unique circumstances regarding resource management,” said Kimberly John , freshwater conservation specialist with The Nature Conservancy who is examining the relationship between the Maroons, water, and biodiversity conservation through an Alcoa Foundation practitioner fellowship with the World Conservation Union (IUCN). “They depended on local streams and springs for water and food, so they valued and conserved those resources. For example, they zoned their springs and allowed only certain activities near them to ensure a clean supply of drinking water.”
Today, Maroon elders still manage their piped water supply and infrastructure, which originates from one of their springs. However, the traditional system is breaking down, partly due to a loss of culture through assimilation, piped-in water that creates a disconnect with the springs and streams around them, and increased affluence that allows them to buy fish instead of catching them from streams.
“My research can help improve how we regard and manage freshwater resources in this part of the world,” said John. “This is the first time traditional water resource use and management among an indigenous Jamaican community are being researched, so it is opening up a new aspect of Jamaican heritage, natural history, and conservation. The Maroons intend to use my work to conserve and teach an important part of their history and culture, one that they are losing. I hope that this will generate a renewed sense of responsibility and pride among other communities that manage significant upstream water resources.”
John adds that there is growing support in the Caribbean for community-based management of water supply and delivery to decentralize one of the most basic and expensive services.
“This research analyzes one of Jamaica’s oldest examples of community water management and its successes and failures over the last 350 years,” she said. “Its implications reach beyond this community to conservationists and people interested in compensation schemes for upstream water users, who often are asked to shoulder stewardship responsibilities for the entire watershed.”
In addition to understanding more about traditional water resource management, John is also learning how a multidisciplinary approach to research can positively impact her work in freshwater conservation. She hopes her research under this project will benefit work with other communities on natural resource management, and that ultimately it will influence policy regarding water management.
“I’m trained as an ecologist, so I’m more used to studying freshwater ecosystems by exploring rivers, taking water samples, and making note of plants and animals,” said John. “With this project and working with IUCN, I’ve learned so much about incorporating the social side of natural science research. I always had the idea that much of the information and solutions relevant to freshwater conservation lie with the local people, and this has confirmed it.”
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