A proposed port development on the Goat Islands in Jamaica threatens the re-introduction of the endangered Jamaican iguana to the two small cays located less than a mile off the coast of Jamaica.

The IUCN Iguana Specialist Group is reporting that the planned port, to be built by the China Harbour Engineering Company, will include extensive dredging and filling in the surrounding area to build a massive trans-shipment port. These small islands were a planned relocation sites for not only the Jamaican iguana, hutia, and Jamaican boa, they are also home to significant numbers of endemic plants, birds, and other species.

The planned port facilities will require development on the mainland as well, opening up the nearby Hellshire Hills, close to the core forest where the Jamaican iguana persists. With over 400 plant species in the Hellshire Hills and Goat Islands area, including 47 Jamaica endemics as well as 11 endemic birds, it is considered one of the largest and most pristine remaining examples of dry tropical forest in the Caribbean.

While the Jamaican government has launched a media campaign to promote the planned port, conservationists and herpetologists have not given up the fight to save the islands and have launched their own in response, starting with a petition at Change.org.

Conservationists are hoping to reach 5,000 signatures and deliver it to the Jamaican government as part of a larger media campaign in early January. To sign the petition, click here.

To read more about the fight against the Goat Islands port, please check out this article in the Jamaica Observer.