NMIA Airports Limited is committed to environmentally responsible airport operations. All our planning, design and construction consider environmental best practices.
We are committed to operating the Norman Manley International Airport in an environmentally friendly manner, and to being a leader in the care and preservation of the Palisadoes/ Port Royal Protected Area within which the Airport property, covering over 228 hectares, is situated.
Environmental responsibility is a salient aspect of the management focus for the Airport, particularly given its sensitive location within an internationally recognized ecological pathway . A definitive environmental agenda is in place at both the corporate and operational levels, and is provided in the Airport’s Environmental Management Plan. Various areas of environmental responsibility are addressed and include coordinated as well as requisite activities that engage the Airport community and its end-users.
We stand committed to developing and maintaining a ‘Green’ Airport environment.
Ecological Pathway The Airport is situated on the Palisadoes Peninsula (a rich bionetwork), and partially reclaimed land, located between the domicile communities of Harbour View and Port Royal. After extensive efforts by the Port Royal community and other stakeholders, including the parent company of the Airport Operator (Airports Authority of Jamaica), the Peninsula was declared a Protected Area. The Palisadoes Peninsula has three dominant aspects:
- The Kingston Harbour – the seventh largest natural harbour in the world and home to several aquatic communities including seagrass beds, fisheries and coral reefs.
- The 13-mile long geographical spit – home to the commonly observed beach and dune vegetation of woody scrub, trees and cactus. The spit is a deposition land-form built out from the shoreline as a result of the water current and wave action of the Caribbean Sea on sand deposits from the land, especially those brought down by the Hope River. The spit separates the Caribbean Sea from the Kingston Harbour and acts as the main transport artery to the Airport.
- The wetlands of the Peninsula form a transition zone between land and sea. Mangroves thrive in these wetlands, and are vital to the ecology of the Peninsula as a habitat, nursery and feeding ground for fish, seabirds, shorebirds, crustaceans, insects, marine invertebrates and a host of other organisms. Some of these wetlands are present within the Airport boundaries.