I'm an environmentalist! Yuh neva know? Yeah, man, me is one a 'dem environmentalist people deh' to, from long time. This is not an overnight thing. I have a record of academic interest in the nexus between gender, culture and environments. But generally, I also count myself among the people who're deeply concerned about protecting and preserving our natural environment.

So, yeah, man, I'm saying it here and now, and I'm saying it out loud: I'm an environmentalist. Now, if you even vaguely know me, you should also know that I'm not a well-to-do, uptown, light-skinned or white person. And I'm a little put off by the prevailing notion that the whole area of environmental activism and advocacy is the exclusive domain of people who fit such descriptions.

I actually know many Jamaicans and others who fit that description. Some of them are actually dear friends of mine, and I'm also offended by implied idea that their status or description somehow precludes them from caring enough about Jamaica to get involved in environmental work.

I'm definitely an environmentalist. And no, that doesn't mean that I'm a crazy 'lizard lover' or a 'tree hugger'. I'm just a Jamaican who cares about my people and my land. I care about the air, the water, the plants, animals and other natural resources that make up our natural environment.

And look here, nuh, I don't know everything about the environment, but I know that there is such a thing called environmental sustainability, which basically involves making decisions and taking action in the interests of protecting our natural world and preserving the capability of the natural environment to support and sustain human life. Maybe it has not been articulated in those terms, but that issue of environmental sustainability is certainly at the core of the current controversy around the reported proposal thats our Government allow the Chinese to build port facilities in the Portland Bight Protected Area which include the Goat Islands - off the coast of Old Harbour Bay.

In the midst of all the arrogance and ignorance floating around this issue, though, there are some points that are really worthy of more focus and/or repetition. One is, as outlined in a recent statement from the Jamaica Environment Trust, that environmentalists are not opposed to development. Environmentalists are just concerned about the need for sustainable development.

And environmentalists are not opposed to the proposed building of a port facility/logistics hub anywhere in the island. We are simply opposed to the construction of any large industrial or commercial facility in Jamaica's most protected area of land and sea without the required due diligence and public consultation. As the JET statement also points out, there is simply not enough information available in the public domain about the whole matter.

If you care genuinely about the future of this land, you are an environmentalist, too. Let's demand answers from our Government. And it's not just about 'two likkle lizard', as Dr Omar Davies dismissively puts it. Consider the fact that the Portland Bight Protected Area fisheries and associ-ated occupations currently provide livelihoods for a reported 4,000 families in the area.

So friends, get involved. The environment belongs to all of us. Let's join JET and call on the authorities to release details of exactly what is being contemplated, so that a complete assessment of the environmental, social and economic impacts can be done.

Yeah, me is an environmentalist; how about you? Check out JET at www.jamentrust.org and link me via box-mi-back@hotmail.com

If you care genuinely about the future of this land, you are an environmentalist, too. Let's demand answers from our Government.