Jamaican Caves Organisation

The Jamaican Caves Organisation (JCO), founded in 2002 by Stefan Stewart, Ivor Conolley, and Martel Taylor, is an all-volunteer caving organisation devoted to the preservation, exploration and documentation of caves in Jamaica. The current membership includes the principal cavers active in Jamaica during the last four decades, most notably: Dr Alan G Fincham, Dr David Lee, Dr Donald McFarlane, Guy Van Rentergem, Adam Hyde, Andreas Haiduk, Elizabeth Slack, and Jan Pauel.

The JCO was created, in part, to replace the Jamaican Caving Club, which had effectively ceased operations as of 2002. The organisation is currently the only non-profit group in Jamaica dedicated to education, research and advocacy about caves.

Notable events in the history of the group have been the first descent of Smokey Hole Cave, Manchester, in March of 2006, which established a new depth record for Jamaica of 194 metres, and the removal of the remains of Carlton Rose from the notorious Hutchinsons Hole, St Ann, in February of 2004.

Collaboration has included the National Environmental Agency of Jamaica (NEPA), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Media coverage has included the Travel Channel, and the Jamaica Observer, which has written several articles about the JCO, its activities and its members.

Non-caving underground activities have included the exploration and mapping of Stamford Hill Mine, Clarendon, abandoned in 1863, under contract to PanCaribbean Minerals.

The JCO continues to explore known caves and expand this knowledge base as well as search out and begin exploration of new caves, with expeditions held three to four times per year. Expeditions focus on updating the Jamaican cave register, by ascertaining GPS locations and by conducting a rapid biological, geological and archaeological inventory of each cave visited. The current cave register is contained in "Jamaica Underground", with online supplements on the JCO website.

See also:

Caving

External links

* [http://www.jamaicancaves.org/ "The Jamaican Caves Organisation"]
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* [http://www.fincham.co.uk/Caves/JUadvt.html "Jamaica Underground - Alan G Fincham"]
* [http://users.skynet.be/sky33676/index1.html "Caving in Jamaica - Guy Van Rentergem"]
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* [http://www.jamaicans.com/news/announcements/the-jamaican-caves-organi.shtml "Jamaican Caves Expedition"]
* [http://www.jamaicancaves.org/news.htm "Jamaican Caving News"]
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* [http://www.jamaicancaves.org/mine_080113.htm "Stamford Hill Mine, Clarendon, Jamaica"]
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* [http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20040206T210000-0500_55370_OBS_BODY_RECOVERED_FROM_SINKHOLE_THREE_MONTHS_AFTER_MAN_S_DEATH.asp "Jamaica Observer, Feb 7, 2004 - Hutchinsons Hole Body Recovery"]
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* [http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20050509t230000-0500_80183_obs_mapping_the_cockpit_caves_and_creatures_that_live_there.asp "Jamaica Observer, May 10, 2005 - TNC and JCO Mapping the Cockpit Country Caves"]
* [http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20070421t210000-0500_122023_obs_sinkholes_disappearing_in_southern_manchester.asp "Jamaica Observer, Apr 22, 2007 - Sinkholes Disappearing in Southern Manchester"]
* [http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20070526t160000-0500_123512_obs_cavers_association_says_nepa__alpart_have_no_regard_for_jamaica_s_natural_resources.asp "Jamaica Observer, May 27, 2007 - Cavers Association Says Alpart Has No Regard for Jamaica's Natural Resources"]
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* [http://www.jamaicancaves.org/observer_070923.htm "Jamaica Observer article, Sep 23, 2007 - Making Sinkhole Exploration Look Easy"]
* [http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20080831t200000-0500_139683_obs_most_farms_in_st_elizabeth__manchester_spared_battering.asp "Jamaica Observer, Sep 1, 2008 - Smokey Hole Prevents Flooding"]

Citations

Fincham, A. (1998). "Jamaica Underground: The Caves, Sinkholes and Undeground Rivers of the Island". Kingston, Jamaica: University Press of the West Indies.