Students in Manchester and Clarendon who are interested in the environment can now breathe a sigh of relief as information on all things ecological is now just a stone's throw away.

The Canoe Valley Interpre-tive Centre, a mini-museum and information centre at Alligator Hole in Canoe Valley, Clarendon, has been reopened to the public after being closed for some time for refurbishing. The centre had been damaged by flood waters and rain.

The reopening of the centre is particularly significant in light of the fact that the Canoe Valley area is a proposed environmental protected area.

Rich biological diversity

Canoe Valley was selected to become Jamaica's first protected area because of its rich biological diversity. The proposed nature reserve covers some 3,000 acres and is made up of mangrove swamps and limestone forests. It is home to seven bat species, four amphibian species, 23 reptile species and 93 species of birds, many of which are found nowhere else in the world. The area is also rich in historical artefacts from the Taino populations who inha-bited the region.