Cockpit Country
is a rugged, inaccessible area of inland Jamaica. 
These very characteristics have given it special importance and it is proposed that it become a World Heritage Site.
It is an island-within-an-island of specially-adapted biodiversity found nowhere else in the
world and is a last refuge for some species driven from the rest of
Jamaica by humans.
It was also a place where a population of Maroons was able
to force the British into signing a peace treaty in 1738. In this website, we
use the term Cockpit Country to refer to the
anthropologically-defined area within the "ring road" (see map). This is the area where the karst terrain is so developed that humans have not
found it viable to develop and where some semblance of the original
flora and fauna remains. For those who 
wish to learn more about the biota, it should be noted
that most interesting activity takes place at night (e.g. bats,
reptiles and frogs) and that most species
are secretive and difficult to find. We do not have any large
fauna: snakes and parrots are about as large as it gets but, while
parrots (and birds in general) are active
early and late in the day, you are very unlikely to come across a
Jamaican Yellow Boa as it sleeps off its last meal in some secluded spot.
The most fascinating denizens of the Cockpit Country may be the invertebrates: snails, crabs,
fireflies, peeny wallies,beetles, butterflies
, not to mention our special interest in midges and rotifers!
We think that the best way to get a flavour of the tropical forest is to come for a "Meet the Researchers" dinner at Windsor. Here you will also find out what research is going on, how the puzzle of a wet-tropical-forest foodweb is being explored and what conservation activities are being implemented. Accommodation is also available at various locations around Cockpit Country and in relatively-close tourist areas.
This site is operated by the Windsor Research Centre 
and is intended as a resource for students,
researchers, the Cockpit Country communities and the general
public. We encourage interaction on this site: if you have
comments, needs, or are aware of additional information that should
be posted, please
(We are continuously updating the site)
It is also intended to generate some of the core funding needed to operate the Research Centre by publicising our "Meet the Biologists" dinners and our accommodation.
We operate a separate site to inform the public of WRC's institutional arrangements
