Eight decades of sterling service

THIS YEAR, the Forestry Department celebrates a milestone, eight decades of service to our country, Jamaica. The theme for this commemoration, ‘80 Years of GROWTH: Safeguarding our Future’, aptly encapsulates the work of the agency and our continued commitment to protecting and conserving Jamaica’s forest resources for the benefit of present and future generations.

The word ‘GROWTH’ in our theme is an acronym which means Guiding our country; Reforesting our landscape; Opportunities abound; Working together with communities; Transferring knowledge; and Holistic approaches.

As an organisation, we have much to celebrate. Our 80 years of stewardship of Jamaica’s forests, particularly those on Crown lands, has strengthened the forest sector and set a strong foundation for growth. Our national forest cover now stands at 40 percent, which is higher than the global average of 30 percent. We have also completed groundbreaking research in the reforestation of mined-out bauxite lands and the germination of tree seedlings using shade-house technology. We have more than 5,000 persons registered in our Private Forestry Programme, which has seen the distribution of more than 1.5 million tree seedlings since it was reintroduced in 1998.

Working with communities has increased significantly, with the establishment of 18 Local Forest Management Committees since 2000, and we continue to work with other community-based organisations to pursue sustainable forest-management activities within our forests. As we look towards safeguarding the future, we are pleased to have in place a new Forest Policy for Jamaica, (2017), and the latest National Forest Management and Conservation Plan (NFMCP) (2016-2026), was approved by Cabinet and both Houses of Parliament in early February. The NFMCP will serve to operationalise a number of strategies in the forest policy that we deem critical to sustaining a viable and healthy forest sector.

NEXT FOUR YEARS

In the next four years, the agency will implement a number of activities in the NFMCP with funding from the European Union Budget Support programme. These include leading the process to make Jamaica REDD+ ready updating our forest legislation to improve the protection afforded to our forests, particularly endangered forest types like the closed-broadleaf forest. Our efforts will not be restricted to forests on Crown lands, but will target private landowners with forests on their lands to encourage them to employ sustainable management practices.

Given the pivotal role forests play in sustaining life, the Forestry Department is cognisant of the fact that we

must succeed at our efforts to manage our forests well. It will be no easy feat but I use this opportunity to encourage every Jamaican to join us and make it your duty to use the country’s

forest resources in a sustainable manner. Help us to educate others about the benefits of our forests so that together we can make Jamaica ‘the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business’. MARILYN HEADLEY CEO & Conservator of Forests