THE Forestry Department has redoubled its efforts to limit the loss of Jamaica’s forest cover at a time when the preservation of the precious natural resource is deemed critical, given the reality of a changing climate as well as its economic value.

“The Forestry Department’s aim is to ensure there is minimum loss of forest cover across the island. Given that the agency only manages a third of the forested lands in Jamaica, we continue to seek to establish public/private sector partnerships to increase and maintain the present forest cover. These partnerships include our private planting programme, which invites private landowners to put idle lands to use by having them planted with trees,” said Marilyn Headley, the island’s conservator of forests, in a written response to Career & Education queries.

“In addition, we also encourage private landowners who have parcels of land that are forested to declare them a forest reserve and receive benefits, such as tax remission. We continue to replant and maintain reserves through project funding and funding we receive through annual budgetary allocation. We also continue to crackdown on illegal offences in our forest reserves, while seeking to establish greater community partnerships by increasing awareness and building more local forest management committees,” she added.

Jamaica has forest cover amounting to some 328,600 hectares, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO’s) Forest Resource Assessment 2010, Jamaica Country Report — an estimate arrived at through “extrapolation of 1998 data”, Headley said.

Still, an update using satellite imagery is planned for this year, even as the FAO report puts the loss of forest cover at 350 hectares per year over the last five to 10 years.

Meanwhile, Headley said the Forest Department had put greater emphasis on enforcing forest laws and regulations to crack down on those who are illegally cutting down forests, which store some 20 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide — one of the greenhouse gases fuelling climate change which threatens rising sea levels, warmer global temperatures and increased incidents of diseases, such as dengue.

“This is being done through the recently formed Legal and Enforcement Division. A cadre of 40 forest rangers was employed by the division earlier this year thereby allowing for increased detection of forest offences. The agency also intends to launch an enforcement hotline soon that will allow members of the public to call in breaches of the forest act and regulations,” she said.

“Increased public awareness about the forest and its values are also things that we have been doing and continue to do. We have employed additional mediums, such as social networking to reach even more members of the public with the agency’s message of forest conservation and protection. The Forestry Department is also seeking to increase planting through greater partnerships with citizens, companies and other organisations,” Headley added.

At the same time, Jamaica joins the world in celebrating the International Year of Forests — a United Nations designation given to this year to focus attention on the need

for the sustainable management, conservation and development of all types of forests.

“The Forestry Department as the Government’s agency responsible for forests will be spearheading a number of activities to increase public awareness about Jamaica’s forest.. We hope, through our increased awareness activities, that Jamaicans will start to see the value of our forests as more than just “bush”, but something that is important to the sustenance of our lives,” Headley said.

“We also hope that Jamaicans will be inspired to act by planting trees, discouraging others from cutting down trees and generally engaging in sustainable practices that will guarantee that our forests will exist for the generations to come,” she added.

“As a result of the increased awareness we expect greater support from Jamaicans at all levels. We hope, through our efforts, that corporate Jamaica will begin to add forest reforestation projects to their activities. We also expect more Jamaicans to come forward seeking to partner with our organisation in our private planting and urban forestry programmes,” Headley said further.