Dear Editor,

The Forestry Department deems it necessary to respond to a letter published on June 6, “Don’t use FCF funds to grow teak forests”. The author, Dr Wilson noted that “vast tracts of primary broadleaf forest were felled (by the Forestry Department) in what is now the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, to be replanted with non-native Caribbean Pine”.

This statement is both erroneous and misleading.

The Forestry Department was never engaged in the removal of “vast tracts of primary broadleaf forest”, areas that were later replanted with Caribbean Pine. On the contrary, our archives reveal that the initial planting of pinus species in the Blue Mountains occurred in the early years of the 20th century as a direct response to the extreme denudation wrought by coffee farming, and slash and burn practices in the previous century.

It was in fact the large-scale removal of the pre-existing natural forest and the resulting degradation which led to the formation of the Forestry Department in 1937. Caribbean Pine (Pinus caribaea) was used by the agency because results of extensive research trials showed the species to be the most effective coloniser of the exposed shale soils in the Blue Mountains.

Dr Wilson implied that only Caribbean pine was planted in the Blue Mountain Forest Reserve (gazetted 1950). Caribbean Pine was just one of the many species planted in the area. It has been and remains a policy of the Forestry Department to utilise native tree species in our reforestation activities. As such, work continues in Jamaica’s largest forest reserve with the planting of a variety of native tree species.

In 2011, more than 200ha in the Blue Mountains was reforested with native species such as the Blue Mahoe (Hibiscus elatus), Juniper (Juniperus lucayana), Bitter Damsel (Simarouba glauca), Milkwood (Sapium jamaicense), Pruan (Prunus occidentalis), Cornwood (Alchornea latifolia) and the Blue Mountain Yacca (Podocarpus urbanii). As the agency seeks to reforest areas across the island, we invite all Jamaicans, with a passion for forest restoration, to join us in this effort to once again make our island the land of wood and water.

Marilyn Headley

CEO & Conservator of Forests

Forestry Department

173 Constant Spring Road, Kingston 8