In recognition of the National Tree Planting Initiative, Donald Quarrie High School opened its gates to the Jamaica Observer and the Forestry Department to plant trees on its compound last Friday.

The Jamaica Observer Junior Study Centre has partnered with the Forestry Department to distribute and plant Poui and Bride of Barbados seedlings at several schools across Jamaica.

Donald Quarrie principal Talbert Weir was active in the process — from digging holes with a pitch fork with members of his school staff, to weeding. Weir later underscored the importance of the project.

“The initiative is an excellent one, because we have to preserve the future and to preserve the future, we have to start today. There will be no tomorrow if you don’t start today. So, the preservation of tomorrow is really dependent on what we do today in order for us to benefit from tomorrow,” he told the Sunday Observer.

“The partnership with the Jamaica Observer and the Forestry Department, really and truly, is an excellent one. The initiative couldn’t have come at a better time because we are in the hurricane season and the hurricane season is demonstrating to us that we really and truly need to pay close attention to climate change,” he continued.

The National Tree Planting Initiative, to plant three million trees in three years, was launched by Prime Minister Andrew Holness on October 4, 2019. The objective of the initiative is to support national development in the areas of climate change and reforestation efforts to increase forest cover and establish high-value urban green spaces for all Jamaicans.

The Forestry Department is leading the implementation of the initiative. The activities to be undertaken include the identification of suitable lands for reforestation or planting, including parks, roadways and thoroughfares within major towns.

It also involves the production of 1.7 million seedlings, including native species, for use in reforestation and tree planting conducted by the Forestry Department.

Stephen Williams, forest technician with the Forestry Department, demonstrated the proper way to plant.

“Remove weed from the hole, because that will affect the growth of the plant, as both the weed and plant will be competing for nutrients from the soil. Also, ensure that you place the plant at the centre of the hole that was dug,” he informed students.

“It is important that you gently place the plant in the hole. You are not trying to bury the plant… it is not a funeral for the plant. We want the plant to grow, and only dead things are buried.”

Also, addressing lower and upper school student at the shift institution, principal Weir urged the youngsters to pay attention to the changes around them.

“Climate change is very much real. There are places in the world right now where there used to be ice, and it is melting. So, because these things are not happening in Jamaica, don’t think that climate change isn’t affecting us,” he said.

“That heat you feel in the classrooms, that is because of climate change. We are feeling the effects. The evidence of climate change is here. It is going to be affecting the young people and more of us in different forms.”