IN almost five years, Jamaica has lost more than 260 acres of its forest reserve to fires, with the number of acres destroyed climbing each successive year.

Data from the Forestry Department show that, in 2020, 16 acres of the forest reserve were destroyed by fires. That number jumped to 22.61 acres in 2021 and 31.13 acres in 2022. Additionally, 38.62 acres of the forest reserve were destroyed by fire in 2023, and that figure almost tripled in 2024 to 104.42 acres.

Already, with seven months left in the year, 52.48 acres of the forest reserve have been destroyed by fire up to May 6.

Most of these fires have been recorded in St Thomas, the Bull Head Forest Reserve in Clarendon, and along the Hanover-Westmoreland border.

Approximately 48 per cent of Jamaica is forested, and 23 per cent — approximately 122,000 hectares of the forested lands — are on property managed by the Forestry Department, which include forest reserves and forest management areas (FMA).

According to senior director of forest enforcement services at the Forestry Department, Tanika Stewart, yearly increases in acres destroyed by fire do not necessarily reflect an increase in forest fires, but rather an increase in the area of the expanse that is affected by the fires.

Between 2020 and 2025, a total of 78 forest fires were verified in the forest reserves.

“This is influenced by prolonged dry spells and increase in temperature, and this, as a result, makes the forest more susceptible to fires and the spread of it. There are also instances of human-induced fires through slash-and-burn agricultural practices,” Stewart told the Jamaica Observer.

According to the United Nations, climate change sparked a trail of extreme weather and record heat in 2024. The year was said to be the warmest ever recorded, capping a decade of unprecedented heat.

Climatologist at the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) in Barbados, Dr Cédric Van Meerbeeck, said that conditions are ideal for 2025 to be another year of climate extremes in the Caribbean.

In addition to increased temperatures, Stewart said that much of the forest reserve is in remote areas that are not easily accessible by firefighters, and this contributes to the spread of the forest fires.

The Forestry Department, in a release in 2023, said that sections of the Bull Head Forest Reserve burned for almost a week until the fire extinguished naturally. It was reported that due to limited road access, the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) could not reach the affected areas to put out the flames.

More than 3,000 seedlings that had been recently planted were ruined. Several tree species were also destroyed, including Blue Mahoe, acacia mangium, West Indian cedar, bitter damsel, wild ackee, and fiddlewood.

Stewart told the Sunday Observer that the agency has been working with the Jamaica Fire Brigade and other partners to maintain trails in these areas as well as set up fire breaks to help curtail and prevent the spread of fires.

“Resources are always limited, but we try to be strategic with our maintenance programmes. It is usually around the dry period of the year [in summer] that we try to ramp up our maintenance programmes and target areas that are more susceptible to fires,” she said.

The senior director said plans are already in place to tackle fire-prone areas this summer.

However, with 52 acres of the forest reserve already destroyed in 2025 ahead of the approaching summer season, she admitted that there is great concern.

“We can all appreciate [that] these ecosystems take six decades to recover from these incidents, so it, indeed, concerns us, as rapid degradation compromises the diversity of our forest, and also it compromises the various services that we obtain from these ecosystems. As a result, it underscores the urgent need for us to enhance fire prevention measures as well as increase community awareness and to boost our enforcement to safeguard the remaining forest that we have,” said Stewart.

In addition to forest fires, she said there have been three major instances of illegal logging since 2024 that are still being investigated. While she could not provide details, she said some of the instances have resulted in individuals being prosecuted while others are still before the court.

Illegal logging is the harvesting, processing, transporting, buying, or selling of timber in violation of national and international laws. Stewart said that areas affected by this kind of activity are the Cockpit Country, where more than 750 planks of board were taken from various native trees in 2024; Cape Clear forest reserve in St Mary, where 900 pieces of illegally harvested lumber were seized; and the Mount Diablo forest reserve in St Ann.

In the meantime, the Forestry Department noted that the burning of garbage, especially near wooded or grassy areas, is a major trigger for fires, as well as carelessly discarded cigarette butts, unsupervised outdoor fires, and unattended camp fires can easily ignite dry vegetation.

Howard Beckford, senior director of silviculture at the Forestry Department, pointed out that much of Jamaica’s endangered species and natural habitats have been affected by the loss of sections of the country’s forest reserve.

“Forest fires typically disturb our natural habitat. They often destroy food sources, nesting sites, and wildlife habitats. Many of our endangered and endemic species are already vulnerable due to their limited population size and range, so you can imagine that a lack of forest cover will destabilise the ecosystem and lead to wild animals being lost,” said Beckford.

“Some of the native plant species lost due to fires include the Blue Mahoe, Jamaican mahogany, Spanish elm, bitter damsel, various orchids, and the wildlife species include the Jamaican boa, which is a yellow snake, which is endemic. We have the Jamaica iguana, which is also endemic, and the giant volatile butterfly. You can imagine that it will also affect our bird population, migrant and resident shell birds, so it’s quite the list,” he told the Sunday Observer.

He noted, too, that once destroyed, these natural habitats take decades to be restored, but the Forestry Department and other stakeholders are working to speed up restoration.

“We have the annual recurrent planting programme, so we go in [to affected areas] and plant, and we plant advanced seedlings — these are seedlings at an advanced stage of growth — to encourage regeneration. Most actively, we go into the area and plant, and then we try to redo our preventive checks. We use the fire bridge to prevent fire, and we do regular patrolling to prevent illegal activity,” explained Beckford.

Once areas are burnt, they are targeted for reforestation.

If the fires are caused due to human activity, the Forestry Department said that the surrounding community is engaged to build awareness and reduce reoccurrence.

The department further noted that in 2017, it commenced an annual series of forest fire management training workshops in communities in forest fire hotspots. It stated that more than 25 community groups and more than 500 people were reached and trained.

The training is conducted in partnership with the JFB and has a practical component which focuses on teaching residents how to suppress fires should one occur. The training also teaches them proactive approaches, such as creating fire lines, in instances when they must light a fire.

Other forest preservation initiatives include a Bushfire Warning Index developed by the Meteorological Service and the JFB to anticipate high-risk periods and issue alerts.

Approximately 530,937 trees have also been planted by the agency in the last five years. Of that number, 75 per cent were lumber, 15 per cent ornamentals, and 10 per cent were fruit trees.

The agency added that plans are in place to increase the number of forest reserves and forest management areas to 30 per cent by 2030. It stated that some areas have been proposed to the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation and are being evaluated by the ministry. The areas will be declared in the current financial year. The agency said it is also seeking opportunities to anchor more of the country’s forests under conservation, including forests on private lands.