LOWE RIVER, Trelawny — Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has issued an urgent national call for volunteers to join the country’s reforestation drive as Jamaica races to restore tree cover devastated by Hurricane Melissa last October.

Holness made the appeal during Wednesday’s launch of the Reforestation, Ecological Enhancement and Landscape Framework (RE-LEAF) programme held at Lowe River Primary and Infant School in Trelawny.

The target for phase one of the initiative, which runs from January to June 2026, is the planting of 300,000 seedlings, including 30,000 fruit trees for food security. Holness said Minister of Water, Environment, and Climate Change Matthew Samuda has indicated that more than 2,000 volunteers have already signed up to join the effort.

“I use this platform to appeal to all Jamaicans to volunteer and participate,” Holness urged. “There is a very limited timeline that has been set to have this done because we want to do it very quickly,” he added.

The prime minister explained that there is a portal on the Forestry Department’s website where anyone interested in volunteering may sign up.

“To support this, out of the budget, the Forestry Department will be building new nursery facilities in western Jamaica. And that, I’m hopeful, will give you all the trees that you want, including, I hope, a lot of fruit trees. And I encourage all Jamaicans to plant trees all around. Let us help to restore our environment,” said Holness.

Minister Samuda echoed his sentiments about the need for widespread participation in the initiative.

“This effort requires national unity, it requires unity of purpose, and to plant 300,000 trees in the time frame that we have set ourselves will require churches, service clubs, and our students,” Samuda stated.

“This is the launch of the operational framework, but it is not a project that, certainly, will be filled today. We will start with the planting of 1,000 seedlings, but it will take all of us to achieve our goal,” he added.

Governor General Sir Patrick Allen lauded the Government and all stakeholders for undertaking the project.

“This initiative, I perceive, will also link environmental restoration with food supply and food security, improved health and well-being, social development, biodiversity conservation, and disaster risk reduction. It is truly a holistic approach, and I want to commend the Government, [the] minister, and all who are involved upfront in these initiatives,” the governor general said.

“It is a truly holistic approach, one that recognises that when our land thrives, our community thrives,” he added.

The prime minster, who noted that the Government is “being very strategic” in its approach, pointed out that its efforts are not limited to forests.

“We might be looking at our mangroves as well. We’re not only going to be replanting vegetation, in terms of ornamental trees and flowers, but we’re also going to be replanting fruit trees, or planting fruit trees where none were before. And we’re going to look to diversify the trees,” Holness said.

He explained that this decision was based on what the Forestry Department found in its assessment.

“Where there is a uniculture, the damage seems to have been far worse than where there is a diversity of tree stock. They are going to seek to introduce diversity in some of the areas that were formally uniculture,” Holness said.

The prime minister stressed that for the country to be resilient, its people must take good care of all their resources, both natural and man-made.

“But a part of resilience is that it is not centralised. You can’t say that a system is resilient only if the centre of the system can recover. Resilience is not just a feature of the Government. Every institution in the society and every individual in the society must be resilient,” he urged.

Minister of Water, Environment, and Climate Change Matthew Samuda speaking during Wednesday’s launch of Jamaica’s Reforestation, Ecological Enhancement and Landscape Framework (RE-LEAF) programme at Lowe River Primary and Infant School in Trelawny (Photo: Horace Hines)

Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness (stooping, right] and Custos of Trelawny Hugh Gentles plant a tree in Trelawny on Wednesday during the launch of Jamaica’s Reforestation, Ecological Enhancement and Landscape Framework (RE-LEAF) programme at Lowe River Primary and Infant School. Looking on are CEO & conservator of forest at the Forestry Department Ainsley Henry (front left) and Minister of Water, Environment, and Climate Change Matthew Samuda (centre). (Photo: Horace Hines)