Earth Today | Jamaica sees growth in forest cover
Published:Thursday | July 4, 2024 | 12:06 AM
JAMAICA’S FOREST cover has seen a reported 7.9 per cent increase between 2013 and 2023, according to findings from the latest Land Use-Land Cover Change Assessment (LULCA), which is set for official publication later this year.
The Forestry Department made the revelation in a recent release to the media, following a validation meeting with stakeholders at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston on June 26.
According to the release, spatial analyst Sashel Bennett explained that a “mixture of methodology, technology and the land-use/land-cover matrix”, including remote sensing data (aerial images), geographic information systems (GIS), and field surveys, had verified the 7.9 per cent increase.
She added that Jamaica’s forest cover is growing annually by an average rate of 1.99 per cent, which marks significant progress, compared to the previous LULCA (1998-2013) findings, which showed an annual average forest regrowth rate of 0.4 per cent per year, and the findings of the first assessment (1989-1998) which, in contrast, reflected a deforestation rate of 0.1 per cent.
At the same time, Trelawny has been shown to have the highest forest cover, while St Ann’s deforestation rate has reduced by 11 per cent. In addition, 11 parishes have met the international baseline for forest cover of 30 per cent for urban and peri-urban forests as defined by the Food and Agricultural Organization.
“This surge in forest cover not only underscores our commitment to safeguarding and expanding our natural resources, but also validates the efficacy of our strategic initiatives and policies, such as the National Forest Management & Conservation Plan and the Forest Policy for Jamaica, 2017,” noted the agency’s Stephanie Cameron, principal director of corporate services.
News of Jamaica’s recorded growth in its forest cover comes at a time when attention continues to be called to the pride of place that forests hold in global efforts to enable and safeguard resilience to climate change; and the need for best efforts to halt deforestation and land degradation.
This call is reflected in the 2022 State of the World’s Forests report of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, which has said that “halting deforestation is potentially one of the most cost-effective actions for mitigating climate change if efforts ramp up”.
“Evidence suggests that halting deforestation would generate multiple other local and global benefits – such as biodiversity conservation, disaster reduction, the protection of soils and water, and the maintenance of pollination services – that far exceed the cost of halting deforestation. It would also increase the adaptive capacity and resilience of people and ecosystems,” the report explained.
Forests are also home to some 80 per cent of amphibian species, 75 per cent of bird species, and 68 per cent of mammal species. Tropical forests are also said to contain some 60 per cent of all vascular plant species.
It is against this background that the report has championed not only an end to deforestation and the maintenance of forests, but also the restoration of degraded lands and expanding agroforestry; as well as sustainably using forests and building green value chains.