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Earth Today | Earth Day forest vibes

Locals plant trees for 2025 celebrations

Published:Thursday | April 24, 2025 | 12:10 AM
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Excited volunteers and representatives of the Forestry Department, Sandals Foundation, Jamaica Fire Brigade, and the Moneague Primary School show off their tree seedlings planted among 300 timber trees to support forest cover in the Bogue 2 Forest Reserve,
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Excited volunteers and representatives of the Forestry Department, Sandals Foundation, Jamaica Fire Brigade, and the Moneague Primary School show off their tree seedlings planted among 300 timber trees to support forest cover in the Bogue 2 Forest Reserve, St Ann, on Earth Day, April 22.
Sophia Gooden-Morris (centre), forest technician at the Forestry Department, and volunteers from the Sandals Foundation are all smiles as they plant a Blue Mahoe seedling among 300 timber trees to enhance the forest ecosystem in the Bogue 2 Forest Reserve,
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Sophia Gooden-Morris (centre), forest technician at the Forestry Department, and volunteers from the Sandals Foundation are all smiles as they plant a Blue Mahoe seedling among 300 timber trees to enhance the forest ecosystem in the Bogue 2 Forest Reserve, St Ann, on Earth Day, April 22.
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LOCAL VOLUNTEERS, together with the Forestry Department, got together this past Earth Day, April 22, to give attention to Jamaica’s trees and forest cover.

The Forestry Department has been leading on ongoing efforts to improve Jamaica’s forest cover at a time when trees and forests are seen to form an essential part of the climate response as well as the response, globally, to the prevailing challenge of nature loss.

The 2022 State of the World’s Forests Report of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), with its focus on ‘forest pathways for green recovery and building inclusive, resilient and sustainable economies’, has punctuated the value of their efforts.

Among the three pathways identified is the handling of deforestation and forest maintenance in order to bring about a decline in greenhouse gas emissions, including from carbon dioxide and methane, which fuel climate change and set in motion related risks – from extreme hurricanes and droughts to compromised food systems and impaired water security.

Also in the mix is the restoration of degraded lands and the expansion of agroforestry.

“1.5 billion hectares of degraded land would benefit from restoration, and increasing tree cover could boost agricultural productivity on another one billion hectares,” the FAO report noted.

The 2022 document added that such a move would also see the removal of a significant percentage of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually up to 2050.

The other pathway is the sustainable use of forests and the creation of so-called green value chains to help to meet “future demand for materials – with global consumption of all natural resources expected to more than double from 92 billion tonnes in 2017 to 190 billion tonnes in 2060 – and underpin sustainable economies”.

Meanwhile, Earth Day 2022 was celebrated under the theme ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ with a focus on collaboration in the area of renewable energy, toward tripling clean electricity by 2030.

Attention to trees can also help with this since trees help to cool the environment and in so doing limit the demand for electricity associated with the use of fans and air conditioning.

It was note the first time that the Forestry Department has used the occasion to champion tree planting and to amplify the public education about their value. The entity also did so last year when they, once again, partnered with the Sandals Foundation and the Jamaica Fire Brigade on reforestation in the Bogue 2 Reserve in St Ann.

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