Background
The free distribution of seedlings was first advocated by the Jamaica
Agricultural Society in 1924 in response to the increasingly obvious negative
impacts of deforestation. No immediate action was taken on this recommendation
until 1929 when a Forest Officer was appointed to the Lands Department,
the government agency responsible at that time for the supervision and
administration of Crown Lands, which included all forested lands. For
the next 8 years this officer did invaluable work in the distribution
of timber trees to private land owners.
When the Forest Branch of the Lands Department was established in 1937,
timber seedling distribution continued although at a reduced scale because
of the reforestation efforts of the Forest Branch itself. Nevertheless
19,000 seedlings were distributed during 1937. With the passing of the
Forest Act in December 1937, the Branch was transferred to the Department
of Science and Agriculture. It became an independent Forestry Department
in 1942, and throughout this period and into the 1950s, the Department
continued its policy of providing tree seedlings for private reforestation.
In the late 1950s an initiative called the "State Assistance for Private Afforestation" was launched which provided landowners registered in the programme with seedlings, technical advice and a small cash grant. The cash payment was made in installments based on the proper establishment of the trees following an inspection by, and the recommendation of, a forest officer. The programme was discontinued in the 1980s due to budgetary constraints.
Recent
Developments
The potential of private landowners to contribute to effective national
reforestation efforts is recognised in the Forest Act, 1996 which mandates
the Forestry Department to "Promote the development of forests on
private lands". The Five-Year National Reforestation Plan 2001 to
2005 identified lands with reforestation potential based on a number of
criteria including slope, soil type characteristics and accessibility.
Of the 69,000 hectares identified with potential, some 67,000 hectares
are privately owned, a fact which clearly substantiates the need to involve
private land owners in reforestation.
The National
Forest Management and Conservation Plan (2001) elaborated the strategies
for encouraging the private sector and other interest groups to become
involved in tree planting. Under the strategy of the forest production
programme, the Forestry Department formalised a Private Planting Programme
which brought together the long-standing elements of its tree seedling
distribution activities, particularly as they pertain to farmers and other
landowners, into a structured programme.
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