THE EDITOR, Sir:
I WISH to refer to the article in The Gleaner of June 12, 2002.
I am very pleased to see that the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ) will be funding this project to actually do reforestation along the central mountain ridge of Jamaica rather than funding studies or discussions about it and further are now willing to fund something being done by a government agency (Forestry Department) and not only non-government organising as it has been up to now.
The EFJ needs next to assist the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture with funding appropriate projects to protect/upgrade the marine environment.
To go back to the Spinal Project, I wish to suggest the following:
1. Reintroduce enforcement of the fire laws/regulations to have controlled use of fire for land clearing which will allow natural regeneration of forests to take place and ensure that replanted forest is not destroyed.
2. Prioritise the watersheds which are under greatest stress and/or where the soil/topography/ground cover is causing the worst erosion etc. e.g. Hope, Yallahs, Plantain Garden, Rio Pedro, Pindars, Lucea Rivers.
3. Within the watersheds prioritise the areas for reforestation where the greatest benefits can be achieved in the easiest/least expensive and hopefully quickest way e.g. Forest Reserve lands, government-owned non-forest reserve lands and start with these areas. On these lands move to stop squatting/deforestation as a first step and proceed to either facilitate natural regrowth of forest or reforest as appropriate.
4. Seek to reforest as possible using indigenous trees/vegetation. For example in the higher forest reserve areas where there is no intention to have or encourage commercial forestry, use the naturally occurring vegetation, which by the way does not burn. In other areas use indigenous commercial timber trees such as cedar, mahogany, teak, santa maria, bullet woods, Spanish Elm, breadnut, broadleaf etc. depending on the particular location. Of course pine is also appropriate in some locations (not areas which are very exposed to wind storms however).
5. Where it is practical, orchard crops like coffee/citrus/cocoa etc. breadfruit, ackee, guinep etc. can be incorporated in the reforestation programme.
6. With regard to privately owned lands, we are not likely to get much reforestation done unless there is significant government assistance, possibly even to the extent of the Forestry Department planting out agreed areas on private farms with arrangements for pay back/profit sharing at the time of reaping.
Better/quick results will probably be achieved on private lands by getting land owners to invest in orchard crops with suitable funding where the crop is self-financing/profitable like citrus, coffee, cocoa, ackee, breadfruit, mangoes, coconuts/pasture etc., where good ground cover can be achieved with minimum erosion. In passing I think it would be very useful for people involved in such projects to take a close look at areas in orchard crops such as coffee, citrus etc., and note the good protection from erosion and general improvement in the environment and compare it to what existed before, probably grassland which burns out frequently.
Too often one sees uninformed comments about coffee farming in particular - scientists more than anybody else need to deal with facts and not fiction. It is to be noted also that good pastures, say with African Star Grass, properly managed without over-grazing, provide excellent erosion control and ground cover.
Some areas on private lands also should be retained for non-commercial watershed/erosion control. About 30 per cent of my farm (Whitefield Hall in the Blue Mountains) is devoted to this purpose where the land is particularly unstable. I reap a mature Cedar or Grivilia tree out of this area from time to time and natural propagation keeps it fully forested. This sort of area in most mountain areas of Jamaica needs to be kept for conservation/protection purposes as a general rule; it is certainly critical in the Blue Mountains. Land owners need to be encouraged and guided accordingly.
I hope all concerned with this project will find my comments/suggestions useful in pursuing the project.
I am, etc.,
JOHN ALLGROVE
8 Armon Jones Crescent
Kingston 6
