THE CIGARETTE Company of Jamaica, a subsidiary of the Carreras Group, has a three-year agreement with the Forestry Department to reforest the Wallenford community in the Blue Mountains.
The company channels funding for the project, which is now in its second year through the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust (JCDT), an environmental non-government organisation.
This is the second reforestation project undertaken by the Forestry Department that is being funded by non-governmental bodies. The other is in Bogue, St. Ann, which is funded by Environmental Foundation of Jamaica.
The project includes the replanting of approximately 10 acres or 25 hectares of deforested lands in Wallenford.
The lands, which are owned by the Coffee Industry Board and are now partially covered by coffee plants, were widely deforested after FIDCO harvested most of the pines from the land. Additionally, the remaining untouched land was ravaged by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988.
The barren lands, however, posed a significant problem, as the area was prone to landslides and flooding, and attracts squatting.
According to the Carreras Group, its subsidiary took on the project, which commenced last year, as part of its corporate policy of protecting and preserving the environment.
"Being aware of the fact that our products produce carbon dioxide, we decided to be front-runners in the move to have more trees being planted to help in reducing carbon dioxide build-up and its resultant greenhouse effect in the atmosphere," the company said in a press release.
The project, which has been under way since October last year, is totally funded by the Cigarette Company at a cost of $1.3 million.
So far, seven hectares of seedlings, including Blue Mahoe, Spanish Helm, Honduran Mahogany, Silky Oak and Cedar, have been replanted. This is being done aqua-forestry style that is, planting done around the coffee plants.
This has proven to be beneficial for the coffee plants as the trees provide partial shade and act as windbreakers.
