John Myers Jr., Staff Reporter
Keats Hall (centre), managing director of the Forest Conservancy, in discussion with Marilyn Headley (right), conservator of forests, and Guy Symes, executive secretary of the Forest Conservancy, at a press conference at the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica's (PSOJ's) Hope Road headquarters, in St. Andrew last Tuesday. The press conference was held to announce the formation of the Jamaica Tree Growers Association. - JUNIOR DOWIE / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
IN A bid to encourage the preservation and promotion of tree production to sustain the country's delicate forest reserves, the Forestry Conservation Unit and the Forest Conservancy have joined forces to create a Jamaica Tree Growers Association (JTGA).
The JTGA, which will be incorporated as a non-profit company, will be used to promote the private development and management of trees for commercial and conservation purposes. Only 88,000 hectares of Jamaica's 499,000 hectares of forestry remain undisturbed. The association will focus on encouraging persons with land to engage in agro-forestry, urban forestry and commercial timber production.
According to Keats Hall, managing director of the Forest Conservancy, formation of the JTGA was predicated on the fact that the island's forest reserve was coming under increasing pressure. "The forest estates are coming under severe pressure because of the increasing demand for timber and non-wood products and the forest estates can hardly take on all this responsibility."
Marilyn Headley, the conservator of forests, said the focus now is to get the private sector or persons with privately owned lands to get involved, based on the objectives of the National Forest Management Plan of 2001. She said that two-thirds of Jamaica's land under forest cover is controlled by private individuals, and that some 60,000 hectares of idle, underutilised properties have been identified across the island for development into forest.
"We see the private sector as being very important in working along with the government agencies ... in the management of this resource," she said. The intention is to "promote the reforestation of lands, putting new lands into forests and also maintaining lands that were in forests," Ms Headley continued. She also noted that farmers will be encouraged to plant more trees on their farms.
Guy Symes, executive secretary of the Forest Conservancy, said there is great potential for the development of a timber production industry from this process. He said based on the surveys carried out, placing a small proportion of this available land into the production of high quality timber, such as teak and mahogany, would be beneficial to those involved and the country on a whole. He said timber production could earn an estimated US$67,000 per acre based on current market demand.
Gina Green, chair of the Jamaica Timber Growers Association, said the move would not only be beneficial to the country's tourism product and development, but also the land owners who stand to benefit from income tax and property tax relief and duty concessions.
