Trevor Samuels, Guest Columnist

THE WOODEN floor of my old family house is well over 100 years old and is still in good condition today. I am told it was made out of a wood called yellow mastwood. Unless it is known by a different name, that tree is probably extinct, like many of our other trees in Manchester and other parts of Jamaica. I am sure that only a few of the younger Jamaican carpenters know much about Jamaican hardwoods, as this material is scarce like gold today.

Many old houses that survived hurricanes Gilbert and Ivan were made of hardwood lumber, such as bullet wood, santa maria, fiddlewood, broadleaf, fustic, candlewood, otherwise called canto, mahogany and other Jamaican woods. The land of wood and water that greeted Columbus on his arrival does not look the same today. Many of our trees have been wantonly destroyed and have not been replaced as fast as they should, and in some cases, not at all. In my boyhood days it was not unknown to see these trees felled and remain to rot or used as firewood. Ponds and streams which used to contain water well into the drought periods no longer do so because the trees surrounding them are no longer there.

The demand for railway ties was one of the main factors that started the rapid destruction of the hardwood forests. In the days of the railway, one could see stacks of sleepers, or ties, made from Jamaican hardwoods at railway stations. The jerk pork and chicken which we enjoy today is having a very serious negative effect on our forests because much of the young trees are being destroyed in the process of preparing the delicacy. The demand for yam sticks is also taking a serious toll on our forests, and so are fence posts, the clearing of land with fire for cultivation, charcoal burning and the burning of limestone which, happily, seldom uses this method today.

Re afforestation

I am not convinced that the powers that be, such as the Forest Department and other environmentalists, are making sufficiently sustained effort to reclaim the forests in order that the generation of the future will benefit. I have heard of new methods of yam cultivation using plastic yam sticks, but in driving through Manchester and south Trelawny, one doesn't see much of the new methods in existence, and one wonders whether these werejust grand announcements and no follow-up, as is the practice in this country.

The Caribbean pine which is now being planted is doubtful of yielding first-class lumber and is vulnerable to hurricanes, as their root systems are unsuitable for high winds. Some which are reaped are not mature enough and fail in a short time after usage. The use of this lumber, in addition to imported pine lumber, is partially responsible for much of the failure of many roofs to withstand hurricanes.

Firewood forests

Some years ago, there was talk about establishing firewood forests. This would be good for pork jerkers, coal burners and other people using firewood, but apart from some attempt at Luana in St. Elizabeth, the project seemed not to have become widespread. There is the need for more public education on our forests, and when we have these symbolic tree-planting campaigns we should not only focus on fruit and ornamental trees, but try to get back some of the old hardwoods as well. I have seen wanton destruction of trees in so-called protected watershed areas, and even in the Fern Gully, but if anyone has been taken to court it must have been secretly done.

We need to act now toward forest recovery because it is later than we think.