National Forest Management and Conservation Plan.

The National Forest Management and Conservation Plan is a national plan for the forestry sector which will be implemented for the period 2001-2005 and whose purpose is to promote and improve the conservation and sustainable use of the forest resources of the country to meet local and national needs through protecting, managing and restoring the resource for the benefit of present and future generations. The goals of the forestry sector identified in the Plan address four broad values to society: environment; national wealth and rural development; energy; recreation and tourism. In addition, the primary goals of the forestry sector provided in the Plan are to: protect the forest resource; restore tree cover; conserve biodiversity; improve the economic contribution of forests to the well-being of the Jamaican people; produce fuelwood on a sustainable basis; maintain the visual quality of forests; and enhance the use of forests for recreation and tourism.
As mentioned, the Plan focuses on the forestry sector. The following strategies are outlined: community participation (see the participation and cooperation of local communities in the sustainable management and protection of forest resources); public education (build a strong environmental awareness on the importance of forests); forestry research (provide data, information and guidelines for efficient forest management practices and conservation strategies, reforestation planning and development, agroforestry practices and social and participatory forestry initiatives); local management plans (prepare and implement local forest management plans); cooperative management agreements (seek cooperation agreement between the Forestry Department and other governmental and non-governmental agencies for the protection and conservation of forests); forest protection (review areas for gazetting to forest reserve status and regulate activities on forest reserves and lands); forest production programme (expand forest production to reduce pressure on natural resources); investment and incentives (to encourage investment in forestry development and conservation); and governmental and non-governmental capacity (increase the capacity of the Forestry Department and other stakeholders to support the implementation of the Plan).
The Plan seeks to promote sustainable community-based rural development; to increase the development potential of rural areas and decrease the need for rural-urban migration; provide shelter and materials for construction and household use in rural areas; and improve the socio-economic condition of rural women.
Moreover the Plan aims to support the implementation of carbon sequestration projects and encourage the involvement of the local private forestry sector and foreign companies. Also, the Plan will undertake an integrated approach to combat forest fires and implement fire control and management programmes involving NGOs as well as the communities.
The Plan will be implemented by the Forestry Department, which will seek broad-based endorsement from both political and civil sectors of society throughout the Plan’s implementation. In particular, the coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the Plan will be conducted by an independent Forestry Planning and Development Committee.