Earth Today | Urban Forest Run to help restore tree cover in western Jamaica

JAMAICANS ARE encouraged to don their running shoes this weekend, in support of restoring the tree cover lost in western Jamaica with the passage of the devastating Hurricane Melissa last October.

The Forestry Department will host its 5k Urban Forest Run on Sunday (August 23), as part of ongoing efforts to regrow forests through its RE-LEAF, Reforestation, Ecological Enhancement and Landscape Framework initiative.

RE-LEAF, developed in response to the destruction brought by the Category 5 hurricane and officially launched earlier this year, invites the collaboration of all Jamaicans and is intended to restore forests while also strengthening the island’s resilience to climate change.

Ainsley Henry, conservator of forests and the Forestry Department’s chief executive officer, said in a news release in April that the hurricane was a “wake-up call”.

“It opened many people’s eyes to the value of trees and forests and now, we as a country can take protecting and sustaining these resources more seriously,” he noted at the time.

The changing climate is fuelled by the ongoing use of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas, which cause the emission of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. These gases trigger the warming of the planet – the evidence of which is being felt this summer.

The warming prompts a variety of climate change impacts, among them extreme weather events, the likes of Hurricane Melissa; as well as sea level rise and higher sea surface temperatures that hold negative implications for freshwater security and marine life.

Forests are considered an essential part of the global response to climate change impacts, with information from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization revealing that, with their coverage of some 31 per cent of the world’s land surface, forests store “an estimated 296 gigatonnes of carbon”.

They are also home to the majority of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity while serving as “a source of fibre, fuel, food and fodder” and helping to improve the quality of not only the air but also soil and water. Forests are also the source of livelihoods for millions of people worldwide.

The upcoming run, which is being staged under the theme ‘Run in the East, RE-LEAF the West’, promises that “every registration plants a tree in western Jamaica”. Registration opened on July 21 and closed yesterday (August 19). Warm up for the run will begin at 6:00 AM at the Constant Spring Golf Club.

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