The mobile application is to monitor the planting and maintenance of tree seedlings planted towards the goal of Jamaica’s National Tree Planting Initiative (NTPI): Three Milllion trees in Three years. The NTPI was launched by the Most Honourable Prime Minister Andrew Holness on October 4, 2019. The objective of the Initiative is to support national development in the areas of climate change and reforestation efforts to increase forest cover and establish high value urban green spaces for all Jamaicans. The Forestry Department, an agency of the Ministry of Housing, Urban Renewal and Climate Change (MHURECC) is coordinating the island’s implementation of the NTPI.
Using this mobile application, persons who receive or purchase tree seedlings from plant nurseries, public or privately owned, in support of the NTPI will be able to provide updates through the Application to the Forestry Department on the progress of the seedlings. This will allow the Agency to quantify the number of trees planted, the general location of the planted seedlings and the health of the trees including the mortality rate of the trees planted. The application also seeks to assist and encourage tree care by providing guidelines for planting and maintaining the tree seedlings by species.
To incentivize the application and its use, a rewards programme is also a feature of the application which will allow participants to earn points for correctly following the maintenance guidelines and reporting on the progress of their trees at the specified intervals.