Last updated: April 16, 2018
The Jamaica Million Tree Challenge is a national initiative that encourages Jamaicans to plant a tree to improve the island's natural biodiversity, green coverage and our overall resilience to the impacts of climate change.
The call to action is a continuation of the ‘Trees for Life’ campaign which was launched in October 2016 by NEPA's Integrated Management of the Yallahs and Hope River Watershed Management Areas Project (Yallahs Hope Project). Trees planted may be fruit, ornamental or timber but must be native or suitable to the area's natural landscape.
The Million tree challenge was launched on May 22, 2017 to commemorate International Day for Biological Diversity and is aimed at planting 1-million trees by June 30, 2019.
Registered trees must be planted between January 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019.
Trees are home to our wildlife, they improve our air and water quality, provide food, oxygen, help stabilize our soil, support economic activities and local livelihoods and among other things - store carbon dioxide which is a contributor to climate change.
In support of the island's annual Labour Day activities, and in recognition of the country's 55 years of independence, which was also being recognized in 2017, the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport became the campaign's first official Million Tree partner by committing to plant 155,000 trees.