The Forestry Department has upgraded its mobile application, 876Trees, launched earlier this year, as part of efforts to improve reporting on trees planted.

The app, which also provides tree-planting and maintenance instructions, allows users to report on all the seedlings they have planted in the past two years, regardless of the source.

“This app is an important tool for tracking Jamaica’s tree-planting efforts so that we know exactly how many trees are being planted and where these trees are being planted. That is why we’ve placed a great emphasis on the reporting and tracking features of the mobile app while making it as easy as possible for people to use,” said Ainsley Henry, conservator of forests and chief executive officer of The Forestry Department.

The National Tree Planting Initiative – launched in October 2019 by Prime Minister Andrew Holness – aims to plant three million trees in three years. This is as Jamaica continues to amplify its efforts to combat climate change and represents a tree planted for every Jamaican plus a few extra.

Though efforts were affected by the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the agency is reporting that more than one million trees have been planted under the initiative thus far.

“We know that Jamaicans are planting many more trees than those received from our Forestry Department nurseries and that there are several nurseries that have also been supplying them. So we are now not only encouraging tree planting in support of the National Tree Planting Initiative, we are making it very easy to report on the country’s planting efforts,” Henry said.

The latest upgrades to the 876Trees mobile app also allow users to add the various species of trees planted, and to share their earned rewards via email and social media. There is also the automatic upload of seedlings received from any Forestry Department nursery, and access to tree-planting and maintenance guidelines that now include images and videos.

The app is available for download for free from the Apple App and Google Play stores.

Source: The Gleaner