Firstly, you may ask: Who are the Coalition for Forests? They are 27 civil society organisations (CSOs) that are actively engaged at the local and national levels in forest conservation, management and restoration in Jamaica. The primary goal of the Coalition is to bring the citizens themselves into the process of decision-making and to help increase public and private spending benefiting forests and forest communities. In other words, as someone said at a recent workshop co-sponsored by CANARI Caribbean, the Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation (C-CAM) and the Jamaica Conservation & Development Trust (JCDT), they are “stronger together.” The project Building civil society awareness and capacity to engage in participatory budgeting and financial management for the forest sector in Jamaica being supported with funding from the European Union.
Of course, Jamaican CSOs are already delivering results for the forestry sector. They are very strong on raising awareness and environmental education, and they have a greater focus on biodiversity, which is important. The value of CSO contributions to the forest sector in 2022, according to the JCDT’s David Walters, could be as high as J$100 million – including capacity building, advocacy, and in-kind contributions.
The Coalition would like to work more closely with the Forestry Department, which is an Executive Agency under the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, in order to enhance citizen engagement. Get communities involved! Youth are an essential component in the partnership, including the next generation of coffee farmers being mentored by organic Blue Mountain coffee farmer Dorienne Rowan-Campbell.
Critically though, the Coalition and its members – including Local Forest Management Committees and non-governmental organisations that manage designated protected areas (JCDT, C-CAM) can (and should) seek to directly engage with the National Environment and Planning Agency and other Government entities to support a strong budget for forest conservation and management.
As C-CAM’s Ingrid Parchment said at a recent workshop, the Coalition doesn’t want a bigger share of the budget cake, but: “We want a bigger cake.”
LFMC); Adrian Henriquez (JEEAN); Hugh Dixon (STEA); Keisha Harrison (RISE Life); Jodie-Kay Kerr (RISE Life); Ingrid Parchment (CCAM); Kerry-Ann Curtis (NCTFJ); Lehome Johnson (CANARI).
Credit: CANARI
Jamaica’s Coalition for Forests calls for a more participatory national budgeting process
Kingston, March 6, 2024 – Jamaica’s Coalition for Forests is calling on the Government to increase the allocation for forest conservation and management in the 2024/2025 budget, to embrace participatory budgeting on every level, and to recognise and support the value and economic benefits of civil society’s work on forest conservation and management.
The 2024/2025 budget and the Government’s fiscal priorities will be unveiled by Dr. the Hon Nigel Clarke, Minister of Finance and the Public Service in the Opening Budget Presentation to Parliament on March 12, 2024. This budget was developed with input from Ministries and agencies and reviewed by the Cabinet over January and February and must be approved by Parliament by March 31, 2024. But Jamaica’s civil society feels that they do not have sufficient voice in determining priorities for budgetary support for forest conservation and management.
As the Coalition for Forests looks forward to assessing to what extent the 2024/2025 budget addresses forest conservation and management as a national priority for economic development, livelihoods and wellbeing, its key messages for Ministers and Members of Parliament debating the budget are that:
- Increased budget allocation to forestry management and conservation is beneficial for the Jamaican people, environment and economy.
- Jamaican civil society is delivering results for forest conservation and management and therefore has a right to be included in the budgeting process and allocated more funding to strengthen their important work.
- Forest management and conservation supports economic growth and participatory budgeting opens the door for sustainable development; it opens the door to improved governance, accountability, strengthened citizen engagement and democracy, and an increased share in the public and private spending on forests and forest-based communities.
- Funding forestry management and conservation is funding strong, sustainable and resilient communities.
The Coalition’s aims are to advance democracy by increasing citizen engagement in forest decision-making, and to help increase the share of public and private spending that benefits forests and forest-based communities. The Coalition’s work is being supported under the project Building civil society awareness and capacity to engage in participatory budgeting and financial management for the forest sector in Jamaica with support from the European Union (FED/2021/428-620) and implemented by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), in partnership with the Caribbean Coastal Area Management (C-CAM) Foundation and the Jamaica Conservation Development Trust (JCDT).
For more information on this project and work of the Coalition, see: https://canari.org/green-economy/jamaica-participatory-budgeting/
To access the Coalition for Forests’ “Participatory Budgeting for the Forest Sector in Jamaica” Briefing Books, visit the links below:
1. Briefing Book for Ministers and Members of Parliament
2. Briefing Book for Local Government
3. Briefing Book for Government agencies involved in the forest sector
About C-CAM: The Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation (C-CAM) was established in 1997 to promote coastal conservation in Jamaica. C-CAM promotes sustainable development and conservation of the natural environment in the Portland Bight Protected Area. The organisation’s approach to natural resources management is based on the maximum involvement of communities though co-management based on the best available scientific and social information. For more information, see https://ccam.org.jm/.
About JCDT: Established in 1988, The Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust (JCDT) is a nongovernmental organisation and charity with a mandate to conserve Jamaica’s natural environment. The JCDT’s mission leads the organisation to protect and restore forests in the Blue and John Crow Mountains using approaches that facilitate sustainable development in rural mountain communities. For more information, see https://www.jcdt.org.jm/.
About CANARI: The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) is a regional technical non-profit organisation which has been working across the Caribbean for 30 years, including in Jamaica. Our mission is to promote and facilitate stakeholder participation in the stewardship of natural resources in the Caribbean. Our work focuses on Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Equity and Justice, Resilience and Participatory Governance. For more information on CANARI, see: https://www.canari.org/.
For further information, please contact:
Lehome Johnson, Senior Technical Officer, CANARI at lehome@canari.org
Petchary's Blog 
Civil society must be considered as rightsholders–not simply stakeholders–in the planning process. Citizens personally involved with the forestry sector–even in some amateur capacity–may have valuable experience and interesting, unexpected, hitherto unthought-of solutions for some aspect of forest management. Professionals should be thankful to any public that has sufficient interest to participate in a dialogue.
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Yes, for sure, and I think this is a relatively new concept in Jamaica. There is indeed a wealth of knowledge among citizens – not necessarily “experts” – at the grassroots level.
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