The island of Jamaica forms a unique habitat consisting of sedimentary formations isolated by a ‘backbone' of volcanic inlier. As such, the forests over limestone, contain a high degree of endemic biodiversity, but are severely threatened by anthropogenic disturbance owing to their small size, isolation and accessibility to human encroachment. In spite of being designated protected areas, previous conservation efforts have been significantly hampered by a limited knowledge of the flora, ecology and resilience of these forest ecosystems.

The Jamaican organizations responsible for their management have expressed the need for high quality research to improve understanding of ecological processes in these forests. The overall aim of this project is to contribute to conservation efforts by improving the present knowledge of the floristics and structure of two of the major areas of forest over limestone from which it is hoped that long term assessment of forest dynamics can be initiated.