Sustainable Forest Management & Sawmilling programme
It is expected that the National commercial log resources in the Solomon Islands are exhausted by 2012, if harvesting of the forests continues at the current rate. At the moment the Solomon Islands economy depends highly on revenues from the export of logs and the operations of foreign logging companies. Most landowners however suffer severely from the logging related environmental damage, corruption, poor benefit sharing and shortage of locally used forest products. Sawmilling & timber down processing by landowners on the other hand has proven to have much higher benefits than large scale logging, resulting in less environmental damage, less social unrest and the operations are more sustainable in regards to the future availability of forest resources. Since 2003 NRDF has assisted landowners to start small sawmill operations and at the moment five partners are running sustainable sawmill operations in forest areas of Western and Choiseul Provinces. Over the last seven years more than 1900 m3 of sawn timber was produced, mainly for community building projects, private housing and in some degree for timber export. The current operations employ an average of 30 full time workers engaging many more casual based employees. When managed well a sawmill operation is able to earn an annual gross income of more than $SBD 300.000 (US$ 37,500).
The NRDF partners are using specific management guidelines, to practise good forest management which includes activities such as land use planning, area mapping & surveying, tree selection, directional felling and replanting. As part of the Forest for Life campaign NRDF wants to certify all its sawmill projects under the Forest Steward Ship Counsel (FSC). This will open new markets in Australia and Europe soon, bringing in extra benefits for the forest owners as prices are considerable higher than the standard timber export prices.
Main objective:
To promote and support sustainable timber harvesting and forest management by local
landowners and communities, as an alternative for destructive, large-
Main activities:
• FSC Certification for all sawmill operations in current NRDF project areas (possibly extend to other areas);
• Local and national awareness building to encourage Sustainable Forest Management & Conservation;
• Write a practical “Forestry Handbook” for rural communities to build capacity and skills in sustainable forest management.
(L-
1. Saw milling in Vella Lavella
2. Timber yard in Vella Lavella
3. Log for milling in Choiseul
