Sustainable Forest Management

Based on forest inventory data and the latest figures from the Central Bank of the Solomon Islands, the national commercial log resources in the Country are expected to be exhausted by 2012, if harvesting of the forests continues at the current rate (1.5 mln m3/yr). 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 from the environmental damage, corruption, poor benefit sharing and shortage of locally used forest products. Sawmilling and timber down processing by landowners on the other hand shows a much higher benefit 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 the NRDF supported sawmill operations have produced around 1600 m3 of sawn timber, mostly used for community building projects, private housing and timber export. The operations employ an average of 20 full time workers and many more casual based employees. The people in the project area in Vella Lavella for example have been engaged in sustainable harvesting for almost 15 years. Besides the benefits it is currently the only community with healthy timber resources in Vella Lavella and even in the Western Province. The NRDF sawmill operations follow specific management guidelines, focused on good forest management practices including area mapping, surveying, tree selection, directional felling and replanting. Plans to certify the operations under the Forest Steward Ship Counsel (FSC) label are currently on the drawing board and it might be soon that the sawmill operations can produce certified timber for the Australian and European markets.

(L-R)

1. Saw milling in Vella Lavella

2. Timber yard in Vella Lavella

3. Log for milling in Choiseul