Over the years I have actively encouraged re-forestion in the Solomon Islands and posted many images of those tree-planting and raising trees in nursery sites but it would be interesting to known to what extent re-forestation has progressed so far in 2021
Following events in the last few days at the Cop-26 Cliate Change Conference taking place in Glasgow in Scotland, I was interested in the remarks by Professor Tim Forsyth writing in today’s UK guardian newspaper about removing C02 from the atmosphere (the main theme of COP 26 talks) and Solomon Island’s reforestation progress to-date.
Quoting an extract of Professor Forsyth’s words, he said.
Expansion of productive forests remains one of the most cost-effective strategies for removing and storing CO2 from the atmosphere, in addition to producing timber on a sustainable basis. A recent study showed that productive coniferous forests support up to 269% more greenhouse gas mitigation potential than newly planted broadleaf conservation forests.
Only 3% of the total global forest area comprises productive plantation forest, yet they produce one-third of the world’s industrial timber. Productive forests leave a smaller environmental footprint by focusing harvesting activity in relatively small areas in comparison with expansive and damaging timber extraction from natural forests. Expansion of productive forests is not keeping pace with global timber demand, with the shortfall increasingly sourced from natural and semi-natural forests that are already under severe pressure. Productive forests yield more than 10 times more wood on an area basis than natural forests
Perhaps, arising from this piece, I might learn as to what might be the practice in the Solomon Islands today in creating and expanding productive forests while protecting native (primary) forests after many years of unsustainable logging practices.
Productive forests could supply the timber for down-stream processing of light industry, such as furniture manufacture, and help with job creation, if suitable tree species could be raised in nurseries and re-planted extensively for quick growth.
Conifer forests are referred to by Professor Forsyth in his reference to sustainable forests but I am not sure whether conifers would be suitable for the Solomon Islands environment.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
