20 June 2019
Solomon Islands:��Turning to sustainable harvesting of forest timbers and resorting to downstream processing.
The Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare, has said he believes the pathway set by Eagon Group of Companies is an ideal one for the country to take as it scales down to stop round log exports and to encourage sustainable harvesting to downstream processing of timbers.
Speaking during a courtesy visit made to his office by officials from Eagon group of companies led by Young-Ju Park, Chairman of the company and Honorary Consul General of Solomon Islands to Korea, the PM claimed that his�Government is seriously considering taking the path towards sustainable harvesting.
The Prime Minister reportedly said that, according to forestry experts, the country is still safe from logging until 2036.
��However, I believe that we must take the turn towards sustainable harvesting of timbers to downstream processing very soon,� the Prime Minister stated.
The Prime Minister also welcomed the offer of Eagon Group of Companies to provide advice and to assist the Government in its move towards downstream processing.
Eagon is a sustainable reforestation company with a large reforestation area at Arara up to over 25, 000 hectares of land.
Since its establishment in the country, reforestation continues to sustain the forest.
Source OPMC Press.
In a separate move. The Ministry�of Forestry and Research is embarking to review the determined prize of round logs based on the unsustainable harvesting of logs and the trade war between China and United States ofAmerica.
Minister Ishmael Avui confirmed this during his presentation in the sine die motion in Parliament recently.
Avui said the review will be done very soon.
The Determined Value for round logs always vary for different species of logs exported to overseas market mainly China.
In 2018, it was estimated to be averaged at around USD100 to USD180 per cubic meter for round logs.
As the Solomon Islands has a high range of high quality tropical hardwood timber, including rosewood, Kwila and Vitex, is seems perfectly sensible to now consider downstreaming and turning such timber into products that will find domestic use and provide gainful employment for local people.
Value added products will bring substantial benefits, including greater revenue, new business activities and, vitally importantly, a far more sustainable industry and more direct value to landowners.
In March 2013,�I recall the then Prime Minister saying that the Solomon Islands had to enforce its forest legislation and code of harvesting practice to protect the country�s valuable forest resources.
At the same time there was then an agreement reached to develop a Green Growth Development Framework (GGDF) for the country and establish a regular green economy platform to guide the development process. The GGDF would aim to promote sustainable resource management, strengthen resilience with respect to climate change and establish innovative partnerships between development entrepreneurs.
Even at that time, in 2013, the green growth of the forestry sector was a contentious issue given that the then current conventional logging practice had made the sector one of the highest contributors to Solomon Islands� gross domestic product. In addition, the country�s biodiversity-rich forests were also considered under threat from other sectors that made-up major fiscal contributions, such as mining.
As all observers of the Solomon Islands know, logging has been the mainstay of the Solomon Islands� economy for the past two decades, accounting for around 20 percent of the government�s revenue in 2017.
The last Houenipwela government agreed to reform forestry policy based on a committee�s recommendations, including the establishment of a task force to improve scrutiny of the legality of operations and monitoring of exports, as well as measures to increase revenue from export taxes to buffer a global downturn in the value of timber.
The committee estimated logging exports would hit more than 3 million cubic meters (106 million cubic feet) by the end of 2018 � a 30 percent increase over 2017.
Global Witness investigations suggested the real amount would be far higher, as inspections of shipments were �rare, or non-existent,� allowing tax avoidance by under-declaring timber exports, and the duties that are paid are set well below the world market price.
Satellite data from the University of Maryland (UMD) visualized�showed the Solomon Islands lost around 179 square kilometers of tree cover in 2018. While this was down from 2017 and 2016, it was the third-highest amount of loss recorded in a single year since measurements began in 2001.
Preliminary data for 2019 has suggested deforestation may again be on the rise, with deforestation levels spiking well above numbers for the same time last year.
In the past few days, the DCGA�announced a move to reduce the round log export in the next 4 years to a sustainable rate, according to Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.
�He stated this when highlighting the importance of the trip by Government officials to China doing a timber trade survey.
�He said the timber trade survey was important to the Ministry of Forestry as the Government is in a position to implement the 50cm diameter limit for all round logs exports.
��With the recent trip, the PM said the Ministry of Forestry needs to understand the demand on the ground.
�The issue of descending log prices is paramount to discuss with round log buyers and industries/factories and negotiating direct sales to factories is important if we want to maximize revenue from round log export.�
PM Sogavare further reiterated that the investigation on other processed timber producers market will also be raised with log buyers and factory buyers and adds that the visitation to industries and furniture factories are important to discuss and understand on the ground, especially the timber quality and properties of added value timber products.
�Having both parties on the ground understanding the trade in China can assist both parties to make better decisions that benefit all stakeholders of logging business.�
Source: Solomon Star News
The abiding message from all that I have contributed here is that there is a great need to balance social, economic and environmental needs to ensure that forests are managed sustainably and there should be seen to be no more delay.
��Procrastination is the thief of time.�
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
�
