A ustralia Pacific - Illegal Logging Portal

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1. INTRODUCTION:7 September 2004. <strong>Logging</strong> on a riverbank in the Solomon Islands.Greenpeace is committed to seeking responsible and ecologicallysustainable alternatives to logging and supports ecoforestryprojects in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon islands.© GreenpeaceThe Solomon Islands has 2.8 million hectares offorests, covering around 85% of the total land area.However, only one fifth (600,000 ha) of the naturalforest area is suitable for commercial logging 1 , andall remaining large intact forest areas (>50,000ha)are now only found in the poorly accessible hill andmountain areas (see Map). The loggable forest hasbeen heavily exploited over the last two decadesand current logging is out of control.Industrial logging in Solomon Islands is dominatedby foreign companies who along with local frontcompanies and contractors, landowner agents andmiddlemen, and a compliant government,have been logging at a rate that is fourtimes the estimated ‘sustainable yield’, orthe level of non-declining harvest 2 .Further, many other reports andassessments have documented financialirregularities such as transfer pricing,misreporting and tax avoidance 3 ,serious environmental and social impacts 4 ,and how it is economically not asbeneficial to local landowners as smallscaleeconomic activity 5 .The logging sector currently accounts for 67%of export receipts, 15% of domestic governmentrevenue, and 15 % of GDP 6 . However the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) recently predicted a rapidcollapse of logging with commercial natural forestsbeing logged out by 2014 7 . The IMF, the Central Bankof the Solomon Islands and the Governor General ofSolomon Islands have warned of serious financial,economic and social impacts when this happens 8 . It isforecast that economic growth will decline to 1.5% perannum, down from 10% in 2007, largely due to a rapiddecline in logging as commercial forests are loggedout.This report gives some background on the loggingindustry and it’s impacts, and presents a financialanalysis that compares industrial logging for round logexports with community ecoforestry for sawn timberexports and domestic use. The analysis builds on workalready carried out by the A<strong>ustralia</strong>n Aid supportedNational Forest Resource Assessments 9 , the CentralBank of the Solomon Islands, and the IMF, with thekey new addition of financial data from the growingvillage-based small-scale sawmilling sector. Optionsfor a different forestry sector future for the SolomonIslands are presented along with estimated profit andNet Present Value (NPV) 10 . Recommendations aremade to the Solomon Islands Government and forestresource owners, and donor governmentsand institutions.Solomon Islands Forests4 Securing the Future: An Alternative Plan for Solomon Island Forests and Economy
1.Children of the Lobi community, Marovo Lagoon, sit on a newly cuttree from the Greenpeace-supported ecoforestry project in their village.Ecoforestry is one way to protect forests for future generations.© Greenpeace/BehringSecuring the Future: An Alternative Plan for Solomon Island Forests and Economy 5
Page 1: AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN FOR SOLOMONISLA
Page 7 and 8: Logging devastation: Solomon Island
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Page 11 and 12: FOOTNOTES© Greenpeace/Neaves1 Mini

A ustralia Pacific - Illegal Logging Portal

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