OVER harvesting of our forest resources is good for our economy but will cause extensive damage to the forestry sector in the future.

The country’s economy has survived for decades on forestry resources and now officials are signalling red light as a result of high levels of deforestation.

Speaking during the signing of Capacity Development for Sustainable Forest Resource Management Project yesterday, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Forestry and Research Mr Vaeno Vigulu said the country’s forest resource is currently harvested at an unsustainable level posing a possible incline on the country’s revenue in the future.

He stressed that the huge decline of forest resources will force resource owners to look at other alternatives to generate income to support their livelihoods and meet the increasing cost of school fees, medical fees, transportation and family basic needs.

“This will pose a huge threat to our forest resources because such situation will provide loop holes giving way for sustainable harvesting of forest resources,” Mr Vigulu explained.

But he said there is still time for the country to survive the serious threats.

Mr Vigulu said the implementation of the Sustainable Forest Resource Management project has potential to invade the threats.

He said the project will develop and avail alternatives to sustainably utilise the current available forest resources in the country.

Mr Vigulu continues that forest resources are renewable resources and this gives his Ministry and project partner Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) determination to fully execute the project.

“One might think that it’s almost late or it’s late but I don’t agree with that, as forest resources are renewable in nature and can be re-establish to support our rural people as well as growing our economy.

“It just needs better development and management option through capacity building that would encourage proper utilisation of our forest resource,” he said.

Mr Vigulu said Solomon Islands will fully benefit from the project through expertise from Japanese highly qualified forestry experts.

He said Japan’s Forestry industry is renowned for its sustainable management and support to livelihood and that Solomon Islands will learn a lot from the project.

“Although environmental conditions are different, similar principles and designs can be replicated on local pilot sites to determine the best practice suited for local context,” Mr Vigulu said.

He said the five years project is long enough for our local forest experts to draw a line on important models and skills needed to encourage sustainable and management of our forest resources.

Commissioner of Forestry Mr Reeves Moveni also joins his Permanent Secretary in welcoming the new project.

He said the project is a significant milestone for the Ministry of Forestry and Research.

Mr Moveni also confirmed that the country is facing serious deforestation due to unsustainable commercial logging.

He adds that land use in the name of development is also a pressing issue that is projected to become a threat in the future if not addressed properly.

History is aware that forest degradation in Solomon Islands often refer to the practices of logging companies and the government’s weak capacity to enforce its forestry and environmental regulations as the main underlying causes for forest degradation.

In Solomon Islands, landowners contribute significantly in influencing forestry outcomes such as deforestation and forest degradation, unsustainable logging, conflicts, and the distribution of incomes accumulated from forestry operations.

The concern of this paper, however, is on forest degradation and deforestation, a concern that has consistently been raised by NGOs since 1990s.