[Source: Minister for Forestry, Fiji / Facebook]

Minister for Forestry Alitia Bainivalu says the future of forest plantations depends on effective restocking and expansion on lands leased from traditional and landowning communities.

Speaking at the International Tropical Timber Organisation Conference in Macao, China Bainivalu says that over the past twenty years, land tenure uncertainties have hindered plantation companies from carrying out timely and adequate restocking and expansion.

She stated that the initial targets for plantations were 100,000 hectares each for pine and mahogany.

However, these targets were never achieved, primarily due to landowner issues.

Bainivalu emphasized the need for a proactive approach to form harmonious partnerships with landowning communities, aiming to improve landowner socio-economic outcomes and ensure long-term security of tenure.

She also highlighted that, in addition to the efforts of commercial plantation companies, Fiji has been implementing a government-funded planting initiative since 2019.

This initiative focuses on rehabilitating degraded lands with a target of planting 30 million trees over 15 years.

To date, more than 16 million trees have been planted under this program.

Bainivalu stressed that planting a diverse range of species not only helps restore degraded forest lands and contribute to national climate goals but also complements existing commercial plantations and addresses potential future gaps in wood supply.