A Forestry expert has warned that Solomon Islands forest will inevitably become a “sunset industry” facing almost depletion of forest resources post 2015.
Dr Shon Cheol-Ho, an expert from the National Forestry Cooperative Federation NFCF of Korea revealed the startling condition of the country’s forest industry during a workshop last Thursday.
The workshop – Investigating Strategies for Improving Forest Legal System and Re-evaluating Forest Potential in the Solomon Islands is one of the mechanisms proceeding under a Project for the Establishment of an Action Plan for Forest Resources Management in the country.
Cheol-Ho attributed the depletion of forest resources by the late 2020’s to the previous over-logging of timber with minimal reforestation adding, the only active reforestation efforts is the best option to recover the sustainability of our forest resources.
He said, the Forest Resource and Timber Utilization Act is outdated and cannot address urgent forest issues such as unsustainable harvesting.
He also introduced a five year forest development master plan of the Republic of Korea and suggests the necessity of preparing the forestry master plan in Solomon Islands.
Officials from the Ministry of Forestry and Research, Korea International Cooperation Agency Solomon Islands Office and industry stakeholders have attended the workshop.
