Forest Ministry Aims To Revamp Stewardship
To embrace the common goal in maintaining and upholding the forest policy in sustainable management of Fiji’s forests for the current and future generations.
The Ministry of Forestry will revamp land stewardship in its bid to safeguard and manage the high demand of Fiji’s natural forest resources.
This was highlighted by Forest Minister Osea Naiqamu during the Western Division Forest Wardens’ first official payout that was held at the Returned Servicemen League Hall in Lautoka, yesterday. “The growing demand on our forests and their owners leave a big question mark about the change in forest functions in the future, in other words can the forest fulfill all the demands and yet be sustainable?” Mr Naiqamu said.
“The ministry has realised that stewardship roles of land needs to be revamped.
“I feel that I have the important responsibility to urge you all to embrace the common goal in maintaining and upholding the forest policy in sustainable management of Fiji’s forests for the current and our future generations.”
This is in line with the Government’s implementation priorities of the Fiji Forest policy in shifting to involving landowners and community-based sustainable forest management.
“Under this priority, one of the emphases is, to appoint Forest Wardens to assist in the policing of Forest Laws, as clearly stipulated in the Fiji Forest policy statement section 7.3.3.”
The ministry has been mandated to train resource owners on the environmental requirements of the Fiji Forest Harvesting Code of Practice 2013.
“And any other environmental protection requirements stipulated in the management and harvesting licences and where possible engage these trained resource owners to monitor environmental standards,” the minister said
“This government’s initiatives were derived from the national goal for the 2007 Forest Policy on sustainable management of Fiji’s forests which is to maintain their natural potential to achieve greater social, economic and environmental benefits for the current and future generations.
“The objectives of these programmes are landowners’ empowerment as well as the encouragement of landowners and forest resource users to adopt sustainable forest management principles. “Also for the management of natural forests and plantations as well as monitoring adherence to these principles,” he added.