Initiative Assures Life of Forests, Natural Resources: Kalaveti Ravu
‘You and I have a role to play; the decisions we take today is critical for the future of our forests and our health’.
In ensuring that our forests and natural resources are always available the Ministry of Forestry established a Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) initiative at its Korotari nursery in Labasa.
With the support and assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture, the CSA was launched by the line minister, Kalaveti Ravu, on Tuesday, which coincided with International Day of Forests.
The theme this year is ‘Forests and Health’.
CSA is an approach that helps to transform the agri-food system towards green and climate resilient practices.
This pilot site at Korotari is part of the ministry’s 2023 plan, and if proved successful, will be replicated on several ministry’s reforestation sites as the benefits are far much greater than its establishment costs.
Mr Ravu said the sustainable management of the forests could not be achieved by the forestry sector alone.
“You and I have a role to play; the decisions we take today is critical for the future of our forests and our health,” Mr Ravu said.
Given that the main drivers of deforestation are outside of forestry, he said people needed to work together with other land-based sectors to deliver the desired outcomes for our forests.
International Day of Forests
Touching up on the theme this year, Mr Ravu said it focused on two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - Numbers three on Good Health and Wellbeing and 15 on Life on Land.
He said trees and the planting of trees played a vital role in this regard.
“Through our national 30 million trees in 15 years initiative, more than 16 million trees have been collectively planted across Fiji by youths, schools, civil society organisations, church groups, individuals and communities,” Mr Ravu said.
“This Government will not only look at achieving the number of trees to be planted, but will closely look at the monitoring and evaluation of these trees to ensure high growth and survival rate.”
He said healthy forests helped keep global warming in check; forests contain 662 billion tonnes of carbon, which was more than half the global carbon stock in soils and vegetation.
“Forests and trees are a solution to most of our problems,” he said.
“They help buffer exposure to heat and extreme weather events caused by climate change, they purify the water, clean the air, capture carbon to fight climate change, provide food and life-saving medicines, and generally improve our well-being.”