‘Untouched’ Pacific island forests could be destroyed within 20 years due to unsustainable logging

Unsustainable and potentially illegal logging in remote Pacific islands could leave their natural resources decimated within 20 years, according to activists.

The Solomon Islands are described by travel guides and the nation’s tourist board as “unspoiled”, but a new report by international NGO Global Witness has revealed this is far from the truth.

One of the poorest nations in the Pacific region, the Solomon Islands have an economy that is highly reliant on its forestry sector.

Despite this reliance, a report recently commissioned by the Solomon Islands’ ministry of finance suggested that if logging continues at its current pace, natural forests will be exhausted by 2036.

The islands exported more than 3 million cubic metres of logs in 2017, nearly 20 times what experts think is a sustainable annual harvest.

For years concerns have been raised by both national and international authorities that the government of this tiny nation is not able to enforce laws preventing unsustainable logging – particularly in the most remote regions.

“While the Solomon Islands are marketed as a pristine tropical idyll, our investigation shows that the reality is very different,” said Beibei Yin, campaign leader at Global Witness.

“The hugely unsustainable rate of logging, the high risks of illegality and the fact that the industry does little to benefit local people all create a bleak picture of islands far from unspoiled or unexploited.”

Global Witness used satellite imagery and drone photography to determine the rate at which logging is taking place in the Solomon Islands.

These images revealed vast swathes of deforested land, as well as over 12,000 km (7456 miles) of logging roads criss-crossing the tiny nation.

One in every 20km of logging road in the Solomon Islands is above 400m in altitude, despite specific efforts by the government to limit deforestation in these zones.

In their report, Global Witness highlight China as a particularly worrying player in this situation. The Solomon Islands the second biggest source of tropical logs to China, after Papua New Guinea, the large Asian nation requires no checks to ensure these imports are legal or sustainable.

As their investigation found these was a high risk that logging companies were not seeking permission from many local landowners or avoiding prohibited places, Global Witness concluded that some of the timber leaving these islands is likely illegally sourced.

Many nations including the UK require companies to check that timber has been harvested legally.

“While China is taking serious and positive steps to address environmental degradation and to reduce pollution and carbon emissions at home, it is overlooking an important aspect of its ecological footprint: the raw materials that it sources from abroad,” said Ms Yin.

“If China continues to buy its wood with ‘no questions asked’ from the Solomon Islands it jeopardises its own business interests as well as efforts by its trading partners to improve governance, prevent environmental degradation, and mitigate climate change. It has the power and chance to make this change.”

The group called on China to implement checks to ensure that timber is legal in its country of harvest, or risk causing major damage to the environment of the Solomon Island and losing a vital carbon sink that helps mitigate climate change.

The Independent has contacted the Chinese embassy for comment.