Solomon Islands On Track To Wipe Out All Forests By 2015 [View All]

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Australia predicts that current rates of logging in Solomon Islands will wipe out forest resources by 2015 or earlier.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has released a study of the Solomon Islands economy prepared by his Economic Analytical Unit. The report is aimed at helping the Solomon Islands Government build on the success of the regional assistance mission, RAMSI, which is about to celebrate the first anniversary of its intervention in the Solomons.

The study says forest resources in Solomons will be exhausted by 2015 if timber is cut at an annual rate of 600,000 cubic metres. But the actual timber production last year was more than 700,000 cubic metres.

Most of the harvest is exported in round logs to Asia and there is little processing in the Solomons. The report says while unsustainable logging has serious environmental consequences, it has been crucial to the Budget with the timber export tax accounting for 15 per cent of all revenue."

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1158127.htm