Finally, for Lomaiviti, Mr. Speaker, Sir, It Is Pleasing to Note Government's Plan for the Narocake Pine Scheme

HON. J. KALOU.- Finally, for Lomaiviti, Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is pleasing to note Government's plan for the Narocake Pine Scheme in Gau for the villagers of Lovu, Vadravadra and Yadua, but, it is also important to note that this only represents a small proportion of potential land for re-afforestation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, may I go now to the environment and preface my comments from Psalm 24:1: "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the World, and they that dwell therein." Mr, Speaker, initially on my trip to Rio as Minister of State for the Government, I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that the whole world has come to realise the truth of Psalm 24:1. There is another Bible quotation which says that "God created man in his own image". It is therefore important that in our quest, Mr. Speaker, for affluence and better living through our development plans, that we do not lose sight of the damage that we do to God's creation. We are supposed to represent God in our dealings and if the environment is treated as such then Fiji has a better future to look ahead to, I am pleased to be standing here today, Mr. Speaker, as Fiji's first political appointment in the environment arena. It is, as I am sure you are all aware, a topic which is very much on the worlds' agenda as indeed as it should be. Perhaps as a reflection of global concerns, there has been increasing awareness in Fiji at both governmental and community levels that our spoken and policy commitment to the environment must be transformed into positive action. Not only are we faced with our old national issues which I will outline shortly, but also with major issues and problems which affect the world at large including climate change and sea level rise, disposal of hazardous wastes and management of transnational resources such as migratory commercial free species. To paraphrase the words of the United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director on World Environment Day this year, he said "No nation, no matter how powerful can isolate itself from global environmental issues." We, Mr. Speaker, as a nation of scattered islands within 1.3 million square miles of ocean, need to pay particular attention to both external issues and our own existing and emerging environmental concerns. In preparing myself to undertake the responsibilities of this portfolio, I have reviewed our recent historical approach to the environment, particularly in terms of policy. I have discovered that, in fact, national commitment to handling environmental issues in a positive manner go back a long way at least on paper. It is interesting that more than 20 years ago, Development Plan 6 had some pertinent observations on a number of national resource issues, for example on Agriculture. The Plan states that "it is in the national interest that arrangements for the use and occupation of the limited agricultural lands of Fiji be designed to preserve and develop their productivity, to guard against erosion and to encourage working them in such a manner that productivity increases rather than falls." Under Forestry, the Plan quotes "to protect and develop natural vegetation where its retention is necessary for climatic reasons, for the conservation of resources of soil and water necessary for good agriculture, and to ensure adequate and continuous supply of forest projects." With Tourism becoming an important industry the amenities provided by forest and trees should be developed as a tourist attraction as well as catering for the local population. Under Fisheries, the Plan states that marine pollution is becoming a serious problem and one of the increasing concerns is with regard to its effect on fisheries resources. It is intended to study the effects of pollutants discharged from ships, the disposal of noxious chemicals, sewage, rubbish and other urban industrial wastes. It is indeed a pity ,Mr. Speaker, that we did not take heed of our own advice 20 years ago. Perhaps some of the problems that we are now facing could have been averted or at least minimised. While I do not want to dwell upon the past, there is an important lesson to be learnt; words whether spoken or written come cheap. The challenge is to effectively deal with identified issues in an active and practical manner. That, as Minister of State for the Environment, is exactly what I intend to do. In my position, I had inherited a function of Government, which as I have pointed out received our attention in the form of policy commitment for some time. However, at the level of practical implementation, Government input has been minimum, although establishment of an administrative function of Environmental Management Unit was approved in 1982. It was not established until 1989. Even now, three years' later, the Unit is staffed by only two professionals, only one is a local. With such limited resources this Unit has faced an almost impossible task of deaiing with the country's environmental concern. However, having said that, I do commend the initiative of the Interim Government in actually taking concrete action in not only establishing the Unit, but also in agreeing to the preparation of the National Environment Strategy for Fiji through an Asian Development Bank Technical Assistance. The strategy itself is nearing completion and will be available as a draft at the end of a month. However, an important phase of the project assessment of the state of the national environment has already been completed and published. Some of you may have already received a copy of this informative report. For those who may not, I have copies to distribute to Members. I urge you all to read this valuable document and to take heed of its clear message. In many areas, we have reason to be very concerned about the way we are using and abusing our environmental resources. Some of you may ask, why should we be concerned? I refer you to the concluding word of the honourable Ratu Ovini Bokini in his forward to the report. I quote - "It is time that we remember that our environmental resources are not commodities to be used and disposed of as we please. They have been passed on to us in trust to be managed wisely and conservatively, so that we in turn can pass their benefits on to future generations. That we should do this is both a responsibility and an obligation." It is clear Mr. Speaker, that while Fiji is a fortunate country in terms of its natural resources, climate and slow population growth rate, relative to many other countries of the world, particularly the smaller Pacific Island countries. There are some major issues which need to be addressed, if we are to develop on a sustainable basis. Let me be specific on some critical issues. Fiji's population in 1986 had a modest density of 39.1 persons per square kilometre, but this average figure conceals extenuated densities of 170 persons per square kilometre of arable land - one of our most important resources. Furthermore, our urban population is increasing and in the next twenty years if the trend continues, we may be faced with the change from a predominantly rural residential iifestyle to an urban one. This has profound implications for the social and physical environment as increasing demands will be placed on such factors as the availability of land for housing, drinking water, waste disposal and provision of food resources; especially agricultural production. Mr. Speaker, we are already facing some of these problems. We are already subject from time to time to the natural disasters of hurricanes, floods, landslides and earthquakes. The predicted sea levels rise associated with global warming, even at minimum level and it would have profound consequences for Fiji's coastal zone where most of our urban centres, agricultural and industrial developments are concentrated. The land area of Fiji is about 18,300 square kilometres. Of these, only about 3,500 square kilometre or 19 per cent is prime arable land. A further 11 per cent is capable of being productive with minor improvements. However, nearly 70 per cent of our land area requires either intensive land management or is unsuitable for use. Virtually all of our first class arable land has already been used and there are disturbing signs of increasing agricultural production, if I can call it, like that on marginal hill areas and steep land. Some agricultural perches, such as steep land sugarcane and ginger production are not sustainable - dramatically increased natural erosion rates are already high and are responsible for appreciable areas of land going out of production annually. These result in loss of top soil and sedimentation of rivers and stream's. A recent report has estimated that total sale loss from ginger growing areas in the Rewa catchment could be up to 207,000 tons per year; from only 0.2 per cent of the total area of the catchment and 3.4 per cent of the area of commercial agricultural land. Not only are we losing the valuable top soil, Mr. Speaker, but we pay dearly every year for the off-sight impacts of poor agricultural and other landuse practices in our catchments; practices which add considerably to already high rates of sedimentation in our rivers. Between 1986 and 1991, the Government spent $16 million on river dredging. The question must be asked: has the dredging been effective and could it be avoided or reduced by better land practices in our catchments. Since the mid 1960s, an estimated 31 to 16 per cent of the nation's forest have been converted to non-forest land use.

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