ASIA-PACIFIC FORESTRY SECTOR OUTLOOK STUDY WORKING PAPER SERIES Working Paper No: APFSOS/WP/01 REGIONAL STUDY - THE SOUTH PACIFIC by Chris Brown Consultant FAO Forestry Planning and Statistics Branch Rome Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Forestry Policy and Planning Division, Rome Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok February 1997 Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study Working Paper Series No: 1 1 Regional Study - The South Pacific 2 Chris Brown The Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study is being undertaken under the auspices of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission. This report comes under Workplan Number D22. Regional Study - The South Pacific Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study Working Paper Series No: 1 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INFORMATION NOTE ON ASIA-PACIFIC FORESTRY SECTOR OUTLOOK STUDY ......................... i INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................. 1 1. COUNTRY OVERVIEWS ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 AUSTRALIA......................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 PAPUA NEW GUINEA .......................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 SOLOMON ISLANDS ............................................................................................................................................ 3 1.4 FIJI ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.5 VANUATU........................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.6 NEW CALEDONIA ............................................................................................................................................... 6 1.7 FRENCH POLYNESIA ........................................................................................................................................... 7 1.8 WESTERN SAMOA .............................................................................................................................................. 7 1.9 TONGA ............................................................................................................................................................... 8 1.10 KIRIBATI........................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.11 NAURU ............................................................................................................................................................. 9 1.12 NIUE............................................................................................................................................................... 10 1.13 COOK ISLANDS ............................................................................................................................................... 10 1.14 TOKELAU ...................................................................................................................................................... 11 1.15 TUVALU ......................................................................................................................................................... 11 1.16 NORFOLK ISLAND........................................................................................................................................... 12 1.17 PITCAIRN ISLAND ........................................................................................................................................... 12 1.18 WALLIS AND FUTUNA ISLANDS ...................................................................................................................... 12 2. CONTEXT ....................................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 ECONOMY AND ECONOMIC POLICY IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC .............................................................................. 12 2.2 POLITICAL SITUATION IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC REGION .................................................................................... 15 2.3 DEMOGRAPHIC, SOCIAL AND HUMAN CONTEXT FOR FORESTRY ...................................................................... 17 3. THE SOUTH PACIFIC FOREST RESOURCES ........................................................................................ 18 3.1 LANDUSE IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC...................................................................................................................... 18 3.2 LAND OWNERSHIP AND TENURE SYSTEMS....................................................................................................... 21 3.3 INFLUENCE OF OVERSEAS INTERESTS............................................................................................................... 22 3.4 NATURAL FOREST RESOURCES ........................................................................................................................ 24 3.5 PLANTATION FOREST RESOURCES.................................................................................................................... 27 4. FOREST INDUSTRIES IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC................................................................................... 30 4.1 FORESTRY AND LOGGING ................................................................................................................................. 30 4.2 LOG EXPORTS .................................................................................................................................................. 33 4.3 WOODCHIPS ..................................................................................................................................................... 34 4.4 SAWN TIMBER.................................................................................................................................................. 35 4.5 WOODPULP ...................................................................................................................................................... 36 4.6 PAPER AND PAPERBOARD................................................................................................................................. 37 4.7 PANEL PRODUCTS ............................................................................................................................................ 38 4.8 OTHER FORESTRY PRODUCTS .......................................................................................................................... 39 5. OTHER FORESTRY ROLES AND DIMENSIONS ................................................................................... 39 5.1 FUELWOOD AND WOOD ENERGY ..................................................................................................................... 39 5.2 AGRICULTURE AND DEFORESTATION ............................................................................................................... 41 5.3 NON-WOOD FOREST PRODUCTS ....................................................................................................................... 42 5.4 WOOD SUPPLIES FROM NON-FOREST AREAS .................................................................................................... 43 5.5 RECYCLING AND OTHER FIBRE TYPES ............................................................................................................. 43 Regional Study - The South Pacific 4 Chris Brown 6. FORESTRY POLICIES LEGISLATION AND INSTITUTIONS.............................................................. 44 6.1 FOREST POLICY AND LEGISLATION................................................................................................................... 44 6.2(a) Environmental Issues and Initiatives - Ecosystem and Biological Conservation................................... 46 6.2(b) Environmental Issues and Initiatives - Soil and Watershed Conservation............................................. 47 7. SOUTH PACIFIC IN A REGIONAL AND GLOBAL CONTEXT............................................................ 48 7.1 TRADE FLOWS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC .............................................................................................................. 48 7.2 INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL ROLES ........................................................................................................... 48 8. SOURCES ........................................................................................................................................................ 49 Regional Study - The South Pacific Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study Working Paper Series No: 1 i INFORMATION NOTE ON ASIA-PACIFIC FORESTRY SECTOR OUTLOOK STUDY At its sixteenth session held in Yangon, Myanmar, in January 1996, the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission, which has membership open to all governments in the Asia-Pacific region, decided to carry out an outlook study for forestry with horizon year 2010. The study is being coordinated by FAO through its regional office in Bangkok and its Headquarters in Rome,