Fiji forests saved

Forest and Bird, Issue 266, 1 November 1992, Page 7

Fiji forests saved

Ian Close

FORMER FOREST and Bird conservation officer, Sean Weaver, has been instrumental in saving an extensive forested region in Fiji from logging. Sean was a major player in a joint Forest and Bird and Maruia survey of Fiji’s rainforests in 1988. As part of the survey a number of areas were proposed as reserves, including the forested Vunivia catchment on the north-eastern tip of the island of Vanua Levu (see Forest & Bird May 1989). A survey putting forward reserve proposals is, however, only a beginning. Unique ecosystems are rarely protected with a mere stroke of a pen. The proposals must be developed and pushed through the planning process, and conflicts concerning resource allocation and land use need to be resolved. Sean has continued to regularly visit Fiji in the ensuing years, working as an environmental consultant and doing research for his PhD. The conservation of the Vunivia catchment seemed fraught with difficulties. The Australian-owned Fiji Forests Industries Ltd (FFI) held a timber concession over the entire catchment and logging had already started. Gaining the protection of these forests, or at least advancing the reserve proposal enough to get the logging stopped, required some intense lobbying on many different fronts. Firstly, Sean approached the landowners. Negotiating was not easy. The mataqali (clan) that owns most of the catchment is fragmented socially and geographically and the traditional social and political organisation had largely broken down. Finding consensus among the landowners required visiting almost every household spread throughout some 14 settlements in the area. An added complication was that the official chief had effectively abdicated and moved out of the area without leaving a successor. So, amid a

swirling leadership battle the landowners also had to deal with a major land-use issue raised by a foreigner. As FFI’s contractors were actively logging part of the catchment, Sean had to urgently approach the company and attempt to gain their commitment to pull out of the area. The Department of Forestry also needed to be convinced that the area was worth leaving alone in terms of large scale forestry, and sensitive enough to deserve the attention that it was gaining. The Native Land Trust Board had to be consulted as it controlled the administration of leases and licences for developments on native lands and also benefited from logging through a levy collected from landowners on timber royalties and leases. Finally Sean had to convince the Fiji government’s Environment Unit that the area was special enough to warrant spending any of its energy and resources on the planning

aspects of implementing a reserve. A tall order perhaps, but not insurmountable. Each party has now agreed that the unique forests of Vunivia should indeed remain standing. The logging machinery finally fell quiet in May. What now remains is the implementation of protected status for the forests and the establishment of development assistance for the landowners in lieu of their timber royalties. Footnote: Another area proposed as a reserve in the 1988 survey, the Wabu Creek forest (see Forest & Bird February 1992), was gazetted as a nature reserve by the Fiji government in May.