The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan values the benefit of forests to the Country at 973 million dollars.
However the biggest threat is logging.
70 percent of trees in the country are cut down for timber for commercial purposes.
Fiji recognises the importance of a Sustainable Forest Management System.
Eliki Senivasa-Acting Conservator of Forests said once adopted the cubic volume harvested will be reduced
“What we want to enforce in the future is what we call the sustainable forest management regime which means that loggers can go into the forest but they will only remove 30% of the standing volume now the current practice they go into the forest they remove over 70% of the volume”
Logging though continues to remain the main cause of degradation
“For degradation its logging unsustainable logging.We are just degrading we are creaming,that’s where logging comes taking out some trees and left the remnants its becomes degraded in a sense the loss of biodiversity for example,that is why it is much more that we have a lot of degraded forest land”
With Fiji covered by over 1 million 47 hectares of forest it is important to address degradation
“The code of practice ensures that it is environmentally safe it is also not risky to the people,OHS level and its also sustainable the way you put your road and all these things but it may not address the degradation”
Meanwhile the forestry sector contributed $6.4 million to GDP in 2011.