BY SAMIE WAIKORI
MALAITA has registered waning logging activity across the province in the first quarter of 2024. It is a positive sign and evidence that the provincial forestry ordinance is at play.
The forestry ordinance was engineered by the Suidani-led MARA government aimed at incurring high fees for operations, as a way to stop logging operations in the province.
According to the provincial forestry office in Auki, only eight logging companies are operating in the province. Focus of operations are Are Are and Small Malaita regions as well as few in West Kwaio.
Compare the current number of operations to the previous years, this is the first time Malaita province to register a lowest number of logging operation in the past 3 or 4 decades.
Malaita province at one time in the recent past registered a staggering 21 active logging operations in the province just in a single year.
The lowest Malaita could reach per annum so far is 10, and now with 8, it’s a sign that resource owners begin to realize the importance of their resources.
The forestry office in Auki revealed the information to this paper, however a dull forecast is looming for the province as more applications logging operations are pending.
“At the moment we are number of pending applications that if granted, it will surge number of operations for the province in the next couple of months.
“The current operation, although at 8, it doesn’t mean there is no potential operation. It is, but the number of operations expect for the province from now on will not that high as the past years.
“This is due to shortage of forest stock currently experience in the province as a result of over exploitation of forest resources by logging industry in the past years.”
The forestry office furthered that the focus of logging activities in Malaita province for the past years were; West Kwaio, Are Are, Small Malaita and Fataleka and West Kwara’ae.
These are the only regions in the province still have forest stock, but continue operation in these areas has reduced the stock to only few remaining.
In an attempt to curb the industry in the province, Malaita provincial government recently passed an ordinance to minimize logging operation and encourage forest resource management.
