History

Forest management and silviculture

Similarly, to most atoll countries, agroforestry has traditionally been central to the economic, cultural and ecological stability of the Marshallese society. Traditional uses of trees and plants included shade, wind protection, thatched houses, fuelwood and medicines. The Marshallese developed a significant oral tradition in conservation and forest management. During the 1870s, German companies commenced a process of clearing natural vegetation to expand coconut plantations for the production of copra. This process continued through the 1920s, during which period the Marshall Islands were under Japanese colonial control. In 1947, the Marshall Islands became part of the United States Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which provided limited forestry administration and management until independence in 1986.

Distribution of vegetation is determined by moisture availability and salt spray exposure, and is affected by occasional severe hurricanes, several thousand years of human occupation. More recently, World War II activities, nuclear testing and conversion of land to coconut plantations, resulting in a highly altered landscape have drastically affected the flora of the Marshall Islands. Vegetation on almost all the Marshall Islands has been extensively modified and there are now very limited timber resources. Woody vegetation communities are restricted to mixed broadleaf forests and a variety of mono-dominant tree and scrub communities. Most atolls have coconut and breadfruit plantations.

last updated: Tuesday, November 24, 2009