History

Forest management and silviculture

Prior to European discovery in 1798, Nauru was a clan-based, predominantly Polynesian society, though also retaining Melanesian and Micronesian influences. Forest management comprised traditional subsistence slash-and-burn agriculture, probably with typical South Pacific agroforestry elements.

The defining feature of Nauru¿s recent history is phosphate mining. The island comprises a fertile band, several hundred metres wide, surrounding an ancient coral reef, which rises as a 60 metre cliff inland to form a plateau in the centre of the island. The plateau contains phosphate deposits and strip-mining of these commenced in 1907. Vegetation on the upland plateau has been stripped, and the mining has left a barren ¿moonscape¿ of limestone pinnacles covering four-fifths of the country¿s land area. Hot air builds above this bare limestone, dispersing cloud cover and reducing rainfall. Over the years, drought has hit the island, retarding forest and vegetation growth in the lowland area. In 1993, Nauru was granted compensation by Australia, New Zealand and Britain for environmental damage incurred through mining. Nauru intends to use these funds to rehabilitate the island. It will most likely comprise some levelling of the plateau and restoration of former forest cover.

last updated: Tuesday, November 24, 2009