FAO Forestry country profiles - forest management

Objectives

The objectives of the National Forest Policy are integrated with the overall thrust of a National Environmental Management Strategy, which was established to achieve sustainable forest management on Niue. NFP objectives include:

Indigenous forest:

• promote sustainable use of indigenous forests and assist land owners to manage the forest resource to provide economic growth and sustainable development;
• preserve ecological and non-timber resources that are part of forest ecosystems;

Forest conservation and protection:

• support customary and community based conservation practices including tapu or fono areas;
• increase community education and efforts to conserve biodiversity;

Land use and forest interaction:

• promote integrated land use to reduce the need for use of high canopy forest, optimise agricultural returns and improve soil capacity;

Timber-based and forest industry:

• promote the development of a local timber harvesting and saw milling industry within the forest¿s productive capacity, based on appropriate technologies and sustainable use of resources;

Plantation forestry:

• promote forest plantations under customary and private ownership emphasising indigenous species, agroforestry and associated benefits;
• continue the development of reforestation on appropriate sites (including degraded sites);

Forest research and agroforestry:

• develop a forest research programme to focus on data collection of promising species and agroforestry developments;

Forest administration and legislation:

• establish an effective legal, administrative and capacity building mechanism for the sustainable management of Niue¿s forest resources.