Objectives

Tonga does not have a formal national forest policy. National forestry objectives are included in the five-year government development plan. This recognizes the need to maximize the contribution of forestry to sustainable national development. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has a rolling three-year Forestry Plan. The three priority areas for development are the implementation of an agroforestry development programme, plantation establishment (including sandalwood), and conservation and research.

In the medium to longer term, a commercially viable and sustainable plantation estate is intended to replace the use of indigenous forest for domestic wood supply and to ultimately achieve self-sufficiency. Tonga's objective is to establish 1 500-2 000 hectares of plantation forest and efforts have concentrated on the island of ¿Eua. Projections show that this plantation estate would be adequate to sustainably meet 80 percent of Tonga's sawn timber needs. One of the primary objectives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry¿s development programme is the continued development of agroforestry. This is seen as being the most effective means of promoting tree planting in a situation where land for timber plantations is limited. The government is particularly interested in promoting planting of species for timber and fuelwood, planting improved varieties of fruit trees and nitrogen-fixing trees, coconut rehabilitation and replanting, and commercial intercropping.

Environmental objectives outlined in a national environmental management strategy include reviewing the state of the environment in Tonga, determining resources needs and identifying those that are not being met. The role of parks, reserves and protected areas is to protect wildlife communities, enrich and improve production of resources, protect culturally important areas, and provide places of recreational, educational and scientific importance.

last updated: Tuesday, November 24, 2009