FAO Forestry country profiles - forest management

Issues and concerns

Since the early 1960s, population growth and an expanding economy have worked together to intensify resource exploitation. Resulting settlement and cultivation in upland areas have been the major causes of forest degradation. Comparisons of aerial photographs show the area of undisturbed forests on Pohnpei have decreased from 42 percent of total land area in 1976 to 15 percent in 1995. Relatively undisturbed rainforests still exist at high elevations on Kosrae and Pohnpei. Parts of Yap, however, have been extensively deforested. Resources for forestry management activities within responsible agencies are generally lacking and forest management is a relatively low national priority. Furthermore, there is little dialogue between states, forest managers and local landowners. At the local level, municipalities do not have the capability to meet responsibilities with respect to mangrove forest management. Consequently, exploitation of forests on public lands and mangrove swamps is largely uncontrolled. A Micronesian State of the Environment Report identifies leading constraints to environmentally sustainable development as revolving around a lack of infrastructure, skilled persons, institutional capacity and planning capabilities.