FAO Forestry country profiles - forest management

Issues and concerns

Environmental issues on Nauru are overwhelmingly dominated by the need and desire to rehabilite the phosphate strip mine. The general objective of the rehabilitation program is to remove the pinnacles, re-contour the land and render the land useable and fit for habitation. Secondary benefits will be the elimination of the 'oven' effect, revegetation and the return of birdlife. While the techniques utilized are still to be decided, it is obvious that they will encompass a huge earthworks operation, and expected to take 20 years. Reforestation will comprise a significant component of the secondary rehabilitation phase. Nauru¿s other significant environmental concern relates to global warming and the threat of lowland denudation. Nauru has a consequential interest in the role of forests in mitigating climate change.