Countries

Forests and the forestry sector

Resources
About 45 percent (815 000 ha) of Fiji¿s land area is forested. The wet eastern sides of the islands support tropical rain forest while the drier western portions support a higher proportion of grass and savannah lands. Most of the commercial forests, including the plantation forests, are located on the dry western sides of the main islands. Fiji has had the most aggressive plantation establishment policy of any of the Pacific Islands. The main softwood plantation species grown is Caribbean pine (Pinus caribaea); the main hardwood species are mahogany and teak. Much of Fiji¿s natural forest is primarily used as watershed protection and de-facto preserved, despite the absence of legally protected status. A small area of Fijian forest is in formal protection reserves. The majority of Fiji¿s natural forests are under communal ownership. The plantations are operated by State entities.

Products
Fiji is self sufficient in solid wood products but imports its paper products. Fiji¿s most important forestry export is plantation-grown woodchips.

As regards other timber-related resources, Fiji has extensive coconut palm plantations and more than 30 years of experience in processing and utilizing coconut palm wood from overaged palms. Fiji is one of the only countries with a viable private enterprise that exports furniture and utility items made of coconut palm wood.

Problems
The forest sector in Fiji, as in many small island developing States (SIDS), faces the problems of:

limited land area and natural resources;
• vulnerability to environmental disasters such as cyclones and hurricanes;
• species endemism but low occurrence of individual species, leading to high risk of loss of biological diversity;
• high human population density, usually concentrated in lowland areas, which increases pressure on already limited resources;
• economic constraints due to the relatively small scale;
• institutional constraints (including high levels of migration, particularly of skilled human resources).

Last updated: June 2004