Countries - forest facts by country

Forests and the forestry sector

Resources
Logging exhausted nearly all of the available and accessible forest of Tonga some years ago. Only about 4 000 ha of the natural hardwood forest remain, mainly on uninhabited islands, in very steep or inaccessible areas, in coastal littoral areas and swamps and in mangrove areas. Most of the remaining natural forest is on ¿Eua Island in the one national park, ¿Eua National Park, which comprises about 450 ha. Watershed management areas have also been established on ¿Eua, and 1 000 ha on Ha¿apai island is managed as a conservation area by the Land and Environment Planning Unit of the Ministry of Lands, Survey and Natural Resources.

Forest types include mangrove and coastal swamps, coastal and littoral forests, tropical lowland and upland rain forests (especially on ¿Eua), and tropical lowland and secondary disturbed forests. Secondary forest, now the dominant forest type in Tonga, is a mixture of many native and introduced plant species, an artefact of land clearing.

Products and trade
Tonga¿s major timber resource is currently coconut palms, which produce around 1 500 m3 per annum, or about 80 percent of Tonga¿s sawn timber production. The area of coconuts has decreased but is still substantial. Most of the production comes from the government-owned Mataliku Sawmilling Centre. The remainder is produced by small portable sawmills.

Tonga is moving to establish a commercially viable pine plantation estate adequate to meet sustainably 80 percent of the country¿s sawn timber needs. The country¿s timber consumption is about 8 000 to 10 000 m3 per year. There are currently about 1 000 ha of forest plantations, mostly pine. Annual planting is targeted at between 80 and 120 ha per annum, to yield an estate of around 2 000 ha by 2010. Tonga will continue to import its requirements for other wood and paper products.

Agroforestry is important. The country¿s traditional farming system consists of food crops (predominantly coconut) cultivated under a canopy of trees. The government promotes tree planting for timber and fuelwood, planting of improved varieties of nitrogen-fixing and fruit-tree species, coconut rehabilitation. Eucalyptus saligna has been the most popular agroforestry species in recent years.

Fuelwood collected from large hardwood trees remains the main source of energy in Tonga, but natural hardwood forests supply an ever-decreasing part of domestic fuel requirements and future fuelwood shortages are a concern.

Key issues
The principle forestry concerns in Tonga relate to deforestation and forest degradation - and an associated need to conserve much of the remaining forest land in the face of continuing demands for consumption. Most areas of lowland forest have been cleared, and this raises concerns over loss of biodiversity, as well as increased incidence of soil erosion and the spread of anthropogenic grasslands. Coastal erosion is also a significant problem in some areas, particularly on Tongatapu.

The Government of Tonga is concerned about the continued loss of trees and forest cover to agricultural land. The increase in commercial farming of short-term crops replacing traditional agricultural practices is the main cause of forest loss on private lands. Bush fallow, which often averaged 10 to 20 years in the 1960s, now averages 1 to 2 years. Local fruit, food, medicinal and timber trees that were normally found in abundance in many bush allotments are now becoming rare or are completely gone.

Some Tongan islands are vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and sea level rise. Tropical cyclones frequently cause widespread damage to trees and woodlots.

Last updated: September 2002