A total of 16,713 hectares of mahogany plantation across seven woodlots in Vanua Levu is being surveyed as the Government works to unlock the commercial value of the resource and enable landowning units to benefit from future harvesting.
Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources Filimoni Vosarogo told Parliament the survey was a critical step towards registering leases that would allow Fiji Hardwood Corporation to legally harvest the mahogany plantations.
He said the seven woodlots were located in Navonu, Saqani, Seaqaqa, Dreketi, Korotari and Wainunu, with the plantation area estimated to contain about 2.5 million cubic metres of standing mahogany logs.
“The survey is the key that unlocks the value of what we are talking about,” he said.
The minister said the Government had allocated $510,000 for the survey program, with surveyors from the iTaukei Lands and Fisheries Commission and the Ministry’s Land Survey Department currently working on the Korotari woodlot before moving to the remaining six.
The survey process involves confirming customary land ownership, physically demarcating plantation boundaries, calculating and mapping the acreage, and preparing the information required for lease registration.
Mr Vosarogo said the plantations had so far generated no dividends, leases or direct financial returns for landowners because the necessary surveys and leases had not been completed.
However, the program faces significant operational challenges. Surveyors must work through difficult terrain and weather conditions, while disputes between landowning units can delay boundary demarcation.
Mr Vosarogo said survey teams had at times been forced to leave forest areas because of disputes, requiring further village visits, reconciliation and consultation with landowning units.
The minister estimated that completing the remaining surveys could take a couple of years, although he said he would provide Parliament with more precise estimates.
He also disclosed that overplanting had expanded the mahogany footprint from the recorded 16,000-plus hectares to an estimated 25,000 hectares, creating further issues to be negotiated with landowners during lease preparation.
