Fiji’s Ministry of Forests has planted more than 1.9million trees and mangroves in the past 15 months since the 4-million-trees-in-4-years initiative was launched last year.
Minister for Forests Osea Naiqamu told Parliament in his ministerial statement last week that those trees had been mapped and there was now a live dashboard.
“We are continuing to plant trees within the COVID-19 social distancing measures. We aim to progress in earnest in the new fiscal year,” Mr Naiqamu said.
He said the Government’s efforts to revive the forestry sector were not done in isolation.
He added the ministry had been in consultation with stakeholders to understand their challenges and help address those together.
“We will continue to build on the recovery strategies. Our consultations have, for instance, afforded the ministry an opportunity to enhance its facilitation processes without compromising standards that will ensure the sustainable management of our forest resources.
“At the same time, the ministry is continuing Fiji’s tree-planting initiative.”