A KEY barrier to the adoption of sustainable forest management is the inability to provide a revenue stream for landowners, says Minister for Forestry Alitia Bainivalu.
In Parliament yesterday, Ms Bainivalu said government had been able to address this issue through the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) which allowed landowners to commit to preserving forest resources in exchange for money.
“The Ministry of Forestry has been actively advocating and promoting the sustainable forest management concept since the early 1990s but has been continuously challenged by the increasing need for land for agricultural development, infrastructure and settlement which are the main drivers for forest clearing,” she said.
“A key barrier to the adoption of sustainable forest management has been our inability to provide an income stream to landowners as an alternative to nature forest extraction and other land-based developments.
“With the emission reduction program we now have the ability to provide an alternative income stream through the monetising of established carbon stocks as an incentive for adopting good husbandry practices and is also expected to bring about the changes in the adoption of more contemporary approaches and innovations but more importantly the positive change in human behaviour towards the environment, the use of the forests and land resources.”
She said the agreement between Fiji and FCPF would open the door to an estimated $25million.
“Under the contract Fiji is to establish 37,282 hectares of forest capable of sequestering 2.5million tonnes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
“In return, FCPF will make result-based payments amounting $US12.5million ($F25m) based on an agreement term from July 2019 to December 2024 on the following reporting and verification period from July 11, 2019, to 31 December 2020, 300,000 emission reduction units, from January 1 20221 to 31 December 2022, 1 million emission reduction units. From January 1, 2023, to 31 December 2024 with 1.2million emission reduction units.”
