PGR News from the Pacific

Posted 7:40 PM by Luigi

New Forest Inventory in Fiji

Ministry of Information and Communications Press Release, Wednesday 19th July, 2006

The Ministry of Fisheries and Forests is undertaking a new forest inventory to update the status of the native forest resources in the country.

The Minister for Fisheries and Forests, Ilaitia Tuisese said about $1 million will be spent on the National Forest Inventory project which will be completed in 2007. The inventory will provide the updated statistics of our forest distributions, densities and compositions and forest cover maps and will prevent exploitation, he said.

"There is an urgent need to get an updated knowledge and understanding of what is left in Fiji's remaining forest areas to enable better development planning." The last forest inventory was undertaken in 1991.

Mr Tuisese also said future policy decisions on our forest management and planning will be based from the output of the inventory. “A low profile Forest Certification program is also being undertaken to set up Certification Standards of forest products to access high niche markets in developed countries,” he said.

More and more international consumers demand that forest products (timbers, plywood, furniture) must come from a certified sustainable managed forest. If Fiji is to continue trading its timber products in international markets then the country must comply with the requirements of forest certifications.

Work of the Forest Certification project has been on going in Fiji for the past two years, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done and involves the following :

establishing a Fiji standard
getting accreditation for the standards
getting the market to recognize Fiji products

This work will mainly involve a lot of awareness, meetings, training, workshops and publications to ensure Fiji does not lose out in this transitional process.



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This weblog documents the activities of Pacific Agricultural Genetic Resources Network (PAPGREN), along with other information on plant genetic resources (PGR) in the Pacific. The myriad varieties found within cultivated plants are fundamental to the present and future productivity of agriculture. PAPGREN, which is coordinated by the Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), helps Pacific countries and territories to conserve their crop genetic diversity sustainably, with technical assistance from the Bioversity International (BI) and support from NZAID and ACIAR. SPC also hosts the Centre of Pacific Crops and Trees (CEPaCT). The CEPaCT maintains regional in vitro collections of crops important to the Pacific and carries out research on tissue culture technology. The CEPaCT Adviser is Dr Mary Taylor (MaryT@spc.int), the CEPaCT Curator is Ms Valerie Tuia (ValerieT@spc.int). 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Box 77 Nausori Fiji Islands Tel: (679) 3477044 Fax: (679) 3477546-400262 Email: apisainu@yahoo.com Dr Maurice Wong Service du Developpement Rural B.P. 100 Papeete Tahiti 98713 French Polynesia Tel: (689) 42 81 44 Fax: (689) 42 08 31 Email: maurice.wong@rural.gov.pf Mr Tianeti Beenna Ioane Head, Research Section Division of Agriculture Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development P.O. Box 267 Tarawa Kiribati Tel: (686) 28096-28108-28080 Fax: (686) 28121 Email : agriculture@tskl.net.ki; Beenna_ti@yahoo.com Mr Frederick Muller Secretary Ministry of Resources & Development P.O. Box 1727 Majuro 96960 Marshall Islands Tel: (692) 6253206 Fax: (692) 6257471 Email: rndsec@ntamar.net Mr Herman Francisco Director Bureau of Agriculture Ministry of Resources & Development P.O. Box 460 Koror 96940 Palau Tel: (680) 4881517 Fax: (680) 4881725 Email: bnrd@pnccwg.palaunet.com Ms Rosa Kambuou Principal Scientist PGR NARI Dry Lowlands Programme Laloki Agricultural Research Station P.O. 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DIVA-GIS	Tuesday, July 18, 2006 Posted 7:40 PM by Luigi New Forest Inventory in Fiji Ministry of Information and Communications Press Release, Wednesday 19th July, 2006 The Ministry of Fisheries and Forests is undertaking a new forest inventory to update the status of the native forest resources in the country. The Minister for Fisheries and Forests, Ilaitia Tuisese said about $1 million will be spent on the National Forest Inventory project which will be completed in 2007. The inventory will provide the updated statistics of our forest distributions, densities and compositions and forest cover maps and will prevent exploitation, he said. "There is an urgent need to get an updated knowledge and understanding of what is left in Fiji's remaining forest areas to enable better development planning." The last forest inventory was undertaken in 1991. Mr Tuisese also said future policy decisions on our forest management and planning will be based from the output of the inventory. “A low profile Forest Certification program is also being undertaken to set up Certification Standards of forest products to access high niche markets in developed countries,” he said. More and more international consumers demand that forest products (timbers, plywood, furniture) must come from a certified sustainable managed forest. If Fiji is to continue trading its timber products in international markets then the country must comply with the requirements of forest certifications. Work of the Forest Certification project has been on going in Fiji for the past two years, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done and involves the following : establishing a Fiji standard getting accreditation for the standards getting the market to recognize Fiji products This work will mainly involve a lot of awareness, meetings, training, workshops and publications to ensure Fiji does not lose out in this transitional process. * Comments: Post a Comment	Archive October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 January 2010 RSS Feed Alternative feed Contact Tevita Something new: Agrobiodiversity Weblog: For discussions of conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources of crops, livestock and their wild relatives. 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