China and the Rape of Solomon Islands Forests

Click on this site (not the photo) to see a most incredibly damning video.

Do not click here. pn143

■ The Solomon Islands is China’s second-biggest source of tropical logs (after Papua New Guinea), despite the fact that the Solomon Islands are only twice as big as Beijing. 

■ The Solomon Islands exported more than 3 million cubic metres of logs in 2017, more than 19 times a conservative estimate of the annual sustainable harvest. 

■ A recent report commissioned by the Solomon Islands’ Ministry of Finance suggested that if logging activities continue at their current pace, natural forests will be exhausted by 2036.

■ Our new satellite imagery analysis shows that logging roads in the Solomon Islands are twice as long as the Yangtze River. In other words, logging roads in the Solomon Islands would take you from Shanghai to Tibet and back again, despite the fact that the Solomon Islands are 338 times smaller than China. 

■ China imports 82% of the logs the Solomon Islands exports. 

■ About half of China’s tropical log imports come from the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea 

■ The risks of illegal logging in the Solomon Islands are high enough that importers of uncertified Solomon Islands timber in the US and EU are unlikely to be able to meet their legal requirements without extensive site visits. 

Very few US or EU companies import timber direct from the Solomon Islands, but it is likely that companies importing timber from processing countries – principally China – may be importing Solomon Islands timber. 

■ More than half of lowland Solomon Islands is within 1 km of a logging road. 

■ One in every 20 km of logging road in the Solomon Islands is above 400 m in altitude, despite the fact that the Forest Act attempts to restrict logging in these areas by requiring companies to apply for special permission to log there. 

■ In 2017, the China Chemical Fibre Company and Jiangsu Modern Logistics each imported more than four times the amount of timber than the Solomon Islands can sustainably harvest.
                                                                    ***

If China is a true friend of Pacific Islands Nations, the question is what is the Chinese Government prepared to do to limit this despoilment?