Press Release Detail

As the Ministry of Forestry discussed its achievements and gauged the performance levels of each division during its First Quarter Review, Acting Permanent Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry, Sanjana Lal urged her staff as the Ministry heads into 2025, to make improvements and strengthen partnerships for the benefit of our forests and the people of Fiji.

Senior officers from around the country presented on the progress of their work and the challenges that they faced during the quarter.

The Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, Honorable Alitia Bainivalu was also present at the First Quarter Review which was held at the Yue Lai Hotel in Suva.

Meanwhile, Ms Lal while officiating at the opening of the two-day First Quarter Review, highlighted some of the achievements of the Ministry in the past year:

·        Fiji’s national tree-planting programme, now entering its sixth year; with excellent progress been made against Fiji’s target of 30 million trees planted over 15 years. With all your support, our partners, we have now over 19 million trees and mangroves planted on the ground, covering a total area of more than 16,500 hectares.

·        Our Forest and Landscape Restoration initiatives, with financial and technical assistance from government and relevant donor agencies such as UN FAO, are addressing and contributing to Fiji’s Emission Reduction Programme, will continue to strength Fiji’s ecosystems.

·        Our REDD+ project has made significant progress on National Forest Inventory reporting, as well as developing REDD+ sites, further securing more forest carbon stock.

·        A prominent focus for the Ministry will be continued support to Maritime communities through the Maritime Pine Capital Projects, with assistance ranging from subsidizing barging costs of logs to the continuation of Tropical Cyclone Harold Rehabilitation across several islands. The opening of the jetty in Muani, Kadavu shows the positive impacts of the work that the Ministry undertakes.

·        The most recent statistics show that forestry related exports totaled nearly $100 million while the economic contribution of the Forestry sector now stands at approximately $140 million including related industries.