Significant Challenges Still Exist and need to be Addressed: Seruiratu
The following is the address by the Acting Prime Minister and Acting Minister for Forestry Inia Seruiratu at the Fiji Forest Sector Outlook Study Consultation Workshop on November 5 at the Holiday Inn, Suva.
The COVID-19 pandemic had also played a part in restricting our movements, and so we are grateful to the many Fijians who have since become fully vaccinated, which have allowed us to open our domestic borders, and very soon our international borders.
I would like to sincerely thank all of you for availing yourselves to attend this very important consultation workshop on Fiji’s Forest Sector Outlook Study.
The main purpose of the study is to gather information and examine the evolution and trends in key forestry issues mostly in the past 10 years. It is also aimed at providing an outlook scenario towards 2030 and even up to 2050, focusing on reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing the resilience of our communities and landscapes.
An important aspect of this study is that it will provide us with the information of where things are right now, compared to where we really want to be in the future. This opportunity will enable us to analyze possible future scenarios for planning purposes.
As for developments in the past 10 years, Government has produced a number of strategic documents which include the Fijian Constitution 2013, the 5 & 20-Years National Development Plan 2017-2036; the National Climate Change Policy 2018 – 2030; Fiji’s Nationally Determined Contribution 2020; the Low Emissions Development Strategy 2018-2050; the National Green Growth Framework 2014; the Ministry of Forestry’s 13-year Strategic Development Plan 2017-2030; and the recently enacted Climate Change Act, which sets Fiji apart as one of the few countries with such legislation.
All these documents, and others that impact national life, are all indications of our intentions for the future. Most of the documents reflect our commitments under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 and other international conventions. Some documents even plans and commits us up to 2050. I encourage you to draw inspiration from these documents as we contribute to the forest sector outlook study.
Our own assessment over the past 10 years reveal that significant challenges still exist and need to be addressed.
For instance, while more than 50 percent of our land mass is covered with forests – in fact the last national forest inventory in 2007 indicated that Fiji still has 61% of forest cover equivalent to 1.1 million hectares, deforestation and forest degradation is still a growing concern and poses significant challenges for the future of the forestry sector.
Conservation of biodiversity
Similarly, the conservation of biodiversity, and the provision of forest ecosystem services had started to become a priority in many of our development strategies.
As responsible and concerned stakeholders, we play a key role in our own various ways in the setting of policies, resource planning, management, training to ensure the sustainability of our forest and land resources.
Additionally, developments over the past decades show us what our business as usual looks like. Significant commitments, and massive paradigm shifts are needed to create the transformational change that will pave a new way forward that will ensure sustainability as we move into 2030 and even moreso as we move into 2050.
For this workshop, we will need to address two key questions:
- - What will forests and forestry look like in 2030 and 2050?
- - What robust actions should be taken to realize an aspirational future for forests?
- We also need to decide on the actions required to realize a sustainable future by exploring three scenarios:
- - business-as-usual
- - aspirational and
- - a future full of disruptions from elements such as frequent and intense natural disasters as a result of climate change, global pandemics, economic challenges and many other emerging issues; and provide options for robust actions that will address these challenges in forest and landscape management.
- Your expertise and contributions will be greatly valued, and appreciated.
- And this is why I am honoured to open your consultations today. I wish you well and success in your deliberations, and I look forward to hearing of the outcome.
- Thank you, Vinaka vakalevu, and Bhahoot Dhanyavaad.