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Logging ravaging the Solomon Islands’ forests
The Solomon Islands is the biggest exporter, after Papua New Guinea, of round logs to China, where they are processed and sold as tropical hardwood products around the world.
- By Louise Hunt, Honiara
- Asia Times
To sate this demand, logging companies are clearing Solomon Islands forests at nearly 20 times the sustainable rate, according to an investigation by watchdog NGO Global Witness, published last October.
The Solomon Islands’ Ministry of Finance has also suggested its commercially viable natural forest will be exhausted by 2036, according to the Global Witness report. Observers say that not only is logging stripping the…