TL: LOGGING OF PAVUVU ISLAND SO: Greenpeace International (GP) DT: June, 1995 Keywords: forests terrec logging pavuvu south pacific / LOGGING OF PAVUVU ISLAND: A LEGACY OF COLONIAL MEDDLING, ABUSE OF INDIGENOUS LAND RIGHTS, AND GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION Russell Islands lie 45 km northwest of Guadalcanal in Central Solomon Islands. 12,427 ha Pavuvu Island is the largest of the 20 inhabited islands of the Russells group. Few people currently live on Pavuvu, as in the late 1800s and early 1900s, missionaries, traders and developers forced the indigenous people to move to outer islands. In the 1920s Levers Pacific Ltd, acquired a lease over much of the flat accessible areas on Pavuvu. Considerable areas in northern Pavuvu have been cleared of rainforest for coconut and cocoa plantations. A 1000 yard strip (recently extended to 1000 metres by the government) encircling the lower half of the island was not developed, and from the late 1980s Levers have been unable to clear the forest due to a corporate policy that prohibits clearing rainforests. Levers Solomon Island Ltd, still has a current lease over most of these areas. Starting in the 1960s and 70s the indigenous landowners of Pavuvu (known as the Lavukal) began a campaign to have the lands leased by Levers, or what is known as the `alienated lands' returned into customary control. They have been fighting ever since, with the 1990s seeing this intensified under the threat of logging by money hungry politicians and foreign companies. The main avenue to have the land returned is via legislation that covers the Alienated Lands, where a requirement is that the indigenous communities must have a viable development project for the land. The forests on this beautiful "hat" shaped island (steep mountain centre with coastal flat ground) are rich in valuable timber. An Australian aid funded forest assessment in 1992 found that Pavuvu contains more than 130,000 cubic metres of harvestable logs, worth more than SI$60 million. However, the landowners have ideas other than logging. They have developed their own resettlement scheme that involved establishing a landowner company Lavukal Resources Development Ltd, and included small- scale ecoforestry and ecotourism. The 1994 Annual Report of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands highlighted that current log exports are more than three times the sustainable level. Into the picture in the early 1990s came a Malaysian logging company, Maving Brothers Ltd. The Maving Bros company directors include: Solomon Islander Robert Belo, and Malaysians Hii Kiong Mee and Hii Yew Mee. Working with corrupt politicians, they have secured a licence to log the alienated lands to pave the way for a proposed government "development" and resettlement scheme. They tried to start operations in 1992 but backed off after landowners threatened to burn their machinery. They have returned in 1995 with the support of the recently returned Mamaloni government, and the government paramilitary defence force. The landowners requested help from NGOs and others in 1992. Since then NGOs have been working with the landowners to help them have their customary land rights to Pavuvu recognised. Over the last year they have been working on a comprehensive programme to carry out ecoforestry and ecotourism in both the land already under customary ownership, and the alienated land. Twelve Russell Islanders are currently attending a six week ecoforestry training programme at Komuniboli Training Centre.