02/08/2018 The 2017 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23) highlighted climate change-related challenges small-island developing state face on a daily basis. The Solomon Islands, a double chain of islands located in the southwest Pacific, is not a stranger to such challenges. Exposure to natural hazards influences greatly the country’s ability to reach Suitable Development Goals (SDGs) and be resistant and prepared for an always-greater susceptibility to climate change. As is widely known, forests can significantly mitigate natural disasters at the same fighting climate change with its carbon sequestration potential. Recognizing forests’ potential, the Solomon Islands has embarked on a challenging journey of protecting and managing its forests sustainably with the support of the UN-REDD Programme.  A great majority of the Solomon Islands is covered with forests, of which more than half is classified as primary forest. Forests are not only food security and livelihoods of coastal communities in the Solomon Islands, but they also represent an important safety net for possible natural disasters that are not that rare on the islands. Forests can limit earthquake damage, mitigate floods, prevent and rehabilitate landslides. The country’s 34 000 ha of mangroves are also essential in providing coastal protection against the actions of waves, wind and water currents. While the country’s deforestation rates are relatively low at less than 1% per year, forest degradation is among the most severe in the region due to heavy exploitation of timber resources and continues the expansion of industrial plantations. To reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) in the country, the Solomon Islands joined the UN-REDD Programme as a partner country in 2010. Later that same year, the government received a USD 550 000 grant from the UN-REDD Programme Fund to develop a National REDD+ Action Plan.  Today, the country continues its efforts by working on the design of its National Forest Inventory (NFI) and Forest Reference (Emissions) Level (FREL/FRL), crucial steps in any REDD+ journey. To enhance knowledge on the subject, two technical workshops on “Historical Annual Forest and Land Use Change Assessment and Forest Reference Level in the Solomon Islands” were organized on 8 November 2017 and  14 March 2018 by the Ministry of Forest and Research (MoFR) of the Solomon Islands with technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and financial support from the UN-REDD Programme and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Continue reading...

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