PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

By Moffat Mamu

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (Solomon Star, Feb. 23) - Many of us in Solomon Islands often dream of achieving something in life.

Some dream of owning property, running a business or even to become an important person in the country,- such as Prime Minister.

Dreaming is easy but achieving it is hard at times because, for that dream to come true, one must work hard with sheer commitment and dedication.

And this was what 45-year-old Rumales Paoni of Buroku on Vangunu Island, Marovo Lagoon, did to see his dream come true last Friday.

[PIR editor’s note: Marovo Lagoon is located in Solomon Islands’ Western Province, which is northwest of Guadalcanal Province where the national capital of Honiara is situated.]

For years, since logging destroyed his village coastline, Rumales had been dreaming of transforming his coastline into a mangrove forest.

Transforming his village’s coastline into a mangrove forest is not an easy task but whether it will be easy or hard, that is Rumales’ dream and he wanted it to happen.

Buroku is a small community situated on the main land off Vangunu just next to Telina Island if you have been to the lagoons.

I was part of the team that visited the community last week to witness the launching of Rumales’s dream - a mangrove replanting pilot project for Buroku coastline. The idea to replant mangroves along the coastline came about after the area was damaged and left bare due to clear sweep unsustainable logging.

It took only about two years for the Bulakan Company to take most of the forest.

Rumales realized the negative impact of logging in the area and therefore sought assistance from the International Waters Program Solomon Islands to help out in the project through the provision of technical assistance.

The program conducted by the International Waters Program Solomon Islands is part of the coastal resource management activities being executed on behalf of Global Environment Facilities and the South Pacific Regional Environment Program.

Fourteen Pacific island countries have undergone similar programs but in Solomon Islands the International Waters Program Solomon Islands is concentrating on the coastal marine resources because of the unsustainable harvesting the country is currently experiencing.

In Rumales’ case, the request for assistance was a welcoming one for the International Waters Program Solomon Islands to assist this community replicate and rehabilitate their coastal marine resource and its eco-system in relation with the mangroves.

I saw the impact of the large scale logging in the area and the destruction was drastic because gone were the lovely forests and the cool flowing streams. The area, which had been once a bird watch zone hosting some of the unique species, is now gone and within just a matter of two years.

The once lovely coastline had been turned into log ponds where all the round logs were fetched and then loaded into barges for shipment overseas.

Rumales said the harvesting was swift and within two years the company was off the land – leaving behind infertile land.

Coastline and land site suitable for gardening had been vulnerable to erosion.

Because of that, Rumales began to realize the impact that logging had done to his land.

Rumales had been the former President of the Marovo Eco-tourism board and had been involved in running an eco-tourism business for 15 years, offering 10 attractions to the tourists in his area.

Most of the attractions, such as bird watching and so on, are natural ones that tourists came from afar to watch. And he earned money.

He had done a good job with his eco-tourism until logging came in.

He said the loggers were very good at offering big money to the people. He said they don’t comply with all the agreements set out by the landowners and run away after they harvest most of the big trees.

He said the approval of the operation was done without proper channel because the company came with legal documents – showing them to the landowners as proof that they have the right to operate in the area.

"But the land has no timber rights," Rumales said.

He added that it was very surprising to find out how such an approval was made. But he said there was nothing the landowners could do about it.

So the operation went ahead.

His eco-tourism operation also ended.

He told Toktaem that he had operated a seven-bedroom rest house for tourists who wanted to experience a real sense of natural surrounding.

He earned a lot of money that way.

However, with the arrival of logging, things changed for him and his community.

He said though logging offered some big bucks, the company got away in just a short amount of time.

In turn he lost his lovely mangrove forest.

Rumales said he used to catch fish before by fishing in front of his house because it was abundant.

Today it is hard for him and his family to catch fish.

The beautiful coastline has turned into a dirty shoreline from sediments being washed from land through erosion.

Mangroves that protected the village from strong winds and huge waves are no longer there anymore.

This is how Rumales came to realize the bad impact of logging and the importance of mangroves.

"I’m an anti-logging guy, I was against logging the whole time but because we don’t know how the company got their approval we cannot do anything to stop them because they claim to have the rights to operate. But now I’m a changed man who wants to see change to my area," he stated.

The father of five children wanted to see his children enjoy a place where they have easy access to fish and lovely corals and coastline.

Another idea is to resurrect his eco-tourism industry in the area by attracting tourists who want to see one of the first projects in the lagoon and the country where mangroves are replanted.

There are big plans laid out by Rumales on his proposed eco-tourism plan, which is part of his long-term dream.

Rumales stated that though he is getting old, he wants to help his children enjoy the beautiful coastline and at the same time have something to support them in the future.

The replanting of mangrove in his area has been a dream for him since logging stopped, and with the assistance of International Waters Project, he is happy that the road to achieving his goals has started.

Rumales said though it would take years for the mangroves to grow, "it is good to help rehabilitate the area and save it from being lost through erosion".

His work should be an example to other communities that are being ripped off by logging, officials who attended the launching of the project stated individually.

Mangroves play an important part in the eco-system and the livelihood of human beings.

For humans, it provides timber for shelter, firewood and food. To the eco-system, it provides a place for fish and crabs to rest and also a barrier to protect homes from erosion, strong winds and huge waves.

Rumales has paved an example, which other communities can follow because if people continue to over harvest the mangroves – cutting it down for firewood and house building – all mangroves will be gone in time.

Sustainable harvesting by communities is important today for the future generations.

What Rumales has done has been recognized because of his concern for the future of his area.

While it may take time for Rumales to have his coastline covered with mangroves again, he has realized his dream is very important, and a case study for other communities to follow.

"At least in the near future, I will have the right to stop people from cutting the mangroves if they grow up because I planted them," a smiling Rumales said.

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