Nut Oil Processing and Ecotourism, Makira Island, Solomon Islands

by Solomon Islands Development Trust

What's at Stake?

During times of high sea level, Makira Island within the Solomon Islands, was isolated for long periods of time. As a result, a wide variety of unique plants and animals evolved. For example, ten of its 76 species of birds are endemic.

International logging operations are a pressing threat to the island's natural resources. Many Makira communities have already succumbed to the relatively large amounts of cash that the logging companies offer people in order to high-grade the timber on their land.

To resist these threats, the Conservation in Development (CID) program established Makira's first conservation area. The team has been working with the Hauta and Warohito communities for five years to define the area and to identify enterprises whose viability is linked to the need to conserve the area's biodiversity.

The Conservation Area is situated on the central area of Makira Island. The area covers approximately 63,000 hectares of largely undisturbed indigenous vegetation and includes a large number of villages still engaged in traditional lifestyles and resource use.

To date, the program has focused on conservation awareness and education, ecotourism and extraction of ngali nut oil for export enterprise development, and monitoring of biological and social factors.

	1997 Update
Successes and Challenges
"OK...So What?"

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