SOLOMONS SWAN TIMBER INDUSTRY HOSTED NEW ZEALAND COLLEAGUES

The Solomon Islands sawn timber industry has hosted a delegation of the New Zealand timber industry in the country last week.

The delegation includes all members of the New Zealand ImportedTropical Timber Group (NZ ITTG), including timber importers, retailers and conservationists such as Green Peace.

New Zealand ITTG members work with Solomon Islands sawn timber industry as producers to actively seek and develop sources of sustainably managed tropical timber.

Solomon Islands timber industry and NZ ITTG have agreed to collaborate on a number of initiatives to develop a system of third-party legality assurance over the next two years.

One of these includes the establishment of an independent organisation that will audit sawn timber production to ensure the source and legal production of timber can be demonstrated.

Solomon Islands currently exports around $23 million of sawn timber to New Zealand each year with the trade value having increased significantly over the past 10 years.