5(a). Land use planning
Solomon Islands lacks a national legislative framework for land use planning. The Town and Country Planning Act [Cap. 154], introduced in 1980, regulates and controls development in town areas (known as local planning areas) (s. 3) but does not apply to customary land, which is where the majority of forest is found (s. 7(1) and 13).
The outdated and incomplete forest legislation, the Forest Resource and Timber Utilisation Act does not contain provisions for forest use planning, and therefore cannot be used to fill this gap. In the absence of any legislative alternative, the Protected Areas Act 2010 (see Section 8 below) offers the only legal mechanism for conserving forest carbon stocks.
Solomon Islands is currently preparing a National Land Use Policy through the Land Use Planning Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, although this is yet to be approved by Cabinet (Herming 2014).
5(b). Protected areas
Protected area laws can play an important role in achieving emission reductions and removals from the forest sector by providing long-term legal protection for forest carbon stock which are set aside for conservation.
Solomon Islands currently has a large number of small community-level protected areas in Solomon Islands, covering approximately 5% of the land area. However the legal protection enjoyed by most of these areas is often weak as they are established under provincial ordinances, customary law or by conservation agreements (contract), and do not give legal protection against incompatible land uses such as logging.
In Solomon Islands, there are five mechanisms under which areas of land can receive legal protection for conservation, with the most feasible options for REDD+ activities being (a) and (b):
- Declaration of a protected area under the Protected Areas Act 2010. Although this Act is intended to provide the legal framework for a system of protected areas, the Act does not prohibit the grant of timber or mining rights over declared areas: see below.
- Declaration of conservation areas at province level: Some provinces have passed ordinances which allow for areas to be set aside for conservation. However this can be a complex process and the delineation of boundaries is often a contentious matter. An example of such an ordinance is the Moli Wards Chiefs Council Ordinance 2010.
- Declaration of a sanctuary: The Minister can declare any land, including customary land, to be a sanctuary under the Forest Resources and Timber Utilisation Act, from which timber must not be removed (s. 44(1)(s); Sch. 2). However the land must first be compulsorily acquired, which is unlikely to be acceptable to customary landowners.
- Declaration of a State Forest: The Minister can declare public land to be a State Forest under the Forest Resources and Timber Utilisation Act (ss. 20 – 23).
- Declaration of a Forest Reserve: The Minister can declare a forest to be a forest reserve under the Forest Resource and Timber Utilisation Act, but only for the limited purpose of protecting water resources (ss. 24 - 28).
Another option that has been tested is to regulate land use through a provincial ordinance. Provincial governments are empowered to make laws which codify and amend customary laws about land and to register customary rights through the use of provincial ordinances (Provincial Government Act [Cap. 118], s. 26; Sch. 3), a power which could be used to facilitate REDD+ activities on a provincial level, if required (Corrin, 2012).
Using this power, the Guadalcanal Provincial Assembly has enacted the Moli Wards Chiefs Council Ordinance 2010. This Ordinance recognises the hereditary chiefs in the Ward and establishes the Moli Ward Chiefs Council. Among other things, the Ordinance provides for sustainable harvesting of land resources (s. 15). It also obliges the Council to encourage a reforestation campaign (s. 18). The Ordinance requires non-citizens to obtain development approval from the Council (s. 17) and provides a dispute resolution procedure for land disputes (s. 19).