16 Oct 2013

City landowners pressuring rural wantoks in Solomons

9:34 pm on 16 October 2013

A conservationist in Solomon Islands' Western Province says landowners who live in the city are pressuring their home communities to agree to logging deals.

The comment comes as the Kolombangara Island Biodiversity Association works to bring forest targeted by a logging company, in which the prime minister Gordon Darcy Lilo has an interest, under national protective legislation.

The association's co-ordinator, Ferguson Vaghi, says there are people in the local community who want the operation to proceed but they are influenced by their urban relatives.

"Who are part of the resources as well, who are influencing their local communtiues or resource owners without them to really see both sides of the coin. So that's the very sad thing about logging deals in our country, especially in our island."

Ferguson Vaghi says because local communities are not given full information about logging projects they get ripped off.