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BlackGOLD Forestry has fine tuned
its “Eco Forestry” division
based on models initially
proposed by Green Peace. The
community benefits are
substantial and demand for
these fine Eco Timbers is
immense and growing.
With the imminent ceasing of
log exports in the Solomon
Islands BlackGOLD’s “Eco
Forestry Plan” aims to go a
long way in replacing the
unsustainable and generally
illegal logging
industry that currently
exists in the Solomon
Islands.
Eco forestry is a low-impact
approach to forest
management that maintains a
fully functioning natural forest. It is
a long-term ecologically
sustainable and economically
sound alternative to current
conventional forest
management.
BlackGOLD’s Eco Forestry
principles and practices are
based on:
-
Preserving natural
forest structure
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Protecting wildlife and
their habitats
-
Using low-impact
harvesting techniques
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Harvesting less volume
than forest growth rate
in order to provide
important forest
structures.
-
Promoting natural
regeneration
Eco Forestry allows local
communities to earn money by
harvesting timber from the forest in
a way that ensures the
long-term integrity of the
forest's biodiversity.
These sustainable
alternatives can only exist
if the forest is preserved.
BlackGOLD Eco Forestry is
also built on three critical
community foundations:
BlackGOLD’s Eco Forestry
plan is further backed by
three key ingredients that
previous NGO’s have failed
to recognize in attempts to
install eco forestry
principles in the Pacific
region;
It is the combination of all
of these principles that is
propelling BlackGOLD Eco
Forestry today and providing
substantial benefits to all
stakeholders.
BlackGold Forestry is also
involved in the re
establishment of forests via
plantation programs in areas
which have been destroyed by
previous logging operations
and other unproductive
agricultural lands which
have been abandoned or are
not suitable for current
agricultural programs.
What does the BlackGOLD “Eco
Forestry Plan” offer the
landowners, the community and
the environment?
-
The BlackGOLD Group plan
addresses all the
critical structural
issues. M.I.A.
-
The BlackGOLD Eco
Forestry plan is a
commercial compromise
between traditional
commercial logging and
the Green Peace model
that provides
a sustainable income for
the landowners and a
consistent market supply.
-
The BlackGOLD Eco
Forestry plan does not
harvest the forest
giants or “Ancient, Old
Growth”
trees (mill size is
restricted to 1.4 meter
diameter), trees of
spiritual or community
significance, areas near
water ways or of
community value or on
steeply sloping land.
-
The community benefits
are ongoing, the
resource is managed in a
professional manner and
the infrastructure and
markets back the
programs success in
providing ongoing
community support, not
hit and fail as in past
NGO programs.
-
The BlackGOLD Eco
Forestry model provides
the best possible return
to the community by way
of not just financial
rewards but ongoing
community projects which
the community directs
itself, 1) direct income
for landowners,
2) contributions to investment
funds for larger
projects of community
value to which they
choose and own. 3) on going
employment for milling
and associated
activities as part of
BlackGOLD's management
acivities (Sustainability)
-
The BlackGOLD Eco
Forestry model is also
being used to
rehabilitate forests
which have been
previously logged either
by earlier colonial
companies or more recent
Asian logging companies
whom had no sustainable
management practices in
place.
The community benefits
of the BlackGOLD Eco
Forestry plan will far
and away outstrip any
possible benefits
derived from any
alternative plans by
NGO’s for the community
it serves on a
humanitarian basis
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