Governing Renewable Resources in Weak States: The case of logging in Solomon Islands

The effective management and governance of renewable resources such as forests and fisheries depends on accurate scientific information and strict adherence to production and harvesting quotas based on estimated sustainable yields. The state plays a critical role in generating these scientific data, and in establishing and enforcing sustainable resource management regimes based upon then. Where the state is unable to adequately fulfil this role, there is the potential for the exploitation of renewable resources to become unsustainable. The forestry sector of Solomon Islands, an independent archipelagic nation in the Western Pacific (the culture area known as Melanesia), is precisely such a case. The rates of logging in Solomon Islands have been so unsustainable for so long that the forest resource, which is the country’s most important source of export revenue, is on the verge of collapse. This case study explores the relationships between state weakness, political culture, globalisation, and the governance of forestry in Solomon Islands.