The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) said?in Suva?Monday that a landmark book on the forests of the Pacific Islands is now available online.

The publication, titled "Foundation for a Sustainable Future", was produced by the SPC Land Resources Division (LRD) to commemorate the International Year of Forests in 2011, which can now be viewed at this link: http://goo.gl/mD6gw.

It features chapters from SPC member countries and territories and aims to provide information on the value of Pacific Island forests and the issues and challenges faced by island communities in managing this natural resource in a sustainable manner.

According to the SPC, the Pacific forestry book provides description of: forest areas, ownership rights and their management; socio-economic benefits of forests; existing and emerging threats to forests from increasing populations, invasive species and climate change; a look to the future: balancing competing socio-economic and environmental factors, and sustainable forest management (SFM).

During the book launch at the Regional Forestry Technical Meeting in September 2011 in Fiji's western tourist city of Nadi, the book was described as a concerted effort to inform people of the importance of forests and trees to Pacific Island communities.

"In small island states and territories, forests and trees have long been the primary resource from which our people have sought to meet their practical, cultural and spiritual needs for thousands of years," said Kanawi Pouru, Managing Director of the Papua New Guinea Forest Authority, adding "the forests of our island states, regardless of their size and scale, have long been supermarkets for their daily livelihoods."