Introduction

Solomon Islands is one of a number of Pacific nations that have fallen in and out of serious conflicts and crises since gaining independence.^[888] Following serious conflict or civil disorder in Fiji, papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tonga, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat responded in 2006 by commissioning a land management and conflict minimisation project.

these conflicts have exerted substantial social, economic and political costs on the states and communities involved. Several thousand civilians and security personnel have died, and tens of thousands have been displaced. Violence and instability has deterred tourism and foreign investment and caused already fragile economies to contract.

Wilson examines in detail the role of disputes concerning traditional land tenure in the escalation of civil conflict in the Pacific. Three case studies used are Bougainville, Solomon Islands and Fiji. As Wilson reports, these struggles have occurred in Melanesia and have often been associated with contests over the use of traditionally owned land with a particular focus on extractive resource industries or landscape changing industries.^[890] Wilson concludes that the disruption of traditional Indigenous land ownership brought about by particular forms of economic development is a major contributor to conflict in the region.

This chapter uses a case study of forestry law in Solomon Islands to explore the complex way in which law mediates the relationship between customary ownership and exploitation of land or of land based resources. What has not worked well is the relationship between traditional law and legal structures and the formal legal system.

I argue that the forestry law in Solomon Islands is currently framed in a way that undermines traditional ownership and fosters corruption in three ways:

1. By disrupting traditional land ownership. Traditional owners are cut off from their traditional land or the products of that land resulting in a loss of resources, while also disabling traditional methods for conflict resolution related to land and resources.

2. Weak laws facilitating exploitation but not environmental control.

3. Weak laws facilitating exploitation but not the regulation of logs taken or payment of taxes on the number of logs taken. These laws are difficult to police or are open to corruption that cannot be prosecuted.

To investigate the significance of anti-corruption laws in relation to forestry in Solomon Islands a review of reported corruption prosecutions in Solomon Islands is presented. This was done using the Pacific Legal Information Institute (PacLII) collection of Solomon Islands High Court and Court of Appeal cases.^[891] There are various problems with the accuracy of text entered into PacLII and a full survey of PacLII reported cases would require going through the text of each case individually.^[892]