§ 33. Mr. Peter BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what help is given to transportable saw mill projects.
§ The Minister for Overseas Development (Mrs. Lynda Chalker)We are supporting a project promoting the properly managed use of portable saw mills in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon islands and Vanuatu. We are ready 325 to consider other projects provided that the International Institute for Environment and Development review of the project is positive.
§ Mr. BottomleyIn addition to encouraging the turning of wood on islands into construction timber, which is of great advantage to the local people, will my right hon. Friend try to find ways of promoting ecological trading in planks from fine timber so that, instead of mass clearances which do no good to local people, we can have sustainable development in wood? The use of portable saw mills would allow that to happen rather than all the wood having to be dragged away in the form of trees.
§ Mrs. ChalkerOne of the useful aspects of the walkabout saw mill project is the training that it provides in marketing, rotational felling in woods and environmental awareness which will prevent the very results that my hon. Friend fears. With the benefit of training, indigenous peoples will find that the projects are not only environmentally sound but avoid the need for mass felling, road building through forest areas, heavy extraction plant and everything that we dislike about large-scale wood felling.