Press Release Detail

Fiji Pine Limited’s Macuata Station has a lot to offer now after the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, Hon. Kalaveti Ravu, opened its revamped office in Seaqaqa on Friday (16.06.23).
The station, which had been left deserted for more than two decades in a state where the station area was all covered with jungle, has a new nursery with a capacity of 700,000 seedlings, new staff quarters, an upgraded station road, a fully air-conditioned office with updated equipment, and a new fire watch tower.
Hon. Ravu said the $100,000 revamped office with required staffing and modern resources will serve pine stakeholders and 54 landowning units in Macuata better.
The station looks after 5,954 hectares of pine leased lands in Macuata, of which 60 percent are ready for harvest, including those that are currently being harvested, 25 percent are middle aged crops, and 15 percent are younger crops.
The success of the current model for the pine industry, Hon. Ravu said, could only be sustained through cooperation with resource owners. The Fiji Pine Group is one venture that has grown from strength to strength in recent years; however, the same was not the case in the past. 
Hon. Ravu said the pine industry now provides returns to landowners in many forms.
"The Government, through the Ministry acknowledges the development and the returns to the landowners and looks forward to the participation of landowners in managing this industry as well. The landowners and the industry must always work together, share knowledge and skills, and elevate investments in the sector while building the capacity of landowners to manage their resources effectively with Fiji Pine. This would be an ideal model for the nation."
FPL Macuata Station Supervisor, Osea Vosuga, said the company had invested over $350,000 in the re-establishment of the station. Mr Vosuga said the target for the station now was to increase their estate size from 2,631.71 hectares to 10,000 hectares for the next eight years.
"In order to successfully implement that vision, it is critical that our service be made available closer to landowners," he said.