The Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Hon. Danny Philip has pledged support Kolombangara landowner's conservation initiative.
In the first visit by the Prime Minister to Kolombangara Island, Danny Philip joined the fourth day of the Kolombangara Island Biodiversity and Conservation Festival on Thursday last week.A special ceremony was held at Ringgi to mark the occasion. Prime Minister spoke before a crowd of about one thousand people and officially dedicated a 20-thousand hectares conservation area in Kolombangara. This is the largest conservation area in Solomon Islands by far.
Prime Minister Philip said that it is a wonderful initiative to put aside a special area for conservation adding that in the midst of logging and environmental destruction the people have the courage to have a conservation area.
At Imbu Rano Lodge the Prime Minister was provided with more information on the exquisite biodiversity found in the conservation area. These were information by international and local scientists, including local ecologist Patrick Pikacha and botanist Myknee Sirikolo.