Forestry Act No. 31 of 2019.

This Act provides rules for the protection, development and sustainable management of forests in Vanuatu. The Act establishes the Forestry Development Committee and describes its composition, and functions including advisory tasks to governmental bodies. Part 3 of the Act lays out for grant of ownership certificate for timber rights and agreement for acquisition of timber rights. Part 4 describes application for timber permit, grant of the permit and cancellation of a timber permit. Part 5 elaborates on the requirements for commercial forestry operation, grant of a license, its transfer, suspension and cancellation of a license. The Act further provides for grant of a mobile sawmill license that has a maximum annual volume of 500 cubic metres logs to be cut and that this license should be operated for commercial forestry operations and not for domestic purposes. Furthermore, the text prescribes for grant of sandalwood and special licenses.
Part 6 of the Act provides for forest protection measures including prohibition of commercial forestry operations in a forest protected area, protection of species, and restriction on commercial operations. Part 7 outlines for forest project fund and forest management charge, auditing and annual reporting. Part 8 describes the offences, and Part 9 elaborates for appointment of authorised officers, export of forest products, forfeiture, inspection and requirements on collection of specimens. The text consists of 57 Articles divided into 9 Parts.