The Ministry of Forests is reviving sandalwood (yasi) planting.
Maika Daveta, an officer with the Sandalwood Development Programme says the value of sandalwood is high and this can improve the livelihoods of rural, remote communities.
The yasi takes 15 to 20 years to mature and the returns range from $15,000 to $30,000.
Daveta says so far, on record – there are 80,000 sandalwood plants in over 200 hectares of land, adding this does not include those planted by individual households.
He says the Ministry is in the process of visiting all communities that are planting sandalwood, to take stock of the numbers of trees planted and how old the trees are.
While doing so, they will also identify areas that can also plant sandalwood to supplement their income.
$100,000 has been set aside by the Ministry for the Sandalwood Development programme.
