Place: Queen Elizabeth National Park

Details

The 15,000-acre Queen Elizabeth National Park was the idea of High Commissioner Sir Robert Stanley (q.v.). It was created outside of Honiara, included Mount Austin, and was under the charge of the District Commissioner Central. The park was established on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, under an Ordinance adapted from one in force in an African colony. It stated that fauna could not be hunted but made no mention of flora, and there were no rangers or any management plan. Local Guadalcanal people also disputed the government's right to use the land and this problem was exacerbated when people moved to create farming land close to the new capital. By the time money was eventually allocated for rangers, Malaitan squatters and 'weekend farmers' had cleared much of the rainforest from the slopes of Mount Austin. By the early 1970s it was clear that the government had little control over the area included in the National Park. In 1973 it was reduced to two thousand acres. (Tedder 2008, 177; Allan 1989, pt. 1, 55-56; NS 7 May 1973)

Related Concepts

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Published resources

Books

  • Allan, Colin H., Solomons Safari, 1953-58 (Part I), Nag's Head Press, Christchurch, 1989. Details
  • Tedder, James L.O., Solomon Islands Years: A District Administrator in the Islands, 1952-1974, Tuatu Studies, Stuarts Point, NSW, 2008. Details

Journals

  • British Solomon Islands Protectorate (ed.), British Solomon Islands Protectorate News Sheet (NS), 1955-1975. Details