The Forest Act of 1961 provides for the setting aside of areas as forest reserves and for the control and regulation of such areas and of forest produce and related matters. Part III of the Forest Act provides for town and village forest areas. The Bill requires provisions for fishing, spawning and breeding grounds including the use of poisons and explosives. Management and Legislation Constraint As indicated from the written policy and legislation discussed above, one could lead to believe that the mangrove ecosystems in Tonga are managed in a sustainable manner. Some of the constraints discussed here are by no way completed but could serve as examples for the purpose of this paper.
Different sectors hold different responsibilities regarding the same resources.
For example, mangroves are regarded as trees, therefore, Forestry Division assumes responsibility over them. There are different concerns for the same resource. These usually result in conflicts of objectives and strategies as well as fear of overlapping or overstepping departmental responsibilities. No policing and enforcement of Environmental Legislation Policing of environmental legislation is rarely done in Tonga. There is no recorded case of illegal destroying of mangroves though protected by the law.