Metal Detecting Laws in the Solomon Islands

Ordinary finder ownership has not been established.

• Penal Code section 258 treats finding as a taking in the theft definition where, at the time of finding, the finder believes the owner can be discovered by reasonable steps. Theft still requires the section’s fraudulent taking, absence of a good-faith claim of right and intent to permanently deprive; section 8 preserves an honest claim of right without intent to defraud. This is not an automatic transfer of title after finding.
• For wreck covered by the Shipping Act, section 175 requires nonowner finders or takers within Solomon Islands to deliver it to the Receiver as soon as possible; subsection (2) qualifies the offense by reasonable cause. Section 3(1) excludes vessels belonging to the Solomon Islands defence force or the defence force of any country. Application of that exclusion to particular historic military wreck or associated material is unresolved in this packet. Under section 179(1), an owner establishing a claim within one year of the Receiver’s possession is entitled to delivery subject to expenses, fees and salvage, but subsection (3) permits an earlier sale if the Receiver considers the wreck too damaged to keep advantageously, too perishable to preserve, or insufficiently valuable to pay storage or warehousing. Net proceeds of that earlier sale are held in an interest-bearing trust account pending any claim. Under subsection (2), wreck for which no owner establishes a claim within one year is sold and the residue goes to the Public Account after prescribed deductions. None of these provisions grants automatic finder ownership, and salvage compensation is distinct from title.
• Wrecks and War Relics Act section 6 separately requires ministerial consent for export of its specified wrecked vessels, aircraft, war relics, parts and former contents, whether or not recovery was licensed. Ministerial orders may exempt a class of war relic. Section 8 exceptions do not extend to section 6. A complete current exemption list was not obtained.
• Ordinary lost property, protected cultural objects, natural minerals, access rights and authorized custody have different issues. No general treasure-sharing percentage, waiting-period title or entitlement to retain a heritage find has been verified.
• National scope only. The official Provincial Government Act 1997 assigns provincial legislative competence over historical remains, customary land and parks; each Assembly’s lawmaking territory is limited to its province. Provincial ordinances, customary rights and current site instruments are not displaced by these national rows. Required territorial coverage is unfinished, so this is not a complete country-level clearance.
• Currentness: the official reprints are marked CURRENT at their stated consolidation dates, generally February 5, 2024; the Research and National Parks Acts have 2009 consolidation dates and the Protected Areas Act a 2012 date. These labels and bounded October 2026 searches do not certify all later amendments, designations, exemptions or management instruments.

Nonowner finders or takers of wreck covered by the Shipping Act must deliver it to the Receiver.

• Scope: wreck covered by the Shipping Act and found or taken into possession within Solomon Islands by someone who is not the owner. Section 175(1)(b) requires delivery as soon as possible; subsection (2) makes failure without reasonable cause an offense. Section 2 includes jetsam, flotsam, lagan and derelict found in or on shores, the seabed or tidal water. Section 3(1) expressly excludes vessels belonging to the Solomon Islands defence force or the defence force of any country, including warships, naval auxiliaries and patrol vessels. Whether particular historic military wreck or associated material falls within that exclusion is not established by this packet and must not be assumed either way. The separate Wrecks and War Relics Act remains a distinct regime. This does not classify every ordinary beach coin as wreck.
• The Receiver of Wreck is the Director or another person appointed by the Board of the Solomon Islands Maritime Authority, with authority to appoint persons to act locally under section 173. The captured owner branch of section 175(1)(a) is textually incomplete; no missing owner notice process is reconstructed.
• Section 174(5) separately requires delivery of vessel cargo or articles washed ashore, otherwise lost or taken from the vessel; keeping them back is not a finder entitlement. Section 179 governs owner claims, sale and salvage. No nationwide duty to report every ordinary lost item or a complete provincial heritage-reporting regime has been verified.
• National scope only. The official Provincial Government Act 1997 assigns provincial legislative competence over historical remains, customary land and parks; each Assembly’s lawmaking territory is limited to its province. Provincial ordinances, customary rights and current site instruments are not displaced by these national rows. Required territorial coverage is unfinished, so this is not a complete country-level clearance.
• Currentness: the official reprints are marked CURRENT at their stated consolidation dates, generally February 5, 2024; the Research and National Parks Acts have 2009 consolidation dates and the Protected Areas Act a 2012 date. These labels and bounded October 2026 searches do not certify all later amendments, designations, exemptions or management instruments.

Digging for targets in a declared protected area requires authorization.

• Scope: terrestrial and marine protected areas declared under the Protected Areas Act 2010 and governed by the Protected Areas Regulations 2012. Regulation 63(1)(h) covers intentionally OR negligently removing, extracting or excavating any soil, sand, gravel or other material, except to the extent authorized by the management committee OR the area’s management plan. Sweeping is not expressly named; recovering a target by digging triggers this broader ground-disturbance rule.
• Regulation 63(1)(j)–(l) separately covers damage to cultural objects/monuments and removal or possession of cultural artifacts, sacred objects, fossils, archaeological remains or paleontological specimens, subject to the same chapeau. Permission to recover does not establish ownership. The biological research/prospecting permit regime is a distinct purpose-specific procedure.
• The exact declared boundary, applicable management plan and authorization terms must be established. These provisions do not automatically make every area called a national park a protected area under the 2010 Act; the separate National Parks Act also remains in the current official index.
• National scope only. The official Provincial Government Act 1997 assigns provincial legislative competence over historical remains, customary land and parks; each Assembly’s lawmaking territory is limited to its province. Provincial ordinances, customary rights and current site instruments are not displaced by these national rows. Required territorial coverage is unfinished, so this is not a complete country-level clearance.
• Currentness: the official reprints are marked CURRENT at their stated consolidation dates, generally February 5, 2024; the Research and National Parks Acts have 2009 consolidation dates and the Protected Areas Act a 2012 date. These labels and bounded October 2026 searches do not certify all later amendments, designations, exemptions or management instruments.

Excavating soil or other material in a declared protected area requires authorization.

• Scope: terrestrial and marine protected areas declared under the Protected Areas Act 2010 and governed by the Protected Areas Regulations 2012. Regulation 63(1)(h) covers intentionally OR negligently removing, extracting or excavating any soil, sand, gravel or other material, except to the extent authorized by the management committee OR the area’s management plan. Sweeping is not expressly named; recovering a target by digging triggers this broader ground-disturbance rule.
• Regulation 63(1)(j)–(l) separately covers damage to cultural objects/monuments and removal or possession of cultural artifacts, sacred objects, fossils, archaeological remains or paleontological specimens, subject to the same chapeau. Permission to recover does not establish ownership. The biological research/prospecting permit regime is a distinct purpose-specific procedure.
• The exact declared boundary, applicable management plan and authorization terms must be established. These provisions do not automatically make every area called a national park a protected area under the 2010 Act; the separate National Parks Act also remains in the current official index.
• National scope only. The official Provincial Government Act 1997 assigns provincial legislative competence over historical remains, customary land and parks; each Assembly’s lawmaking territory is limited to its province. Provincial ordinances, customary rights and current site instruments are not displaced by these national rows. Required territorial coverage is unfinished, so this is not a complete country-level clearance.
• Currentness: the official reprints are marked CURRENT at their stated consolidation dates, generally February 5, 2024; the Research and National Parks Acts have 2009 consolidation dates and the Protected Areas Act a 2012 date. These labels and bounded October 2026 searches do not certify all later amendments, designations, exemptions or management instruments.

Ordinary recovery digging remains unresolved outside identified narrow controls.

• Central Province only: recovery digging outside the specific regimes described here has not been fully resolved. Access consent and archaeological or fisheries approval have different purposes; none is treated as a universal right to dig.
• The Fisheries Management Act 2015, sections 14 and 130–131, governs the provincial fisheries relationship and saves specified older instruments subject to conformity and replacement conditions. Section 19 depends on actual national marine declarations and prohibits specified or harmful activity; section 21 separately controls non-customary-fishing-vessel entry into customary-rights areas. No universal beach-access or nonliving-object ownership permission follows.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Central source limits: the captured Public Nuisance Ordinance addresses specified urban/public behavior and refuse, not a general detector regime. Bounded official-index and title searches did not provide a usable current heritage/fisheries/protected-area code. Index omissions are not proof that there is no law.

Finding or authorized removal does not establish finder ownership.

• Central Province only: title to ordinary found objects remains unresolved. Artifact transactions, environmental compensation, authorized removal and land ownership are distinct from a finder’s right to keep an object.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Central source limits: the captured Public Nuisance Ordinance addresses specified urban/public behavior and refuse, not a general detector regime. Bounded official-index and title searches did not provide a usable current heritage/fisheries/protected-area code. Index omissions are not proof that there is no law.

A general incidental-find reporting rule remains unresolved.

• Central Province only: a complete general reporting duty for ordinary incidental finds has not been established. Development, fisheries/research reporting and national wreck procedures must not be collapsed into a universal lost-item deadline.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Central source limits: the captured Public Nuisance Ordinance addresses specified urban/public behavior and refuse, not a general detector regime. Bounded official-index and title searches did not provide a usable current heritage/fisheries/protected-area code. Index omissions are not proof that there is no law.

Entering a tambu site requires express customary or landowner permission.

• Choiseul Province only: section 14 requires express permission of the landowner OR a person with customary power to give it before entering a tambu site. This is an entry restriction relevant to detecting there, not a detector-specific license.
• Entry permission does not displace artifact/protected-place rules, authorize excavation by itself or confer ownership of finds.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness: the 1997 culture/resource ordinances were confirmed from December 15, 2011 subject to section 5 savings. The 2025 Fisheries Management Ordinance was published May 1, 2026; section 2 requires a separate ministerial Gazette commencement date, not established in this bounded search. Section 29 repeals the 2011 marine ordinance with specified savings when operative. Neither the old marine regime nor the new repeal is assumed definitively current. Later cultural/resource amendments and current unit rules remain unresolved.

Ordinary recovery digging remains unresolved outside verified narrow rules.

• Choiseul Province: ordinary recovery digging outside the specifically identified cultural or conservation regimes has not been fully resolved. Permission to access land is not itself authority to excavate.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness: the 1997 culture/resource ordinances were confirmed from December 15, 2011 subject to section 5 savings. The 2025 Fisheries Management Ordinance was published May 1, 2026; section 2 requires a separate ministerial Gazette commencement date, not established in this bounded search. Section 29 repeals the 2011 marine ordinance with specified savings when operative. Neither the old marine regime nor the new repeal is assumed definitively current. Later cultural/resource amendments and current unit rules remain unresolved.

Qualified excavation or survey in protected places needs prior written authorization.

• Choiseul Province only: culture ordinance section 11 prohibits the specified protected-place disturbance, damage and interference. Section 12(d) provides the qualified excavation/survey defense with prior written authorization from BOTH the landowner and the Executive. Choiseul expressly requires suitable professional qualifications; the native printed wording of the excavation clause is retained in the quotation, including its apparent typographical errors.
• The other section 12 defenses remain distinct: Solomon Islanders exercising customary rights may use the place for its purpose; emergency temporary shelter is excepted only if not tambu under custom; landowners or authorized officers may carry out the stated preservation or damage-prevention activities. These defenses are not a general hobby excavation license.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness: the 1997 culture/resource ordinances were confirmed from December 15, 2011 subject to section 5 savings. The 2025 Fisheries Management Ordinance was published May 1, 2026; section 2 requires a separate ministerial Gazette commencement date, not established in this bounded search. Section 29 repeals the 2011 marine ordinance with specified savings when operative. Neither the old marine regime nor the new repeal is assumed definitively current. Later cultural/resource amendments and current unit rules remain unresolved.

Finding or authorized removal does not establish finder ownership.

• Choiseul Province: civil title to ordinary found objects remains unresolved. Permission to enter or excavate, artifact custody and offense provisions do not transfer ownership.
• Sections 3–4 of the culture ordinance regulate defined traditional artifacts, excluding objects made for gift, sale or export as souvenirs, curios or mementos. Transaction and disturbance exceptions have different scopes: museum/institution acquisition and customary dealing are distinct from written Executive authority with landowner authority where appropriate for preservation, protection or examination, with written removal details, and Solomon Islander movement solely for customary use. These exceptions are not a general finder-ownership rule.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness: the 1997 culture/resource ordinances were confirmed from December 15, 2011 subject to section 5 savings. The 2025 Fisheries Management Ordinance was published May 1, 2026; section 2 requires a separate ministerial Gazette commencement date, not established in this bounded search. Section 29 repeals the 2011 marine ordinance with specified savings when operative. Neither the old marine regime nor the new repeal is assumed definitively current. Later cultural/resource amendments and current unit rules remain unresolved.

Current marine removal rules and ownership need commencement verification.

• Choiseul Province only: title to ordinary objects found in provincial marine areas remains unresolved. The Fisheries Management Ordinance 2025, published May 1, 2026, requires an appointed commencement date under section 2. That notice was not located; publication is not treated as commencement.
• Section 29 of the new text repeals the 2011 Fisheries and Marine Environment Ordinance, while preserving prior operation, accrued rights/privileges/obligations/liabilities, penalties and proceedings; existing forms/fees and appointments have specified continuation provisions. It does not establish finder ownership.
• The earlier 2011 section 21 excluded material introduced by oneself OR another person from its nonliving-material removal ban; section 29 provided a dangerous-material permission route and sections 31–33 allowed marine managed-area rules to vary the default. These are described as the prior text, not a verified current permission.
• The 2025 text instead addresses fisheries management plans, marine-area declarations, key habitats and purpose-specific fishing/research requirements. Current commencement, actual declarations/plans and finder-title law remain needed; it is not treated as a general detector or beach permission.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Currentness: the 1997 culture/resource ordinances were confirmed from December 15, 2011 subject to section 5 savings. The 2025 Fisheries Management Ordinance was published May 1, 2026; section 2 requires a separate ministerial Gazette commencement date, not established in this bounded search. Section 29 repeals the 2011 marine ordinance with specified savings when operative. Neither the old marine regime nor the new repeal is assumed definitively current. Later cultural/resource amendments and current unit rules remain unresolved.

A general incidental-find reporting rule remains unresolved.

• Choiseul Province: a complete general reporting obligation for an ordinary incidental find has not been established.
• Culture ordinance section 13 requires a person proposing development activity to consult the register of protected places before commencement, arrange a survey at the developer’s expense with the landowner’s written consent and under an Authorised Officer’s supervision, and arrange a report to the Executive. The report and each map must be signed by the developer, the Authorised Officer and the landowner or appointed representative. For development already underway when the ordinance commenced, an Authorised Officer’s signed written notice requires the survey and report within four months of the notice, or a longer period agreed by that officer in writing. Private protective arrangements are preserved. This development procedure is not a universal reporting deadline for every lost item.
• Choiseul’s section 3 defines development activity by substantial modification, disturbance or alteration of land. That threshold is not assumed for every small recovery hole.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness: the 1997 culture/resource ordinances were confirmed from December 15, 2011 subject to section 5 savings. The 2025 Fisheries Management Ordinance was published May 1, 2026; section 2 requires a separate ministerial Gazette commencement date, not established in this bounded search. Section 29 repeals the 2011 marine ordinance with specified savings when operative. Neither the old marine regime nor the new repeal is assumed definitively current. Later cultural/resource amendments and current unit rules remain unresolved.

Ordinary recovery digging remains unresolved outside identified narrow controls.

• Guadalcanal Province only: recovery digging outside the specific regimes described here has not been fully resolved. Access consent and archaeological or fisheries approval have different purposes; none is treated as a universal right to dig.
• The Fisheries Management Act 2015, sections 14 and 130–131, governs the provincial fisheries relationship and saves specified older instruments subject to conformity and replacement conditions. Section 19 depends on actual national marine declarations and prohibits specified or harmful activity; section 21 separately controls non-customary-fishing-vessel entry into customary-rights areas. No universal beach-access or nonliving-object ownership permission follows.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Guadalcanal source limits: the 2009 Fisheries Ordinance was published March 8, 2011; current declarations, schedules and later amendments remain unverified. The 1985 Protection of Historic Places Ordinance is a documented search lead, but a usable primary text was not obtained. The Moli text has conflicting cover/short titles and blank final passage/assent date fields; it is not treated as a verified province-wide regime.

Specified disturbance in Guadalcanal marine protected areas needs Executive permission.

• Guadalcanal Province only: under Fisheries Ordinance 2009 section 18(1), disturbing a wreck, dredging or quarrying sand, mud, gravel, rocks or coral, pollution, ecological disturbance and construction in or on a declared marine reserve or marine protected area need Executive permission on the recommendation of the relevant house of chiefs. This is the specific protected-area disturbance route, not permission to dig on every beach.
• Section 17 requires a Gazette declaration with Executive approval and consultation where customary fishing areas are involved. Its hand-line/hand-held-spear subsistence exception applies to the section 17(7) fish/species offense; it does not waive section 18 wreck or dredging controls. Section 21 separately requires written Provincial Secretary or written-designee permission for mangrove land clearing or live-tree removal.
• The Fisheries Management Act 2015, sections 14 and 130–131, governs the provincial fisheries relationship and saves specified older instruments subject to conformity and replacement conditions. Section 19 depends on actual national marine declarations and prohibits specified or harmful activity; section 21 separately controls non-customary-fishing-vessel entry into customary-rights areas. No universal beach-access or nonliving-object ownership permission follows.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Guadalcanal source limits: the 2009 Fisheries Ordinance was published March 8, 2011; current declarations, schedules and later amendments remain unverified. The 1985 Protection of Historic Places Ordinance is a documented search lead, but a usable primary text was not obtained. The Moli text has conflicting cover/short titles and blank final passage/assent date fields; it is not treated as a verified province-wide regime.

Finding or authorized removal does not establish finder ownership.

• Guadalcanal Province only: title to ordinary found objects remains unresolved. Artifact transactions, environmental compensation, authorized removal and land ownership are distinct from a finder’s right to keep an object.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Guadalcanal source limits: the 2009 Fisheries Ordinance was published March 8, 2011; current declarations, schedules and later amendments remain unverified. The 1985 Protection of Historic Places Ordinance is a documented search lead, but a usable primary text was not obtained. The Moli text has conflicting cover/short titles and blank final passage/assent date fields; it is not treated as a verified province-wide regime.

A general incidental-find reporting rule remains unresolved.

• Guadalcanal Province only: a complete general reporting duty for ordinary incidental finds has not been established. Development, fisheries/research reporting and national wreck procedures must not be collapsed into a universal lost-item deadline.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Guadalcanal source limits: the 2009 Fisheries Ordinance was published March 8, 2011; current declarations, schedules and later amendments remain unverified. The 1985 Protection of Historic Places Ordinance is a documented search lead, but a usable primary text was not obtained. The Moli text has conflicting cover/short titles and blank final passage/assent date fields; it is not treated as a verified province-wide regime.

Ordinary recovery digging remains unresolved outside identified narrow controls.

• Honiara / Capital Territory only: recovery digging outside the specific regimes described here has not been fully resolved. Access consent and archaeological or fisheries approval have different purposes; none is treated as a universal right to dig.
• The Fisheries Management Act 2015, sections 14 and 130–131, governs the provincial fisheries relationship and saves specified older instruments subject to conformity and replacement conditions. Section 19 depends on actual national marine declarations and prohibits specified or harmful activity; section 21 separately controls non-customary-fishing-vessel entry into customary-rights areas. No universal beach-access or nonliving-object ownership permission follows.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Honiara source limits: the official Honiara City Act reprint is current to February 5, 2024, not certified through October 2026. Its Schedule 3 continues only by-laws in force immediately before commencement. The artifact source’s original title is 1981 Bye-laws while the portal calls it a 1982 Ordinance. Current continuation, amendments and relevant land/foreshore rules need verification.

Finding or authorized removal does not establish finder ownership.

• Honiara / Capital Territory only: title to ordinary found objects remains unresolved. Artifact transactions, environmental compensation, authorized removal and land ownership are distinct from a finder’s right to keep an object.
• The captured artifact by-laws exclude curios from the definition and regulate buying, selling and offers. The museum exception requires action on behalf of an approved museum, the person being named in and possessing the Clerk’s authority letter; a separate exception covers a Solomon Islander acting according to customary procedure. This does not confer ownership on a finder, and current continuation remains unresolved.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Honiara source limits: the official Honiara City Act reprint is current to February 5, 2024, not certified through October 2026. Its Schedule 3 continues only by-laws in force immediately before commencement. The artifact source’s original title is 1981 Bye-laws while the portal calls it a 1982 Ordinance. Current continuation, amendments and relevant land/foreshore rules need verification.

A general incidental-find reporting rule remains unresolved.

• Honiara / Capital Territory only: a complete general reporting duty for ordinary incidental finds has not been established. Development, fisheries/research reporting and national wreck procedures must not be collapsed into a universal lost-item deadline.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Honiara source limits: the official Honiara City Act reprint is current to February 5, 2024, not certified through October 2026. Its Schedule 3 continues only by-laws in force immediately before commencement. The artifact source’s original title is 1981 Bye-laws while the portal calls it a 1982 Ordinance. Current continuation, amendments and relevant land/foreshore rules need verification.

Ordinary recovery digging remains unresolved outside verified narrow rules.

• Isabel Province: ordinary recovery digging outside the specifically identified cultural or conservation regimes has not been fully resolved. Permission to access land is not itself authority to excavate.
• The supplied section 20(18) sets a default prohibition on earthworks in resource-management areas unless expressly permitted in the resource-management order; sections 20–24 address orders and enforcement. Section 45 purports to repeal the 1993 marine/freshwater and conservation-area ordinances and the 1995 wildlife-sanctuary ordinance while saving their areas and rules. Commencement and current order coverage remain unresolved, so neither the newer default nor the older laws are treated as a verified present permission or prohibition.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness/source limit: the supplied Isabel instrument has a 2005 cover title, a 2006 section 1 short title, and a final standard signature page with blank ministerial date/signature fields. Section 1 requires approval and Gazette publication. Exact commencement and later amendments remain unverified, so the apparent earthworks rule and repeals are described as provisions of that supplied text, not asserted as a complete current regime.

Finding or authorized removal does not establish finder ownership.

• Isabel Province: civil title to ordinary found objects remains unresolved. Permission to enter or excavate, artifact custody and offense provisions do not transfer ownership.
• Section 21(2) of the supplied text says that declaring a resource-management order has no bearing on land ownership. This does not decide title to an ordinary found object.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness/source limit: the supplied Isabel instrument has a 2005 cover title, a 2006 section 1 short title, and a final standard signature page with blank ministerial date/signature fields. Section 1 requires approval and Gazette publication. Exact commencement and later amendments remain unverified, so the apparent earthworks rule and repeals are described as provisions of that supplied text, not asserted as a complete current regime.

A general incidental-find reporting rule remains unresolved.

• Isabel Province: a complete general reporting obligation for an ordinary incidental find has not been established.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness/source limit: the supplied Isabel instrument has a 2005 cover title, a 2006 section 1 short title, and a final standard signature page with blank ministerial date/signature fields. Section 1 requires approval and Gazette publication. Exact commencement and later amendments remain unverified, so the apparent earthworks rule and repeals are described as provisions of that supplied text, not asserted as a complete current regime.

The supplied protected-area soil rule needs currentness verification.

• Makira-Ulawa Province only: the supplied 1984 culture/wildlife text section 5 covers disturbing by any means the soil, vegetation or remains within a declared protected area; its exception requires written permission from BOTH the Province AND the landowners. Section 6 separately controls removal of soil, vegetation, remains or other matter with the same two-authority exception.
• If verified operative, the any-soil-disturbance trigger would affect recovering an ordinary detector target there, irrespective of archaeological purpose. The row remains unknown because exact operative identity, current declarations and the effect of the 2014 wildlife revocation have not been resolved. No general hobby permission or prohibition is inferred.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Makira-Ulawa source limits: the 1984 culture/wildlife scan gives passage September 6, 1984 but assent June 5, 1984. Exact operative identity and later cultural amendments need resolution. The 2014 Wildlife Ordinance, published February 12, 2015, revokes existing wildlife provisions under section 24; that is not assumed to repeal all cultural provisions. The environmental-damages ordinance was published February 3, 2015. Later amendments and area declarations remain unverified.

Ordinary recovery digging remains unresolved outside identified narrow controls.

• Makira-Ulawa Province only: recovery digging outside the specific regimes described here has not been fully resolved. Access consent and archaeological or fisheries approval have different purposes; none is treated as a universal right to dig.
• The Fisheries Management Act 2015, sections 14 and 130–131, governs the provincial fisheries relationship and saves specified older instruments subject to conformity and replacement conditions. Section 19 depends on actual national marine declarations and prohibits specified or harmful activity; section 21 separately controls non-customary-fishing-vessel entry into customary-rights areas. No universal beach-access or nonliving-object ownership permission follows.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Makira-Ulawa source limits: the 1984 culture/wildlife scan gives passage September 6, 1984 but assent June 5, 1984. Exact operative identity and later cultural amendments need resolution. The 2014 Wildlife Ordinance, published February 12, 2015, revokes existing wildlife provisions under section 24; that is not assumed to repeal all cultural provisions. The environmental-damages ordinance was published February 3, 2015. Later amendments and area declarations remain unverified.

The supplied protected-area soil rule needs currentness verification.

• Makira-Ulawa Province only: the supplied 1984 culture/wildlife text section 5 covers disturbing by any means the soil, vegetation or remains within a declared protected area; its exception requires written permission from BOTH the Province AND the landowners. Section 6 separately controls removal of soil, vegetation, remains or other matter with the same two-authority exception.
• If verified operative, the any-soil-disturbance trigger would affect recovering an ordinary detector target there, irrespective of archaeological purpose. The row remains unknown because exact operative identity, current declarations and the effect of the 2014 wildlife revocation have not been resolved. No general hobby permission or prohibition is inferred.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Makira-Ulawa source limits: the 1984 culture/wildlife scan gives passage September 6, 1984 but assent June 5, 1984. Exact operative identity and later cultural amendments need resolution. The 2014 Wildlife Ordinance, published February 12, 2015, revokes existing wildlife provisions under section 24; that is not assumed to repeal all cultural provisions. The environmental-damages ordinance was published February 3, 2015. Later amendments and area declarations remain unverified.

Finding or authorized removal does not establish finder ownership.

• Makira-Ulawa Province only: title to ordinary found objects remains unresolved. Artifact transactions, environmental compensation, authorized removal and land ownership are distinct from a finder’s right to keep an object.
• The 1984 source’s section 3 exempts sales to or purchases on behalf of the Solomon Islands Museum and customary-procedure transactions from its artifact transaction offense. Sections 5–6 contain a Province AND landowner written-permission exception for protected-area disturbance/removal. Those provisions do not decide title; chronology and wildlife-revocation issues remain unresolved.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Makira-Ulawa source limits: the 1984 culture/wildlife scan gives passage September 6, 1984 but assent June 5, 1984. Exact operative identity and later cultural amendments need resolution. The 2014 Wildlife Ordinance, published February 12, 2015, revokes existing wildlife provisions under section 24; that is not assumed to repeal all cultural provisions. The environmental-damages ordinance was published February 3, 2015. Later amendments and area declarations remain unverified.

A general incidental-find reporting rule remains unresolved.

• Makira-Ulawa Province only: a complete general reporting duty for ordinary incidental finds has not been established. Development, fisheries/research reporting and national wreck procedures must not be collapsed into a universal lost-item deadline.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Makira-Ulawa source limits: the 1984 culture/wildlife scan gives passage September 6, 1984 but assent June 5, 1984. Exact operative identity and later cultural amendments need resolution. The 2014 Wildlife Ordinance, published February 12, 2015, revokes existing wildlife provisions under section 24; that is not assumed to repeal all cultural provisions. The environmental-damages ordinance was published February 3, 2015. Later amendments and area declarations remain unverified.

Entering a tambu site requires express customary or landowner permission.

• Malaita Province only: section 15 requires express permission of the landowner OR a person with customary power to give it before entering a tambu site. This is an entry restriction relevant to detecting there, not a detector-specific license.
• Entry permission does not displace artifact/protected-place rules, authorize excavation by itself or confer ownership of finds.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness: the captured culture ordinance was assented to on February 1, 1996 and published on February 9, 1996, fulfilling its approval/publication commencement clause. Later amendments and complete protected-place declarations remain unverified; the provincial index and bounded searches are not a certificate that no other rules exist.

Ordinary recovery digging remains unresolved outside verified narrow rules.

• Malaita Province: ordinary recovery digging outside the specifically identified cultural or conservation regimes has not been fully resolved. Permission to access land is not itself authority to excavate.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness: the captured culture ordinance was assented to on February 1, 1996 and published on February 9, 1996, fulfilling its approval/publication commencement clause. Later amendments and complete protected-place declarations remain unverified; the provincial index and bounded searches are not a certificate that no other rules exist.

Qualified excavation or survey in protected places needs prior written authorization.

• Malaita Province only: culture ordinance section 11 prohibits the specified protected-place disturbance, damage and interference. Section 12(d) provides the qualified excavation/survey defense with prior written authorization from BOTH the landowner and the Executive. Malaita uses “qualified persons”; its excavation branch refers to archaeological deposits.
• The other section 12 defenses remain distinct: Solomon Islanders exercising customary rights may use the place for its custom purpose; emergency temporary shelter is excepted only if not tambu under custom; landowners or authorized officers may carry out the stated preservation or damage-prevention activities. These defenses are not a general hobby excavation license.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness: the captured culture ordinance was assented to on February 1, 1996 and published on February 9, 1996, fulfilling its approval/publication commencement clause. Later amendments and complete protected-place declarations remain unverified; the provincial index and bounded searches are not a certificate that no other rules exist.

Finding or authorized removal does not establish finder ownership.

• Malaita Province: civil title to ordinary found objects remains unresolved. Permission to enter or excavate, artifact custody and offense provisions do not transfer ownership.
• Sections 3–4 of the culture ordinance regulate defined traditional artifacts. Section 3 excludes an article or object made for gift, sale or export as a souvenir or memento. Section 4.2 exceptions to paragraphs 4.1(a) and (c) concern a person with the right to sell or donate who transfers the artifact to a specified museum or cultural centre, a person with the institution’s written authority to acquire it for its collection, and a Solomon Islander dealing in accordance with custom. Section 4.3 exceptions to paragraphs 4.1(b) and (c) concern removal for preservation, protection or examination with written Executive authority and landowner authority if appropriate, together with written removal details supplied to the Executive, and a Solomon Islander moving or removing an artifact solely for custom use or purpose. These are not general exceptions to paragraph 4.1(d) concerning likely removal from Malaita, and they do not establish finder ownership.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness: the captured culture ordinance was assented to on February 1, 1996 and published on February 9, 1996, fulfilling its approval/publication commencement clause. Later amendments and complete protected-place declarations remain unverified; the provincial index and bounded searches are not a certificate that no other rules exist.

A general incidental-find reporting rule remains unresolved.

• Malaita Province: a complete general reporting obligation for an ordinary incidental find has not been established.
• Culture ordinance section 13 requires a predevelopment survey and report to the Executive, with landowner written consent, consultation with the landowner in Malaita, and authorized-officer supervision; the report and maps require the specified signatures. Work already underway at commencement follows written notice and a four-month period or a longer period agreed in writing. Private protective arrangements are preserved. This development procedure is not presented as a universal reporting deadline for every lost item.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness: the captured culture ordinance was assented to on February 1, 1996 and published on February 9, 1996, fulfilling its approval/publication commencement clause. Later amendments and complete protected-place declarations remain unverified; the provincial index and bounded searches are not a certificate that no other rules exist.

Ordinary recovery digging remains unresolved outside identified narrow controls.

• Rennell and Bellona Province only: recovery digging outside the specific regimes described here has not been fully resolved. Access consent and archaeological or fisheries approval have different purposes; none is treated as a universal right to dig.
• The Fisheries Management Act 2015, sections 14 and 130–131, governs the provincial fisheries relationship and saves specified older instruments subject to conformity and replacement conditions. Section 19 depends on actual national marine declarations and prohibits specified or harmful activity; section 21 separately controls non-customary-fishing-vessel entry into customary-rights areas. No universal beach-access or nonliving-object ownership permission follows.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Rennell and Bellona source limits: official sources establish a separate province and its history within Central. A complete operative account of inherited Central laws, later replacements and provincial conservation/cultural rules was not obtained. Search leads to the 1992 special-provisions Act and current East Rennell materials include inherited held hosts and were not retried. Neither an overview nor a World Heritage listing establishes a detector rule.

Finding or authorized removal does not establish finder ownership.

• Rennell and Bellona Province only: title to ordinary found objects remains unresolved. Artifact transactions, environmental compensation, authorized removal and land ownership are distinct from a finder’s right to keep an object.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Rennell and Bellona source limits: official sources establish a separate province and its history within Central. A complete operative account of inherited Central laws, later replacements and provincial conservation/cultural rules was not obtained. Search leads to the 1992 special-provisions Act and current East Rennell materials include inherited held hosts and were not retried. Neither an overview nor a World Heritage listing establishes a detector rule.

A general incidental-find reporting rule remains unresolved.

• Rennell and Bellona Province only: a complete general reporting duty for ordinary incidental finds has not been established. Development, fisheries/research reporting and national wreck procedures must not be collapsed into a universal lost-item deadline.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Rennell and Bellona source limits: official sources establish a separate province and its history within Central. A complete operative account of inherited Central laws, later replacements and provincial conservation/cultural rules was not obtained. Search leads to the 1992 special-provisions Act and current East Rennell materials include inherited held hosts and were not retried. Neither an overview nor a World Heritage listing establishes a detector rule.

Ordinary recovery digging remains unresolved outside identified narrow controls.

• Temotu Province only: recovery digging outside the specific regimes described here has not been fully resolved. Access consent and archaeological or fisheries approval have different purposes; none is treated as a universal right to dig.
• The Fisheries Management Act 2015, sections 14 and 130–131, governs the provincial fisheries relationship and saves specified older instruments subject to conformity and replacement conditions. Section 19 depends on actual national marine declarations and prohibits specified or harmful activity; section 21 separately controls non-customary-fishing-vessel entry into customary-rights areas. No universal beach-access or nonliving-object ownership permission follows.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Temotu source limits: the 1993 culture cover and assent conflict with the 1989 short-title year and need reconciliation with the 1992 amendment. The environmental extract shows January 17, 1995 assent but lacks its exact publication date. The marine text’s own commencement linkage is not established; a preceding instrument’s assent is not attributed to it. Current declarations and amendments remain unverified.

The supplied archaeological-excavation exception needs version verification.

• Temotu Province only: the supplied culture text section 8(1) addresses activity inside OR outside a protected place that adversely disturbs or damages its status quo. Section 8(2)(d) provides an exception for qualified archaeological excavation sanctioned in writing by landowners AND the Assembly AND the National Museum.
• Separate section 8(2) exceptions cover persons exercising customary rights for the place’s customary purpose; use of declared protected shelters temporarily in an emergency; and landowner/provincial/National Museum preservation or prevention of damage to historical or archaeological remains. These are not general detector permissions.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Temotu source limits: the 1993 culture cover and assent conflict with the 1989 short-title year and need reconciliation with the 1992 amendment. The environmental extract shows January 17, 1995 assent but lacks its exact publication date. The marine text’s own commencement linkage is not established; a preceding instrument’s assent is not attributed to it. Current declarations and amendments remain unverified.

Temotu marine disturbance controls need commencement and unit-rule verification.

• Temotu Province only: the supplied Fisheries and Marine Protection Ordinance 2010 section 11 includes written Executive permission for listed activities in marine reserves, including wreck disturbance and dredging or quarrying. The subsistence hand-line/hand-held-spear exception concerns the fishing branch, not every listed activity.
• Sections 12 and 15 separately address mangroves and shore activities likely to harm living marine resources or ecology. Those triggers are not equated with all modern-loss searching or all recovery holes. The exact commencement and current designations remain unresolved.
• The Fisheries Management Act 2015, sections 14 and 130–131, governs the provincial fisheries relationship and saves specified older instruments subject to conformity and replacement conditions. Section 19 depends on actual national marine declarations and prohibits specified or harmful activity; section 21 separately controls non-customary-fishing-vessel entry into customary-rights areas. No universal beach-access or nonliving-object ownership permission follows.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Temotu source limits: the 1993 culture cover and assent conflict with the 1989 short-title year and need reconciliation with the 1992 amendment. The environmental extract shows January 17, 1995 assent but lacks its exact publication date. The marine text’s own commencement linkage is not established; a preceding instrument’s assent is not attributed to it. Current declarations and amendments remain unverified.

Finding or authorized removal does not establish finder ownership.

• Temotu Province only: title to ordinary found objects remains unresolved. Artifact transactions, environmental compensation, authorized removal and land ownership are distinct from a finder’s right to keep an object.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Temotu source limits: the 1993 culture cover and assent conflict with the 1989 short-title year and need reconciliation with the 1992 amendment. The environmental extract shows January 17, 1995 assent but lacks its exact publication date. The marine text’s own commencement linkage is not established; a preceding instrument’s assent is not attributed to it. Current declarations and amendments remain unverified.

A general incidental-find reporting rule remains unresolved.

• Temotu Province only: a complete general reporting duty for ordinary incidental finds has not been established. Development, fisheries/research reporting and national wreck procedures must not be collapsed into a universal lost-item deadline.
• The supplied culture text’s section 10 requires developer inspection/reporting before work, under Executive direction at the developer’s cost; its development definition excludes a landowner. Landowners receive 21 clear days to consent to registering identified historical/cultural/archaeological sites as protected places, but nonresponse or refusal does not itself prevent development subject to other applicable laws; later protection of that site needs the developer’s consent. Work already underway at commencement has four months to complete the inspection, or a longer period the Executive may specify on the person’s application. This is not a general incidental-find reporting rule, and the text’s version remains unresolved.
• This is a territorial record only. National heritage, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land, theft and wreck rules remain separate. Permission to enter, conduct research or remove an object does not itself confer ownership or authority to dig. Provincial records do not extend to Honiara.
• Temotu source limits: the 1993 culture cover and assent conflict with the 1989 short-title year and need reconciliation with the 1992 amendment. The environmental extract shows January 17, 1995 assent but lacks its exact publication date. The marine text’s own commencement linkage is not established; a preceding instrument’s assent is not attributed to it. Current declarations and amendments remain unverified.

Ordinary recovery digging remains unresolved outside verified narrow rules.

• Western Province: ordinary recovery digging outside the specifically identified cultural or conservation regimes has not been fully resolved. Permission to access land is not itself authority to excavate.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness/source limit: both captured Western culture copies expressly describe themselves as unauthorized consolidations containing amendments or intended amendments, with missing text. The resource principal is also an unauthorized consolidation with an inconsistent as-at date. A primary 1999 resource amendment is available, but does not establish a complete current principal law. These files do not support a permission or prohibition verdict.

Finding or authorized removal does not establish finder ownership.

• Western Province: civil title to ordinary found objects remains unresolved. Permission to enter or excavate, artifact custody and offense provisions do not transfer ownership.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness/source limit: both captured Western culture copies expressly describe themselves as unauthorized consolidations containing amendments or intended amendments, with missing text. The resource principal is also an unauthorized consolidation with an inconsistent as-at date. A primary 1999 resource amendment is available, but does not establish a complete current principal law. These files do not support a permission or prohibition verdict.

A general incidental-find reporting rule remains unresolved.

• Western Province: a complete general reporting obligation for an ordinary incidental find has not been established.
• This regional record applies only within the named province. National laws on wrecks, forests, protected areas, research, minerals, land and theft remain separate. It establishes no public right to enter, dig, remove objects or keep another person’s property; Honiara is not included through a provincial record.
• Currentness/source limit: both captured Western culture copies expressly describe themselves as unauthorized consolidations containing amendments or intended amendments, with missing text. The resource principal is also an unauthorized consolidation with an inconsistent as-at date. A primary 1999 resource amendment is available, but does not establish a complete current principal law. These files do not support a permission or prohibition verdict.