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PAPUA
NEW GUINEA RAINFOREST CAMPAIGN NEWS
Land
Owner Eco-Forestry Project Does Well
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
http://forests.org/
11/19/96
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE by EE
The
Papua Niugini Niuswire (a new WWW home page from UPNG Journalism
school
at: http://www.pactok.net.au/docs/nius) carried the following
coverage
of the Kikori Eco-forestry project.
This WWF sponsored
project
is one of half a dozen viable ecological forest management
schemes
developing in Papua New Guinea. Around
the world the movement
to
certify timber and reward ecologically harvested forest products
continues
to gain momentum.
g.b.
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RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title
-- 338 FORESTRY: Land owner eco-project does well
Date --
14 November 1996
Byline
-- None
Origin
-- Niuswire
Source
-- Post-Courier (PNG), 14/11/96
Copyright
-- Post-Courier
Status
-- Unabridged
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ECO-FRIENDLY
PROJECT ON ROAD TO SUCCESS
There
is a positive demand for eco-friendly forest products in many
world
markets today.
And in
Papua New Guinea, Hope Forest Investment, a landowner company
pioneering
eco-forestry in Kikori district, is in an excellent
position
to lead the way in the production of environmentally-friendly
timber.
Hope
Forest began exporting timber products from Kikori this year.
This
first sale of 16 cubic metres of sawn Taun boards took place in
June,
to markets in the USA, and a second shipment of 18 cubic metres
is
currently being prepared. Shipments have also been made to Port
Moresby,
and arrangements are in place for Hope Forestry to supply
Australian
and European markets.
Apart
from the outside markets, Hope Forest is also contracted to
supply
boards to Gobe projects as well as to the Kopi/Kaiam road and
bridges
project.
Hope
Forest environmentally-friendly operation has also caught the
attention
of an American eco-forestry company. It is considering
coming
to Kikori and setting up a higher quality milling operation for
Hope
Forest on the banks of the Uti Creek, which runs off the Kikori
River.
While current timber products from Hope Forest's portable
sawmill
are accepted overseas, eco-forestry companies in the USA say
there
are environmentally-friendly sawmills available that can add
more
finesse to the dressed timber product.
As a
pilot eco-forestry project, trees have to be carefully harvested
under
strict sustainable logging practices. The overall aim is to
remove
selected tree species, required by customers, with a diametre
of 55
centimetres. Adequate seed trees are allowed to stand for
regeneration
purposes. Tree felling is also carefully supervised by a
qualified
forester to ensure minimal environmental damage and logs are
pulled
out from the bush by a tractor with rubber tyres, rather than
bulldozers
to minimise disturbances caused to the forest floor.
Hope
Forest is owned by five incorporated land groups from the Rumu
tribe
of Kikori. The groups also own a total of 17,000 hectares of
forests
located between Kutubu project's Kopi camp and extending north
to
Kaiam village.
The
company is operated under the supervision and advisory services of
World
Wildlife Fund, and environmentally-conscious organisation,
brought
to the Kutubu project area by Chevron and its partners to
promote
ways for forest owners to benefit from their natural
resources.
+++miuswire
Papua
Niugini Niuswire
http://www.pactok.net.au/docs/nius
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TEXT ENDS###
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