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PAPUA NEW GUINEA RAINFOREST CAMPAIGN NEWS

New National Forest Plan Proposes Modest Downstream Processing

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

6/18/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

_The Independent_ reports on Papua New Guinea's National Forest Board's

recent approval of a new National Forest Plan. The article details that

after nearly a decade of promises for more downstream processing, that only

2 plywood factories and five sawmills are required in the next five years.

Meanwhile, millions of cubic metres of priced tropical hardwoods are

exported to Asia Timber mills a year. The plan shows little innovative

thinking, and basically consolidates large scale, foreign owned industrial

forestry as the norm. Provisions for large permanent forest estates, which

are ecologically, sustainably harvested for timbers and other forest

products, are not made; as basically the country is divided into areas of

heavy clearing and ill-conceived and underfinanced preservation lands.

PNG, as a center of biodiversity, is under rapid biological decline.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Headline: "Forest plan approved"

Source: _The Independent_

May 31, 1996

Page 26

By Abby Yadi

A NEW National Forest Plan approved this week sets out that downstream

processing will be gradual, with two plywood factories, and five sawmills

being completed within the first five years.

The plan also ensures that furniture makers are given a special attention

in resource allocation.

The new Forest Plan was approved at the meeting of the National forest

Board in Mt Hagen on Tuesday.

Other key elements of the plan include:

* Annual allowable cut for the country set at 4.9 million cubic metres;

* Log exports to be maintained at their current levels;

* Landuse categories to be defined by identifying reserve and protection

forest as well as production forest;

* Programs set out to achieve sustainable forest management;

* A national forest inventory program planned to provide better

information on forest resources of the country;

* Emphasis placed on resource replacement or reafforestation as part of

sustainable forest management;

* Acquisition of forest resources from customary owners to be made under

the forest management agreement and following the incorporation of land

groups and process of consultations; and

* A staff recruitmen program to go hand in hand with the development.

Board chairman and PNG Forest Authority managing director Guao Zurenuoc

said the plan was cohesive and incorporates the wishes of provincial

governments, resource owners and provincial forest management committees.

Forest Minister Andrew Baing early this year appointed a policy and

planning advisory committee, which has ensured the early approval of the

plan.

Mr Zurenuoc said the plan sets out the broad guidelines and timber resource

information.

He said the forest resources information presented in the plan was from the

Rapid Resource Appraisal project and the computer-based PNG resource

information system, which is funded by AusAid.

"The board realises that this plan provides the broad based guidelines and

the data will be further refines with more forest inventory and mapping to

be conducted in each province," he said.

The board will submit the plan to the Forest Minister to table in

Parliament in July.

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