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PAPUA NEW GUINEA RAINFOREST CAMPAIGN NEWS

General Update on Papua New Guinea Rainforest Situation

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

7/15/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

Brian Brunton of the Individual & Community Rights Advocacy Forum Inc., as

well as Greenpeace hired forest expert, provides the following update on

Papua New Guinea forests. Mr. Brunton has been the NGO representative to

the PNG National Forest Board for some time. He reports that "the sole

concern of the government is logging and planning future logging" while

NGOs advocate for a major "shift to small and medium scale community-based

forest projects." Some specifics on major individual projects is provided.

This item was posted in econet's reg.newguinea conference.

g.b

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/** reg.newguinea: 336.0 **/

** Topic: PNG Forest Update **

** Written 8:25 AM Jul 11, 1996 by bbrunton@pactok.peg.apc.org in

cdp:reg.newg

uinea **

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

FOREST

UPDATE

over-view

There has been a slow-down in the export of logs from Papua New Guinea over

the past eighteen months, due to changes in the export market, and

difficulties loggers have experienced in Papua New Guinea, with a

protracted wet season in 1995 and landholder resistance. Government

activity is centred around the continuation of export logging, with close

alliances between politicians, administrators and loggers. Forest

regulation is politicised, with honest and professional administrators too

frightened to speak out. Information and statistics are hard to come by.

The sole concern of the government is logging and planning future logging.

No attention is being paid to conservation needs, biodiversity priority,

and non-timber use of the forests.

forest policy

A recently produced National Forest Policy, which will be laid before

Parliament in late July is really a business brochure to tell everybody

what remains to be logged. The maps attached to it are inaccurate confusing

and misleading. The plan fails in any way to address the needs of women,

and it does not comply with the Forestry Act, because section 47(2)(b) of

the Act says that the Plan is to be based upon "a certified National Forest

Inventory", which has never been done.

NGOs have competed The Alternative NGO Forest Policy which calls for the

major emphasis to shift to small and medium scale community-based forest

projects, and emphasises the need for women to be involved in all aspects

of forest related development. The Alternative Policy stresses conservation

of biodiversity, community control and community negotiated land-use

management, environmental monitoring, project regulation, and the promotion

of non-timber forest products.

Logging is still the main activity in the forests. Francis Tiong the head

of the Papua New Guinea subsidiaries of Rimbunan Hijau, now sits on the

Forest Board. Landholders are desperately trying to re negotiate the unfair

colonial contracts that deprive them of most of the value of the logs

taken from their forest. So far landholders at Open Bay (East New Britain)

have held firm in their negotiations to get a better deal. But the Japanese

logging company is being supported by the Minister for Forests. A similar

struggle is going on with WTK, and the Vanimo landholders, in the Sandaun

Province.

Landholders in high biodiversity priority areas of the Hunstein Ranges in

the East Sepik Province, and Mount Bosavi in the Southern Highlands are

underintense pressure from loggers to open up their lands to logging.

clear felling ( oil palm, agricultural schemes, and road schemes).

A major threat to marine resources is posed by an oil palm clear-fell

operation at Aitape, in the Sandaun Province ( West Sepik). In particular,

an important fisheries resource, in the mangrove-ringed Sissano Lagoon

stands to be damaged by clear-felling in its water-catchment. There are

also fears of the effects of other parts of this massive clear-fell

operation on the reefs and fisheries along the unique coast. There is no

environmental plan, and so this project can properly be described as state-

sponsored environmental vandalism. Another lear-fell opeartion is occuring

along the Aenbak-Kiunga Road in the Western Province. One piece of good

news is that the National Forest authority has conceded that lands owned by

the Uiaku people of Collingwood Bay, Oro Province, will be excluded from

future forest development. Uiaku lands had been threatened by a so-called

coconut-sap project that involve over 100,000 hectares of clear-fell.

royalty system

Landholders in Papua New Guinea are locked into a set of colonial contracts

which put most of the surplus of logging into the hands of the loggers and

the government. As of the 1 July 1996 landholders will receive K10m3 for

logs whose average price is about K160m3 (of this K10m3 15% goes to the

provincial government and 5% to the National Government in withholding

tax). New projects will pay an extra K13m3 on current prices, but this

money will not go directly to landholders, but will be paid into a fund for

"development" purposes. What this ignores is that the landholders are

entitled to be paid for their property-rights, and not have the money

controlled by officials. Because the graduate royalty announced in the

budget has not been implemented, landholders have lost about K26 million.

On the other hand the government has collected its inceased graduated log

tax which was announced at the same time.

Brian Brunton

Greenpeace Forest Specialist

Individual & Community Rights Advocacy Forum Inc.

Box 155

P.O. University

N.C.D.,

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

PH: (675) 326 2469

FAX: (675) 26 0273

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