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PAPUA NEW GUINEA RAINFOREST CAMPAIGN NEWS

South Pacific NGO Parallel Forum Statement on Forestry

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

9/8/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

The Japan Tropical Forest Action Network (JATAN) reports (posted in

econet's rainfor.general conference) on the recent NGO parallel gathering

to the South Pacific forum. Following is the South Pacific NGO's Statement

on Forestry. They call for adequate control and management of logging, the

banning of round log export, compensation for past logging's environmental

damage, a greater role for women, and pursuit of small scale alternatives

to industrial logging. All forest activists interested in South Pacific

forest issues would be well advised to follow the lead of this substantial

NGO statement on how they perceive the forestry issue. The emphasis for

outside supporters should be to follow local NGOs lead.

Glen Barry

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

/* Written 8:09 PM Sep 6, 1996 by jatan in igc:rainfor.genera */

/* ---------- "South Pacific NGO statement on Fore" ---------- */

sub: South-Pacific NGO statement on Forestry

Statement on Forestry

We, the participants at the South Pacific NGO Parallel Forum in Majuro,

Republic of Marshall Islands, gathered from 3 to 5 September 1996 do

resolve:

The Japanese and Malaysian corporations could cut down almost all of the

forests of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and the other parts of the

world to make wasteful plywoods or Chopsticks. The transnational

corporations and the Japanese government are responsible for the

clearcutting of the forest in PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu in the Pacific

Islands. In some cases, they stole some of the timber cut in the daytime,

shipping in the nighttime.

1. We appreciate the efforts of the South Pacific Forum to adopt the

common Forest Code of Conduct, as a first step to address and focus on the

practices of transnational logging, trading, and importing corporations.

We call upon governments to take further measures to adequately control and

manage the role of foreign corporations in logging.

2. We call upon governments to immediately ban round log exporting and

unsustainable forms of commercial logging in the Pacific.

3. We call for prompt, full and effective compensation to be paid by

transnational logging, trading, and importing corporations for past

practices of unfair pricing and environmental damage.

4. Women must be involved in decision-making at all levels.

5. We urge governments to promote alternatives to current logging,

such as;

* Community awareness and training on forest issues and alternatives

* Community based agro-forestry and encouraging people to plant

a variety of indigenous trees and plants for cash income and food.

* Small scale indigenous eco-tourism.

* Small community based ecological wood saw milling

* Non-timber products, eg. furniture manufacturing, carving,

mat-making, etc.

* Community education and transfer of skills training on alternatives.

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The first NGO Parallel meeting of the South Pacific Forum was held last

year, in Madang, PNG. This statement is the updated version of the '95

Madang Decraration on forestry issue. From Japan, I and two members of

another Japanese NGO, JARPLL (Japan Rainforest Protection Laywers League)

attended this meeting.

I failed to get a precise info, but hearing from a journalist, the deputy

PM of Solomon Islands stated in the press conference before the 27th South

Pacific Forum in Majuro, that they will adopt a forest code of conduct in a

several weeks, and reduce 20% of the round log exports immediately, will

reduce 100% by 2000 or something like that.

Compensation scheme may be thought to be too rigorous to be effective in

talking forestry issue, however we know a case that a Japanese

transnational

logging corporation payed compensation in PNG, though it may not be a

prompt nor full compensation.

Tadashi Ogura

Japan Tropical Forest Action Network

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

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Email (best way to contact)-> gbarry@forests.org