Major Australian Press Coverage of PNG Logging

***********************************************

WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

***********************************************

Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Archives

http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest Conservation

7/28/99

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE

Following is the transcript of a "Foreign Correspondent" story by

Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a major Australian news program,

which last week broadcast a 28 minute story which provided in depth

coverage of the rapacious logging occurring in Papua New Guinea. For

the first time a wide audience in Australia, the former colonial power

for PNG and major foreign aid donor, was made aware of the fact that

at least 15 major logging operations in PNG were being fast-tracked,

that an 800,000 ha extension had been granted in one of the World's

largest remaining contiguous rainforests under questionable

circumstances, and that many landowners such as the Maisan were

mobilizing to resist indiscriminate and illegal logging.

g.b.

*******************************

RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: PNG Logging

Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Date: July 19, 1999

REPORTER: EVAN WILLIAMS

CAMERA: GEOFFREY LYE

RESEARCH: MARK WORTH

This is a story of three tribes - For the Maisin - it's a story of

deceit... For the Kosuwa it's a story of bitterness

(SUBTITLES - angry man/night)

ALL THE BENEFITS GO TO THE GOVERNMENT AND THE COMPANY BUT US

LANDOWNERS ARE LEFT LIKE RUBBISH

And for the Kamula it's the story of a slim chance of hope.

(SUBTITLE:

WE THOUGHT DEVELOPMENT WOULD COME IN SO WE SIGNED - BUT I'M

NOT SURE - I DON'T KNOW WHAT;S GOING ON)

Through stormy Solomon Sea waters - John Vaso is coming home.but

there's a lot on is mind.

John is a Maisin clan chief with some important news on the future of

his people.

A tribe living here - in one of Melanesian Asia's last stands of truly

untouched rainforest - a land now beseiged by government-backed

loggers.

JOHN UPSOT OVER WALKING - THEN SYNCH:

THE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO TAKE OUT AS MUCH AS IT CAN FROM RESOURCES OF

THE PEOPLE NOT KNOWING THAT WHILST DOING THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS REALLY

MAKING THE PEOPLE POOR WE WILL EVENTUALLY HAVE NOTHING LEFT FOR FUTURE

GENERATIONS.

(UPSOT DRUMS/SHOUTS)

Maisin warriors ask no questions.

A few decades ago landing here meant certain death

(UPSOT AGGRESSIVE SHOUT)

Any unlucky enough to survive were staked out in the village for a few

days - before being eaten.

Today's reception is largely ceremonial -

but these same warriors threatened war when they discovered their land

was about to be logged - without their permission.

SYNCH JOHN VASO:

ALL THIS LOGGING DEALS WERE DONE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL AND THERE'S NOT

BEEN A SINGLE CONSENT FROM THE PEOPLE FROM THE LANDOWNERS THEMSELVES.

(UPSOT MAN SINGING OVER DRUM DANCE - LET BREATH)

The homecoming for this clan leader is more than ceremonial.

Just two weeks from the first cut, John won a temporary injunction

against the logging

But the fight for their land is far from over.

SYNCH JOHN - LAST GRAB:

evan off-camera question: what happens if you lose the legal battle:

WE WILL TAKE THE LAW INTO OUR OWN HANDS - THOSE PEOPLE WHO SIGNED AWAY

THIS LAND AND THOSE DEVELOPERS WHO ARE GOING TO COME HERE THEY ARE

GOING TO HAVE TOCOME IN AT THEIR OWN AT THEIR OWN RISK WE WILL JUST

HAVE TO KILL EVERYBODY AROUND THIS PLACE WE WILL LOOK AT A SECOND

BOUGANVILLE HERE - AND I SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE.

(UPSOT SINGING KIDS:

ARISE ARISE OH MAISIN PEOPLE YOUR DAY HAS COME YOUR DAY HAS

COME ARISE ARISE OH MAISIN PEOPLE AND TELL THE WORLD)

But is militant ecology enough for a people faced with the pressures -

and temptations - of modern life.

(SYNCH MEG TAYLOR: #OVER VISION OF CHILDREN SINGING #WHAT'S HAPPENING

IN MAISIN SHOWS THAT PROCEDURES AND PROCESSES CAN BE DISREGARDED AND

AT THE FLICK OF A PEN SOMEBODY'S SIGNED AWAY A WHOLE PLACE LAND LIFE.

Former ambassador to the US Meg Taylor fears logging deals are fueling

the breakdown of the state.

SYNCH MEG TAYLOR:

(ENVIRONMENTAL OMBUDSMAN - INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION); THE

REAL ISSUE HERE IS WHERE THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF PNG AND THE MINI

SOVEREIGN STATE OF COMMUNITIES ARE NOW COMING TO A LOGGERHEAD, WHICH

LEAVES THE BROADER QUESTION WELL WHAT ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF PNG -

AND PEOPLE LIKE ME DON'T ARGUE AGAINST THAT..WHAT WE NEED IS A PROCESS

THAT INVOLVES MORE THE LOCAL'S IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR OWN

RESOURCES.

(UPSOT VILLAGE SOUNDS)

John Vaso is not defending a poor life.

They are taking gradually from the developed world - educated Maisin's

bring in some cash and they're experimenting with renewable forest

business

SYNCH JOHN VASO

WE ARE NOT IGNORANT OF THE FACT THAT DEVELOPMENT HAS TO COME TO THE

PEOPLE BUT IF THERE'S TO BE DEVELOPMENT THE MAISIN PEOPLE HAVE TO

INITIATE THAT DEVELOPMENT. WE HAVE TO DEVELOP SOCIALLY AND

ECONOMICALLY AT THE SAME TIME THE CULTURE OF OUR PEOPLE NEEDS TO BE

DEVELOPED

Evan's question: so how did this happen if you're the traditional

owners.

THE MINISTERS ARE BECOMING MILLIONAIRES

Just a few hours north of his village you can see what John's worried

about.

Having raped their own country, much of Indonesia, south-east asia and

the Melanesian islands - the Malaysian logging machine is now ripping

in to the region's last great stands of primary rainforest - here in

Papua New Guinea.

(MORE UPSOT CHAIN SAW IN TO TREE BUTTRESS )

ASIAN MAN

THEIR LIFE IS VERY SIMPLE SO WE COME TO TAKE ALL THIS LOGS COME

OUT AND THEY GET THE MONEY..ROYALTIES

(UPSOT ONE OF TWO TREES )

This is commercial clearfelling at its worst - one hundred, two

hundred year old trees felled for the rapacious asian market.

Some will become furniture - others chopsticks and concrete formwork.

(MORE UPSOT SLICING UP FALLEN TREE)

Landowners here have sold their birthright for a bush house and

temporary royalties.

And this is their future.

(UPSOT PLANTING OIL PALM- POSSIBLY )

Forests felled for oil palm - a cash crop being planted across Papua

New Guinea, it earns peanuts for the landowners and leaves them

totally reliant on the price of a single commodity.

(UPSOT NEWS - SKATE AND POLITICAL TURMOIL)

This is all the result of the desperate measures taken by a desperate

and incompetent government - a government which ran PNG's economy in

to the ground.

Prime Minister Bill Skate may have had his fifteen minutes of fame -

and infamy - by selling diplomatic recognition to Taipei for soft

loans.

But his most tragic and long lasting legacy has been to order the fast

tracking of up to fifteen large logging concessions in a desperate bid

for foreign funds.

BRIAN BRUNTON:

CERTAINLY IT'S A PUSH DRIVEN BY THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN BAD ECONOMIC

MANAGEMENT WHICH HAS RESULTED IN THE CURRENCY CRASH AND SHORTAGE OF

FOREIGN EXCHANGE BALANCE OF PAYMENTS AND GENERAL SHORTAGE OF CASH IN

THE TREASURY

Lawyer Brian Brunton is taking the battle against logging to the

government.

It was he who helped John Vaso's Maisin people stay the chainsaws for

now - and it was a landmark win.

(UPSOT BRIAN TO GUYS OUTSIDE COURT - JOHN VASO BEHIND)

While he won that battle - he's far from winning the war.

At the other end of the country Bill Skate's backroom deals now

threaten one of the globe's greatest living treasures.

SYNCH BRUNTON:

IT SAW AN EXPANDED LOGGING INDUSTRY AS A WAY OUT. IT ALSO HAD

OTHER PRESSURES THE LOGGERS THEMSELVES WANTED MORE RESOURCES THEY

WANTED TO TIE UP VERY BIG AREAS.

(COASTAL TRIBAL OR OMINOUS/SAD MUSIC)

Deep in PNG's remote western province this is the world's biggest

tropical rainforest outside the Amazon

It's one of the last great lungs of the earth -

(BRIEF UPSOT TRIBAL MUSIC FROM VILLAGE OR MENACING MUSIC)

It's sheer undisturbed size makes it unique, a home for rare species -

a sanctuary for entire ecospheres of life - animal and human - not yet

fully explored or understood.

It's so remote not one road scars its pristine face.

JOHN FROM HOUSE IV:

OUR CUSTOMARY LAND AND OUR BUSH AND WATERS OUR HISTORICAL

GROUNDS ALL THESE THINGS ARE TOTALLY DESTROYED

(UPSOT VILLAGERS AND EVAN GETTING ON BOAT)

John Tanaye is a clan chief of the Kosuwa people - this is his land,

his river and by his tradition travel is a family affair.

(UPSOT LAUGHS - GUY DRINK) -

Understanding their anger is easy to but - finding your feet on these

swift currents is a little harder.

(UPSOT TRIBAL/MYSTERIOUS MUSIC OVER RIVER PRETTIES)

What appears to the outsider a forbidding tangle is to the Kosuwa a

living breathing self-stocking supermarket.

(JOHN IN BOAT)

THIS LAND IS WHERE WE HUNT AND LOOK FOR MEAT, FOR MANY MANY

GENERATIONS WE HAVE LIVED HERE.

On good day a line over the side can catch a two kilo barramundi.

But today there's no time for fishing - loggers are already on the

Kosuwa's land - if he doesn't stop them the river's will silt and

there'll be no fish.

THE COMPANY MACHINES DESTROY EVERYTHING WE'RE NOT HAPPY WITH THIS WE

DON'T LIVE IN THE CITIES WE TAKE WHAT WE NEED FROM THE BUSH, IF WE

SEND MACHINES IN TO THE BUSH IT DESTROYS OUR BUSH, OUR WATER AND

ANIMALS OUR FOOD - WE DON'T WANT THIS AT ALL.

Evan's question: the company says it brings development and money

what's wrong with that.

IT'S TRUE WHEN THE COMPANY WANTED TO COME IN TO THE BUSH THEY PROMISED

TO BUILD US HOUSES AND ROADS SAYING WE'LL GIVE YOU GOOD SERVICES WE'LL

IMPROVE YOUR LIFESTYLE, BUT THE COMPANY BULLSHITTED US.

(V/O OVER CHAT AS WE TIE UP ON BANK - JON SLASHES THRU BUSH)

SUBTITLES(man holds stick)

I'M GOING TO HOLD UP THIS STICK AND YOU PEOPLE ARE GOING TO COME

INSIDE BY WALKING UNDER IT.

John wants us to see what he's worried about - but first we seek

spiritual permission

JOHN HOLDING STICK:THIS PLACE HAS A SPIRIT THAT'S WHY YOU SHOULDN'T

COME HERE WITHOUT GOOD REASON, YOU MUST GO WITH SOMEONE WO KNOWS THE

AREA AND LIFTS THE STICK THEN YOU WILL HAVE A GOOD LIFE, THE TREE WILL

LOOK AFTER YOU.

But no-one's been able to look after the trees

Logging tracks now dissect John's land - the big trees are gone and

the loggers will soon be back to finish it off.

EVAN looking around there are still lots of trees - so what's wrong.

THEY'RE PLANNING TO CUT IT AGAIN AFTER TEN YEARS, THEY WANT TO PLANT

OIL PALM AND THEY WANT TO TAKE TREES FROM THIS AREA TO THE NEW PLYWOOD

MILL.

With the help of a few modern tools - the Kosuwa people are among the

last hunter gatherers on earth.

Not that that's such good news for the wildlife.

(UPSOT SHOTGUN/ENDANGERED PIDGEON DROPS TO GROUND)

And the blue-crested wild pidgeon makes a pretty tasty lunch. For the

Kosuwa these trees abound with food and medicine. They're branches

are heavy with history and religion. It may be plentiful - But life

in the forest isn't easy. And when cold cash brought the promise of

outboards and shotguns John naturally signed a deal to allow logging

on his land.

There's only one problem - he wasn't allowed to read the agreement -

SYNC JON HOLDING BABY :

ONLY THE GOVT AND THE COMPANY KNOWS WHAT'S INSIDE THE AGREEMENT, I

DON'T KNOW. WE'RE CONFUSED ABOUT THIS WE WANT TO READ THE PERMIT AND

THE AGREEMENT - WE'RE ONLY ASKING BUT THEY HAVEN'T GIVEN US

COPIES.

John isn't totally against some logging - but he's so angry with the

way it's being done he's seeking a court action to stop the company

and renegotiate.

WE'D TEST THEM FOR ONE YEAR; IF IN ONE YEAR THEY'RE PUTTING IN HOUSES

AND GOOD SERVICES THEN WE'LL GIVE THEM ANOTHER FIVE--IF NOT THEN AFTER

ONE YEAR WE'LL FINISH WITH THE COMPANY - AND DO (SMALL SCALE) LOGGING

OURSELVES.

The company's response was to offer him money to resolve the dispute.

I THOUGHT ABOUT MY KIDS, I THOUGHT IF I SIDE WITH THE COMPANY THEY

WILL DESTROY MY FOREST AND WHEN THEY TAKE OFF IN THE FUTURE MY

CHILDREN WILL SUFFER, SO I DIDN'T TAKE THE MONEY.

(HARSH UPSOT - SAWS)

Just down stream is the sharp edge of John's concerns - the mill

that's meant to offer the Kosuwa progress.

But jobs here are poorly paid, temporary and usually occupied by

outsiders.

For each cubic metre of this timber - exporters earn about 75-US

dollars - of which they pay the landowners less than four.

Once I'd tracked him down ..

UPSOT: HELLO JAMES - I'M EVAN FROM AUSTRALIA -

Malaysian mill manager James Shiu sees nothing wrong with the deal.

JAMES SHIU :

OF COURSE THIS AREA IS PRIMITIVE SO THEY HAVE TO CLEAR ALL THIS

THING SO SOME PROJECTS WILL BE CARRIED OUT TO REPLACE THE FOREST, oil

palm but means taking all the trees YEAH.

(UPSOT BLADES INTO TIMBER - ASIAN MAN WAITING AT END)

THIS IS THE RESULT OF SO-CALLED SELECTIVE LOGGING THE GOVERNMENT

APPROVED METHOD FOR TAKING THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST TREES - BUT HERE A

LOT MORE GOES WITH THEM. IN FACT FOR EVERY TREE FELLED 16 MORE ARE

DESTROYED ACCORDING TO ONE RECENT REPORT - THAT'S THE WORST SUCH

LOGGING RECORD IN THE WORLD. AND ALTHOUGH IT MAY NOT LOOK LIKE IT NOW

ONCE THESE BIG TREES ARE GONE - THESE FORESTS ARE CHANGED FOREVER.

(UPSOT MUDDY TOWN)

And this is the company's idea of fair compensation.

The timber town of Kamusi - is what landowners like John get for their

irreplaceable inheritance.

Ignored by government - the clinic and houses are built by the

company.

But no-one here believes the roads, buildings or even occasional

businesses will last beyond the company's interest in their trees.

BRIAN BRUNTON

THE GOVERNMENT HAS HAD THIS SERIES OF VERY UNFAIR CONTRACTS

WITH THE LANDOWNERS; I ONCE DESCRIBED THIS IS AS BUREAUCRATIC

FEUDALISM BECAUSE THE GOVT TAKES AWAY YOUR TREES BECAUSE IT

ESSENTIALLY DOESN'T THINK YOU'VE GOT THE BRAINS TO MANAGE THEM AND

THEN IT MISMANAGES THEM ON ITS OWN.

The government has provided a police force for Kamusi - not to make

sure the company keeps to its promises - but to back the loggers

against landowner complaints

(UPSOT ANGRY MAN FROM MEETING)

THE COMPANY RINGS THE POLICE TASKFORCE AND THEY COME IN AND POINT OUT

YOU YOU AND YOU AND START BELTING THE YOUNG MEN UP AND WITH NO REASON

SHOOT THE DOGS, THEY SHOT THREE OF MY DOGS. I'M A LANDOWNER

John isn't alone - that night we're visited by a delegation of

landowners all angry with the company.

THE COMPANY'S DESTROYED EVERYTHING AND THERE ARE NO SERVICE.THE GOVT'S

NOT LOOKING AFTER US THE BENEFITS ALL GO TO THE GOVT AND THE COMPANY

BUT US LANDOWNERS ARE LEFT LIKE RUBBISH

The meeting closes with a song lamenting lost lands.

TRANS: WHEN OUR ANCESTORS SETTLED HERE IN THE FOREST EVERYTHING HE

NEEDED WAS JUST HERE, THEY COULD MOVE FREE FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER,

HE COULD COLLECT BUSH MATERIALS FREE, BUT NOW THE LOGGERS HAVE ENTERED

OUR PLACE LIFE IS VERY DIFFICULT FOR US.

But leaving the mudflats of Kamusi behind. The next river holds the

secrets of what may be the greatest tragedy of all.

This is the land of the Kamula - it's here despite all the concerns

the same company's just won a massive logging extension 800-thousand

hectares - twice as big as its existing lease - eight times the size

of Hong Kong . a billion dollar jackpot for the loggers -

(UPSOT - DANCERS COME UP TRACK)

But here - in Wawi Falls deep in the heart of the extension - the deal

has raised some disturbing questions among the Kamula people.

PNG's own Forest Authority - the chief advisory body - strongly

recommended against the extension - arguing that if it had to be

logged at all then it should at least be put out to tender for

competitive pricing and better practices.

The government ignored the advice.

UPSOT DR WARI VERY BRIEFLY.

The man you'd think most interested in stopping logging - instead

strongly backed the logger's claim.

WARI IAMO:

WHAT'S THE ALTERNATIVE - cut to - IN AN EMERGING COUNTRY LIKE THIS

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR THE PEOPLE DO YOU WANT THEM TO LIVE IN

PICTURESQUE POVERTY DON'T YOU WANT THEM TO HAVE BASIC SERVICES

(UPSOT DRUMMER DANCES WALKING UP PATH)

The decision has divided the Kamula.

Some want the cash from logging - and think they can dictate the

terms. they forget these days it's the loggers calling the tune.

Evan question: - are you convinced the logging operations as they are

now can in fact bring sustainable development, are you satisfied with

the projects as they go ahead down there.

I GET COMPLAINTS FROM WESTERN PROVINCE FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY ON

ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION AND DAMAGE AND IT'S NOT JUST WESTERN

PROVINCE IT'S ALL OVER THE COUNTRY I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO SEND

EXPERTISE DOWN THERE AND DO AN ENVIRONMENT AUDIT

(UPSOT DANCING/CROWDS)

Such a crippled bureaucracy are the legacies of Bill Skate's last

desperate days in office - legacies that helped freeze World Bank

funds.

SYNCH BRIAN BRUNTON:

IT'S IN THE AREA OF FORESTS PNG HAS BROKEN SO MANY PROMISES AND THE

WORLD BANK THAT THE WORLD BANK ESSENTIALLY HAS SPAT THE DUMMY AND SAID

WE ARE NOT DEALING WITH YOU UNTIL YOU GET YOUR FORESTS IN ORDER.

As part of their farming the Kamula raise penned cassowaries for

visitor's feasts and special occasions.

It's a way of life those in the west who wring their hands over lost

cultures want to preserve.

But it needs the west to dig in to its own pockets to save this area

from sacrifice. The idea is to get the west to pay these people not

to allow large scale logging.

And the money's there.

SYNCH BRUNTON:

CASHED UP NGOS, FOUNDATIONS, THERE IS ALSO THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

FACILITY WHICH COULD BE IN A POSITION TO DO IT, THE QUESTION IS DO

THESE INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS WANT TO DO IT--

If western conservationists want to keep this land - they'd better

hurry up and decide.

Some clan chiefs have already signed this land over to the loggers

Despite the new prime minister's best intentions - the parlous state

of PNG's economy means he needs quick cash from these resources.

If things don't change - PNG's commercial logging industry will

exhaust these supplies in just 15 years.

And that at a time when we still don't really know what's lost with

them.

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

This document is a PHOTOCOPY for educational, personal and non-

commercial use only. Recipients should seek permission from the

source for reprinting. All efforts are made to provide accurate,

timely pieces; though ultimate responsibility for verifying all

information rests with the reader. Check out our Gaia Forest

Conservation Archives at URL= http://forests.org/

Networked by Ecological Enterprises, gbarry@forests.org