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WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Papua
New Guinea Logging Moratorium Gains Support, But Faltering
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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org
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Conservation Archives
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Conservation
04/29/00
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY
Despite
wide support, Papua New Guinea's (PNG) moratorium on "all new
forestry
licenses, extensions and conversions" and review of existing
operations,
announced in late 1999, is clearly faltering.
No
progress
has been made in instituting the review of current
operations,
and rogue elements in the Forest Authority continue to
fast-track
over twenty timber projects as "exemptions" to the
moratorium. The resolve of the PNG government and World
Bank in
standing
up to this intransigence, that clearly and outrageously
violates
the moratorium, remains to be seen.
Below is an excellent
news
piece that outlines the necessary reform process that was to be
occurring
now but has faltered; and another that highlights the
desirability
of pursuing alternative, community based, more
ecologically
sustainable forest management. The
moratorium had been
envisioned
as providing time to allow the necessary forestry sector
reform
process to occur before all remaining resources were
allocated--including
making alternative types of forest management,
other
than industrial export logging by transnational corporations,
legitimate
and viable under the law. This may be
the last
opportunity
to break the death grip held by rapacious foreign
interests
on the third largest contiguous area of rainforest in the
World. Loss of this internationally significant
ecosystem would be a
local,
as well as global, catastrophe.
g.b.
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TEXT STARTS HERE:
ITEM #1
Title: Logging moratorium beats all in forestry
reform
Source: The Independent
Status: Copyright 2000, contact source for
permission to reprint
Date: April 27, 2000
Byline: FRANCIS ULIAU
A
FOREST moratorium currently in effect has received wide support from
national
and international non-governmental organisations.
The
moratorium is part of the national government's reform process for
PNG's
forest industry.
When
presenting the country's 2000 Budget last November, Prime
Minister
(and Treasurer) Sir Mekere Morauta also committed his
government
to "introducing a moratorium on all new forestry licenses,
extensions
and conversions".
He also
directed that all existing licenses be reviewed to ensure
proper
procedures were followed, all logging practices are
sustainable,
and that landowners get their fair share of benefits from
resource
use.
World
Wide Fund for Nature, Greenpeace and the PNG Eco-Forestry Forum
have
all publicly expressed their strong support for the reforms.
As part
of its contribution to reforming the forest industry in PNG,
World
Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) undertook a review of strategies to
promote
community-based forestry and conservation in the country.
While
the moratorium on logging has been implemented, other
recommendations
of similar rating included in the report are yet to be
officially
seen, debated and adopted.
Sponsored
by the World Bank, the WWF report also noted that community-
based
forestry in PNG is financially viable. But, it has difficulty
remaining
so without training and technical support.
Hence,
the report said, NGOs and support agencies have a critical role
to play
here . . . donors are encouraged to provide support for the
development
of PNG's community-based and certified forestry sectors.
It also
highlighted the need for the National Forest Plan (NFP), which
now
designates most of the accessible forested areas of PNG for
industrial
logging, to be changed to allow landowner groups to opt for
eco-forestry
instead.
The
publication of the NFP stemmed from the creation of provincial
forest
management boards, and the subsequent drafting of provincial
forest
plans, as part of the government's policy reform program in the
early
to mid-1990s. The other five components on the reform then were:
*
Creating a National Forest Board;
*
Creation of the Forest Management Agreement process;
*
Establishment of the Incorporated Land Group as the legislated
configuration
of community resource owners;
* The
logging code of practice be designed to regulate and reduce the
impact
of logging activities on the environment; and
* A
redesigned revenue system.
The
National Forest Plan was released in June 1996 when Sir Julius
Chan
was prime minister. It was widely criticised for its portrayal of
PNG's
forest resource solely in terms of its potential for industrial
logging.
Non-governmental
organisations argued that the NFP also proposed to
allocate
the nation's forest resource to industrial logging prior to
any
exploration of existing or potential alternative uses and prior to
any
agreement with resource owners. They said while the intention to
"acquire"
rights to forest resources was reiterated in the plan, its
designation
of forest areas and projections for timber production in
areas
where local communities were yet to articulate their own
management
preferences, undermined the principle of customary
ownership.
"In
many cases, the plan precluded the consideration of other
options,"
NGOs argued. "Moreover, it did not incorporate existing
conservation
areas or landowner petitions for development options
other
than industrial logging."
When
Bill Skate took over the reins as the country's top executive,
concerns
about the forest industry intensified to the point that the
World
Bank advised that funding programs to PNG would be jeopardised
if the
government did not address concerns regarding the sector.
The WWF
report also called on the government to consider extending
forestry
constraints within the Forest Inventory Mapping System to
include
current and planned conservation areas; fragile forest types;
areas
of threatened species; and important water catchments. It
suggested
that the government revise the 35-year industrial logging
cutting
cycle to accommodate the specific regeneration needs and
capacity
of PNG trees and forests.
The
report, completed in February and hoped to be launched this month,
urged
the PNG government to, among others:
*
Process applications for communities to establish wildlife
management
areas (WMA), many of them in forest areas. Also, alter the
NFP to
exclude existing and proposed WMA and conservation areas from
those
proposed for a forest management agreement; and
*
Review the legality of existing logging activities.
ITEM #2
Title: Eco-forestry can pay off - Dr Hunt
Source: Post-Courier Online
Status: Copyright 2000, contact source for
permission to reprint
Date: April 27, 2000
RESEARCH
has confirmed that eco-forestry is capable of generating a
return
to landowners that is comparable to industrial logging.
According
to the financial model that senior research fellow, Colin
Hunt
has used to measure the efficiency of eco-forestry projects in
the
country, eco-forestry is able to generate a healthier income for
landowners.
Dr Hunt said this was because it is subsidised by donors
directly
and through non-government organisations in its setting up
and
certification.
In
revealing this during his seminar presentation on the "Local and
Global
Benefits of Eco-forestry', Dr Hunt said eco-forestry was not
only
financially beneficial to the resource owners, it also had
economic
and environmental benefits.
Dr Hunt
said these benefits can be felt both locally and globally. He
said
the prevention of damage costs of carbon lost to the atmosphere
together
with the prevention of the loss of other environmental and
ecosystem
services was of prior importance.
Under
Dr Hunt's economic model, carbon fixation and environmental
recovery
through a 50-year forest regeneration period is also catered
for.
His
research confirms the economic returns to tropical forest
conservation,
where it replaced logging, were worth the investment by
donor
agencies.According to Dr Hunt, his research confirms that the
economic
returns to tropical forest conservation, where it replaces
logging,
is worth the investment by donor agencies.
"It
is therefore suggested that donors should continue to subsidise
small-scale
forestry where it replaces logging because of its large
conservation
and side benefits and because it is operational," said Dr
Hunt.
And according to Dr Hunt, compared with industrial logging, eco-
forestry
contributes little to consolidated revenue.
"Therefore
it is to be expected that eco-forestry will meet government
resistance
if it makes significant inroads into the allocation of
logging
concessions," he said.
Dr
Hunt's research was carried out over a two year period in the
coastal
areas of Madang and East and West New Britain provinces. The
seminar
was attended by NGO groups interested in sposering eco-
forestry
projects in the country.
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