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FOREST CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY
World Bank Poised to Waive Papua New Guinea Rainforest
Commitments
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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org, Inc.
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October 2, 2002
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Forests.org
Here we go again in Papua New Guinea (PNG) rainforest
conservation
battles! The World
Bank is poised to yet again let the PNG
government off the hook for failing to honor commitments
to conserve
its rainforests in exchange for financing – in this case
through the
“Forest and Conservation Project” (FCP) that provides
huge financial
subsidies to the commercial log export industry. Earlier this year
the World Blank allowed a moratorium on new logging to
lapse and
dispersed loan funds despite flagrant violations of
promises to
reform the timber industry. Continued failure to rigidly enforce
forest conservation conditions within loan agreements in
both PNG and
nearby Indonesia comes as the World Bank is making the
case that it
deserves greater latitude to actually subsidize industrial
logging of
the World’s last primary and old-growth rainforests (see
HOT current
alert at http://forests.org/emailaction/bank.htm ).
If commitments under the proposed Bank project by the PNG
government
to review all new logging permit applications and 15
current logging
projects by June 2003 are not upheld, the project should
be
abandoned. The
World Bank and Government of PNG’s approach to forest
management would finally be totally discredited. As the Eco-Forestry
Forum notes, “If the conditions of the loan agreement are
not to be
implemented and fully observed, then much of the FCP will
become
pointless as large scale logging operations will continue
unabated
and uncontrolled, destroying forest areas and negatively
impacting on
the lives of rural people and the national economy.” Donor subsidies
for commercial logging, masquerading as forest and
biodiversity
conservation projects, must end in Papua New Guinea and
the Planets’s
other critical forest ecosystems - in terms of
biodiversity and
ecological processes.
Subsidizing industrial logging – repackaged best
management practices
branded as “sustainable forestry” - is not a biodiversity
conservation strategy.
PNG’s future development and environmental
sustainability depends upon ending these shameful, flawed
forest
management and conservation policies, and urgently
pursuing the
following:
* Establish a timeline to permanently end industrial log
exports from
PNG, and a process to transition the industry to small
and medium
scaled community and certified forest management.
* Establish a Commission of Inquiry with broad
discretionary power to
investigate all aspects of the logging industry and make
necessary
recommendations, including possible criminal
prosecutions.
* End donor subsidies to industrial log export. Redirect
donor funds
to transitioning the industry to environmental and social
sustainability through support for community based
management and
protection, cushioning the economic impact upon the
government and
landowners of doing so.
* The PNG government must develop and implement forest
policy,
legislation, regulations and guidelines to establish an
entirely new
forest sector based upon ecologically sustainable, small
to medium
scale, local community-based eco-forestry management.
The second article below shows the degree to which
logging industry
graft has become an embedded part of widespread
corruption in PNG. A
recent Ombudsman report concludes that the decision of
the National
Forest Board to grant a major industrial logging
extension in the
largest contiguous rainforest left in the Asia-Pacific
region was
illegal and should be revoked. Rimbunan Hijau has been operating the
432,000 hectare Wawoi Guavi logging concession in Western
Province
since 1992. In
February 1999 the National Forest Board decided to
award the much larger 791,000 hectare Kamula Dosa logging
concession
to the Wawoi Guavi Timber Company as an ‘extension’ to
the Wawoi
Guavi timber permit.
By awarding the concession as an extension the
Board avoided the usual requirement for a public
tendering process.
The Board decision ignored advice of the Provincial
Forest Management
Committee, National Forest Service technical staff, and
many of the
local landowners.
And oh yes, lets not forget that the Forest Board is in
the hands of
a known crook.
Department of Environment and Conservation Secretary,
Dr Wari Iamo, is heading for trouble again after his
K100,000 trip to
the Johannesburg Earth summit in South Africa that ended
up instead
as a week long stay in Singapore. More details can be found at
http://www.pngweb.com/ .
Bottom line, PNG’s rainforests are in the hands of crooks
and bankers
intent upon their industrial plunder. Their “sustainable forestry”
threatens local, regional and global sustainability. Industrial
logging must be shut down and replaced with community
based eco-
forestry and protected areas. This is truly the World Bank’s last
change in PNG to demonstrate it is a good standing member
of the
global forest conservation community. Drop the FCP’s conditions
for project review and the World Blank will be dropped by
conservationists and properly vilified as a source of
global forest
ecocide.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
ITEM #1
Title: PNG Groups
Urge World Bank to Keep Logging Reviews
Source: Copyright
2002 Environment News Service
Date: September
27, 2002
Byline: Bob Burton
CANBERRA, Australia, September 27, 2002 (ENS) - Papua New
Guinea
environmental and community development groups fear the
World Bank
will buckle to lobbying by the logging industry and agree
to retreat
from commitments it made to protect landowners and
environmental
values of the country's rainforests.
At the center of the controversy is a stand-off that
flared earlier
this week between the PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA) and
the World Bank
over implementation of the $US39 million, six year Forest
and
Conservation Project.
The project, agreed to in December 2001 by the previous
PNG
government and the World Bank, included commitments to
review all new
logging permit applications and review 15 current logging
projects by
June 2003.
Papua New Guinea contains the world’s third most
extensive tract of
forested land, which covers more than 60 percent of the
country's
land area. Nearly all of it is held as customary land by
the
country’s five million people, and 80 percent of PNG
residents use
forests for timber and non-timber products.
The Forest and Conservation Project (FCP) was to be
launched at a
public forum in Port Moresby last Friday following
intensive
workshops with government agencies earlier in the week.
But on Monday
morning, the managing director of the PNG Forest
Authority, David
Nelson, demanded the World Bank postpone the workshops
indefinitely.
A leaked World Bank memo revealed the exasperation of
World Bank
staff over the cancelation of the project's public
launch. “The
reason given was that there has been insufficient
consultation with
the PNGFA and that they want to renegotiate aspects of
the FCP prior
to any launch workshop,” the memo stated.
“If the government (PNGFA) walks away from this
agreement, or fails
to cooperate at this stage, then it is likely to have
very negative
implications with respect to future donor assistance in
PNG," the
memo said. "The PNGFA have been consulted about the
FCP for a very
long time and have been aware of the workshop date for at
least since
… the start of August."
Despite frustration, the World Bank agreed to cancel the
planned
forums, suggesting they may take place within a few
weeks.
World Bank country director Klaus Rohland, who was
unavailable for
comment, signaled in a media statement that the “World
Bank expects
to discuss these matters further [with PNG leaders]
during the
meeting in Washington, DC." The annual meeting of
the World Bank
opened today in Washington and continues through Sunday.
The Eco-Forestry Forum (EFF), an umbrella group of 20
community
development and environment groups promoting community
forestry
projects, fears the World Bank will agree to further
weaken the FCP
project.
EFF chairman Kenn Mondiai wrote in a fax to Rohland this
morning, “If
the conditions of the loan agreement are not to be
implemented and
fully observed, then much of the FCP will become
pointless as large
scale logging operations will continue unabated and
uncontrolled,
destroying forest areas and negatively impacting on the
lives of
rural people and the national economy.”
In the eyes of the EFF, the postponement of the FCP
project launch is
ominous. “The events of the past few days were clearly
predictable
and demonstrate a clear agenda on the part of the PNG
Forest
Authority, the logging industry and some politicians to
see the FCP
withdrawn or renegotiated,” Mondiai wrote.
Dick McCarthy, who serves as executive director of the
PNG Forest
Industry Association, has welcomed the government’s
insistence that
the launch of the project be deferred in order to allow
time for
renegotiation of the project.
All the PNG government did was ask that the World Bank
"review the
terms of reference," McCarthy told ENS. "Now if
you sally forth here
and do something and don’t have support of the masses you
get ourself
into trouble … and I think they sallied forth,” he said.
“But no one is canceling. All they are saying is we want
to sit down
and talk about it to try and get things a bit better,”
McCarthy said.
McCarthy confirmed that the logging industry body would
be pushing
PNG's new government to overturn changes made by the
previous
government. “Commercial industry and the professional
foresters of
PNG were sidelined [by the World Bank] to allow much
greater say by
the greens, and there were some changes done to the
Forest Act, and
that needs to be unchanged,” he said.
Greenpeace forest campaigner in Papua New Guinea, Brian
Brunton, is
worried. “The World Bank has shown themselves to be
consistently weak
at the knees," he said.
"Whether or not they will stand firm or give up will
depend on the
amount of pressure that is applied to them," Brunton
said. "But if no
pressure is applied to them I think they will repeat the
mistakes
they have made in the past with the Papua New Guinea
government."
The previous PNG Prime Minister, Sir Mekere Morauta,
failed to
overturn government approvals for new logging projects
without the
required agreement of landowners.
The new PNG government is headed by Sir Michale Somare
following an
election count finalized in July. Brunton is hopeful the
new
government will respond to landowners' concerns.
“This government is a lot firmer and is a lot more open
then the
previous government on forests and conservation issues,
so it is
quite possible this government could actually pull itself
into line,"
Brunton said. "The real problem is that agreements
that were made
between certain members of the previous government and
logging
companies are still being played out."
ITEM #2
Title: The Kamula
Dosa Affair: A summary of the Ombudsman Commission
report
Source: Copyright
2002 PNG Eco-Forestry Forum
Date: October 2,
2002
After a three-year investigation, the Ombudsman
Commission has
published its final report on the National Forest Board
decision in
February 1999 to award the Kamula Dosa logging concession
in Western
Province to the logging company Rimbunan Hijau.
The Ombudsman report concludes that the decision of the
National
Forest Board to grant the extension was based on improper
considerations and should be revoked.
The report finds that the Chair of the National Forest
Board, the
Managing Director of the National Forest Service and two
Forest
Ministers (including current Fisheries Minister, Andrew
Baing) all
acted “wrongly” and that the Board and the Minister acted
in breach
of the Forestry Act.
The Ombudsman Commission has made a total of ten
recommendations.
These include the termination of Wari Iamo as the Chair
of the
National Forest Board.
The report describes the conduct of Wari Iamo as “wrong”
and finds
that “he failed to give any proper advice and consideration
to
environmental concerns” and “he failed to live up to the
standard
demanded of him”. The report concludes therefore that he
“should not
continue to hold an office he has shown himself unable to
adequately
perform”.
The Ombudsman has also highlighted the behaviour of the
logging
company Rimbunan Hijau.
The Ombudsman has recommended that the “present projects
and future
proposals by the Rimbunan Hijau group of companies be
carefully
audited and monitored” and that the National Forest Board
should
“have a particularly close look at how the Rimbunan Hijau
Group
conducts its business in Papua New Guinea”.
Other recommendations from the Ombudsman include that all
logging
operations be subject to an annual review to ensure
compliance with
contractual obligations; changes to the Forestry Act to
reduce
political interference; the better implementation of
legislation; and
improved diligence in the performance of their duties by
Provincial
Forest Management Committees.
Background
Rimbunan Hijau has been operating the Wawoi Guavi logging
concession
in Western Province since 1992 through its subsidiary
company, Wawoi
Guavi Timber Company. This concession covers an area of
432,000
hectares.
In February 1999 the National Forest Board decided to
award the much
larger Kamula Dosa logging concession to the Wawoi Guavi
Timber
Company as an ‘extension’ to the Wawoi Guavi timber
permit. The
Kamula Dosa concession covers an area of 791,000 hectares
The decision to award the concession as an extension
meant that the
Board could avoid the usual requirement for a public
tendering
process. This meant that the Board was denying any other
logging
company the chance to make a bid for the concession.
The Board decision was made contrary to the advice of the
Provincial
Forest Management Committee and the views of the National
Forest
Service technical staff, which had been presented to the
Board in
several written papers. The Board was also ignoring the
wishes of
many of the local landowners.
The Board also chose to ignore the very poor performance
of Rimbunan
Hijau in the Wawoi Guavi logging concession. The National
Forest
Service had described that performance in these terms:
* “about one percent of the total log value is being paid
to
landowners”,
* “Rimbunan Hijau have constructed nil roads, bridges or
culverts”,
* “the infrastructure constructed is of very poor
quality” and
* “the level of benefits provided per unit of production are
the
lowest in the country”.
The Ombudsman Investigation
The Ombudsman Commission investigation was initiated in
June 1999.
The purpose of the investigation was to establish if
there was any
wrong conduct surrounding the decision of the National
Forest Board
to allocate the Kamula Dosa logging concession to Wawoi
Guavi Timber
Company as an extension to their Wawoi Guavi logging
operation.
As part of its investigation the Ombudsman Commission
advised both
the National Forest Board and the Forest Authority of its
investigation and conducted a total of 26 interviews with
people
concerned in the affair.
The Ombudsman produced a preliminary report in November
2000. This
was distributed to the 22 people and organisations named
in the
report and they were invited to give their responses to
the
preliminary findings and recommendations.
The Ombudsman Commission received and considered a total
of nine
written responses to its preliminary report. These
included a written
response from Wari Iamo and both a written and oral
submission from
Rimbunan Hijau who also sent 8 letters to the Ombudsman
through their
lawyers.
The Findings
One: The decision
of the National Forest Board to grant the
extension was in breach of the Forestry Act and was
therefore wrong.
Two: The National
Forest Board also acted wrongly in failing to give
paramount consideration to the Constitution and the
Forestry Act
rather than the needs of a logging company.
Three: The
National Forest Board was wrong not to have a clear
policy on extensions.
Four: The Managing
Director of the National Forest Service was wrong
in rejecting the advice of his technical officers and in
maintaining
that the resource owners supported the extension when
this was
clearly not true.
“Mr Nen’s conduct was confusing and contradictory and
gave the
impression that he either did not know or did not care
what
official documents he signed”.
Five: Mr Nen was
wrong not to ensure that Rimbunan Hijau follow the
law in setting up their processing unit at Panakawa. The
managing
Director was wrong as he “condoned the company’s illegal
action and
demeaned his position and diminished respect for his
position”.
Six: Wari Iamo was
wrong to state that the landowners supported the
extension; it was “irresponsible and highly questionable
and made
without any supporting evidence”.
“Dr Iamo was prepared to disregard the advice of the
technical staff
of the NFS and the recommendation of the Western
Provincial Forest
Management Committee in favour of the views of one
private landowner
company”.
Seven: Dr Iamo was
also wrong in not satisfying himself that
environmental concerns had been addressed. He did not
“give proper
consideration to environmental matters” and his “conduct
was baffling
and negligent”.
Eight: National
Forest Board member Gabriel Samol was wrong to vote
in favour of the extension when he knew that the
necessary procedural
steps had not been completed.
Nine: The conduct
of Andrew Baing, then Minister for Forests and now
Minister for Fisheries, in giving directions to the
National Forest
Board was contrary to law and wrong.
“Mr Baing meddled in the affairs of the Forest Authority.
His
directions were arbitrary and irresponsible”.
Ten: The conduct
of Mr Fabian Pok as Minister for Forests in also
trying to give directions to the Board was contrary to
law and wrong.
Eleven: The
conduct of Norbert Makmop, then Governor of Western
Province, in encouraging Ministers to apply undue
pressure on the
National Forest Board was wrong.
“Mr Makmop’s motivation was not a desire to see a fair,
transparent
and well-considered decision made”.
Twelve: The
conduct of the Department of Trade and Industry in not
consulting with other government bodies when preparing a
National
Council Submission was wrong
The Recommendations
The Ombudsman Commission has made a total of 11
recommendations.
According to the Ombudsman, these recommendations must be
implemented
within 30 days unless he is given cogent and convincing
reasons why
they cannot or should not be carried out.
One: The National
Forest Board formally revoke its decision to award
the Kamula Dosa logging concession as an extension to the
Wawoi Guavi
timber permit.
Two: The National
Forest Board and the Department of Environment and
Conservation ensure that the Environmental Planning Act
be complied
with in the allocation and implementation of all forestry
development
projects
Three: All
Provincial Forest Management Committees strictly and
diligently carry out their duties
Four: The Forestry
Act be amended to expressly exclude Ministerial
interference with the National Forest Board.
Five: The National
Forest Board make clear guidelines on the size of
allowable extensions
Six: The National
Forest Board undertake annual reviews of all
logging operations to ensure full compliance with
contractual
obligations and to carefully screen future applications
from
defaulting companies
Seven: The future
public re-employment of Thomas Nen be carefully
and critically reviewed
Eight: The
National Executive Council (NEC) terminate the
appointment of Wari Iamo to the National Forest Board
Nine: The NEC
terminate the appointment of Gabriel Samol to the
National Forest Board
Ten: Coordination
between departments be observed to ensure
compliance with all requirements relating to forestry
projects
Eleven: Present
projects and future proposals by the Rimbunan Hijau
group be carefully audited and monitored to ensure strict
compliance
with the law and future proposals be critically screened
before
approval.
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