Mr. Nicholas Booth / UNDP Resident Representative in Papua New Guinea.*

On Saturday, December 9, 2023 we marked International Anti-Corruption Day. This year, the day was dedicated to raising awareness of the link between anti-corruption and sustainable development. That remains a relevant issue in Papua New Guinea.

Evidence from official government sources suggests the PNG Forest Authority may be breaching a moratorium on new Forest Clearing Authority projects.

A twelve month moratorium on the issuing of new FCAs was announcd by the National Forest Board in February 2023 in response to widespread concerns the licences are being misused.

The PNG Forest Authority has confirmed there are multiple issues affecting the Wammy rural development project in West Sepik province but denies the logging company is misusing its Forest Clearance Authority (FCA).

“Cocoa is raining cash in Sepik”! was the proclamation by Governor for East Sepik Allan Bird on his social media page. 

He went on to say that the growth in his province’s economy will be built by ordinary village people earning a decent income and paying taxes when spending money on goods and services.  

Governor Bird also proudly displayed the receipt from a farmer who sold 8 bags of cocoa and received K6 763.15 in cash.

We the Nzera Clan of Sio Village and Levo Clan of Karangan Village are TOTALLY AGAINST the current logging operations in the Wasu area in Tewae- Siassi District in Morobe Province.

The logging is done by Lucky Logging (PNG) Limited, a foreign owned Malaysian Company, under two Forest Clearing Authorities (FCA 13-02 and 13-03). The FCAs were supposedly issued for Cattle farming, Hunting and Forestry.

The unlawful use of Forest Clearing Authorities as a cover for illegal large-scale logging operations by foreign-owned companies has been further exposed in a new report published by ACT NOW! 

To truly understand the forest sector in Papua New Guinea, one must carefully study the Forest Act and understand the language used, “forestry language”. 

Landowners who are planning to bring in a logging company or large-scale agriculture company to clear their forest must make it their business to learn the forestry language. 

This is to avoid the company and representatives of the PNG Forest Authority misleading the landowners into easily giving away their land in return for the false promises and benefits that will not be delivered as has been the case over the years.

New addendum added below on 20 November 2023

There is a very high risk that almost all logging occurring in natural forest areas in Papua New Guinea is illegal.

This is the damning verdict in a new Timber Legality Risk Assessment published ACT NOW!

Morobe Timber Consortium and people from Labuta (Image: EMTV)

By Nalau Bingading, Customary Landowner and Forest Scientist

Morobe Timbers Consortium Limited has attracted a lot of media recently with claims it has reached some kind of agreement with Wagangluhu landowners of Labuta LLG in the Morobe Province, to set up a Forest Industrial Park on 2,000 hectares of customary land. 

Papua New Guinea’s log export volumes are too high and the Forest Authority is failing to comply with the government’s reduction targets. This is according to the analysis of official data published.