The World Rainforest Movement

Why do peasant farmers lose out when they produce for the palm oil industry? A publication based on experiences from Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.

This article breaks down some of the myths used to justify the privatisation of customary land and makes clear that efforts to privatise land are not about development but about profits for corporations, financial institutions and already wealthy people.

Map showing the location of the Kamlapar Carbon Credit Project

Landowners in New Ireland claim a US based company is illegally selling carbon credits on the international market that it has obtained by fraud. The landowners have written to the government and the international company that is verifying the carbon credits to try and stop the sale.

The value and importance of customary land in supporting the lives and livelihoods of most Papua New Guinean’s is being celebrated in a new television advertising campaign launched by ACT NOW!

1.  The Forestry Act 1991 is 30 years old and has been weakened by many amendments.

2.  Very limited implementation: most operations are old concession types - Timber Rights Purchase (TRP) / Local Forest Area (LFA). 

3.  Under the Act our forest resource has been depleted; unsustainable harvests + extensive forest clearance. 

4.  Act is completely outdated as the national and international context has changed: 

In November 2019 the Marape government committed to increasing taxes on round log exports as a response to decades of tax evasion and tax avoidance by the logging industry.

With the release of a new report, ACT NOW!, Jubilee Australia, and the Oakland Institute, are calling for an urgent change of course from political leaders in Papua New Guinea. The report, From Extraction to Inclusion, analyses the country’s economic and development performance since its independence in 1975.

Editorial: Post Courier August 25th 2020

Last week we applauded the government efforts through a joint effort that uncovered illegal workers and unregistered equipment in a logging operation in PNG’s Northern Province.

In fact, our exact phrase was to urge the PNG Government to “deal decisively with foreigners who do not respect our laws”.