Map showing location of log exporting TRP projects 2019-21
More than thirty large-scale logging projects appear to be operating in defiance of a Court ban issued by the Deputy Chief Justice in June 2021. Together the logging operations accounted for 40% of Papua New Guinea’s total log exports in the twelve months from July 2021.
The Tavolo Community Conservation Association from East New Britain have won a major victory against a Malaysian logging company that has been threatening to log their customary forests.
The National Court has granted the Association a temporary injunction suspending a Forest Clearance Authority granted to Mekar (PNG) Limited by the PNG Forest Authority and stopping any large-scale conversion of forest to agriculture or other land use.
Nearly 70% of Papua New Guinea’s round log exports between 2019 and 2021 were concentrated in the hands of just ten groups of companies, all with strong links to Malaysia, according to new research by Act Now! and Jubilee Australia Research Centre.
In 1989, after chairing a two-year Commission of Inquiry, Justice Barnett described forest management in PNG as being in a state of chaos. He declared that foreign-owned logging companies were being allowed to operate as they pleased as a result of bribery and the corruption of State officials and politicians.
The aspiration to ban round log exports is now at least 15 years old, but consecutive governments have failed to meet their own deadlines. After putting aside the agenda for over a decade they now say a ban will be imposed in 2025 and the country will move finally to fully downstream processing.
Papua New Guinea’s tropical rainforests have enormous local, national and international importance but are under threat from a variety of sources including commercial logging.
The government has committed to drastically reduce the rate of commercial logging and increase financial returns from downstream processing by ending the export of unprocessed round logs by 2025, but a new research paper by ACT NOW shows there are serious questions over whether this target will be achieved.
Map showing location of log exporting TRP projects 2019-21
FIGURE 1: Round Log Export Timeline