Forest Crime

Prime Minister must act to stop widespread illegal logging

Submitted by Eddie Tanago on Wed, 02/10/2024 - 11:29

Prime Minister James Marape has spoken of the importance of preserving Papua New Guinea’s tropical rainforest in a meeting with the United Nations General Secretary and in his address to the UN General Assembly last Friday 

Yet, his government is doing nothing to stop widespread illegal logging and in particular the abuse of agricultural clearing licences.

Marape has described PNG’s rainforests as vital to PNG and to the global community, yet PNG is the world’s largest exporter of tropical logs and most of the logging is illegal and unsustainable.

Prime Minster must act to stop widespread illegal logging

Submitted by ACTNOW on Wed, 02/10/2024 - 09:18

Prime Minister James Marape has spoken of the importance of preserving Papua New Guinea’s tropical rainforest in a meeting with the United Nations General Secretary and in his address to the UN General Assembly last Friday 

Yet, community advocacy group ACT NOW says his government is doing nothing to stop widespread illegal logging and in particular the abuse of agricultural clearing licences.

Loani FCA logging another bogus agriculture project?

Submitted by ACTNOW on Wed, 21/08/2024 - 09:27

A new logging operation in Milne Bay Province could be yet another example of a bogus agriculture project being used as cover for a large-scale forest grab.

The new logging operation began on Sideia Island earlier this year as part of the Loani Bwanabwana Integrated Agro-Forestry Project.

Operated by a Malaysian logging company with no previous agriculture experience, the project is promising 36,700 hectares of new agriculture planting, including balsa, cocoa, vanilla and rice.

Loani Bwanabwana Forest Clearance: Another Bogus Agriculture Project?

Submitted by ACTNOW on Wed, 21/08/2024 - 09:24

Community advocacy group ACT NOW! says a new logging operation in Milne Bay Province could be yet another example of a bogus agriculture project being used as cover for a large-scale forest grab.

The new logging operation began on Sideia Island earlier this year as part of the Loani Bwanabwana Integrated Agro-Forestry Project.

Operated by a Malaysian logging company with no previous agriculture experience, the project is promising 36,700 hectares of new agriculture planting, including balsa, cocoa, vanilla and rice.

Logging on Sideia: Absolutely no political will

Submitted by ACTNOW on Thu, 01/08/2024 - 17:41

David Mitchel / Eco Custodian Advocates

The idea of a tropical log export ban in PNG started in the 1990s with fifteen specific timber species.

Again in 2010 the Forest Minister Nama indicated that round logs exports to cease, in 2018 the then Prime Minister, O’Neil said no round log export by 2020, which PM Marape reiterated in 2019 and yet another Forest Minster Tomuriesa in 2020 said a ban on round log export by 2025.

Now in 2024 PNG is the greatest tropical round log exporter in the world with Malaysia’s exports decreasing, now second.

Forest Crime

The timber industry in Papua New Guinea is beset with corruption and political interference with widespread illegal practices and human rights abuses across the sector.

Forest Clearing Authorities

A Forest Clearance Authority (FCA) is one of three types of logging licence that can be granted under the Forestry Act.

An FCA is only supposed to be used to authorise the clearing of trees from a discrete area of forest, which is being converted to agriculture or other land use development. 

However, FCA licences are routinely being issued over far larger areas of forest than could ever be converted to agriculture and are being issued without the informed consent of local forest owners.

Illegal Logging

There is a very high risk that almost all logging occurring in natural forest areas in Papua New Guinea is illegal - as revealed in a Timber Legality Risk Assessment published ACT NOW!

The assessment is based on a comprehensive review of all the available literature, including the reports of official government inquiries, court cases, international organisations (such as the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the International Tropical Timber Association) and civil society groups.