UN Committee questions government on SABL leases and illegal FCA logging
The United Nations is calling for answers from the Papua New Guinea government over its cancellation of controversial SABL leases and the use of Forest Clearing Authorities as cover for illegal large-scale logging operations.
In a public letter sent last week, the UN’s Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD), says it is concerned by reported delays and a lack of transparency in the revoking of Special Agriculture Business Leases and the audit of FCA logging licences.
A national Commission of Inquiry in 2011 found almost all SABL leases issued over customary land were unlawful due to corruption and mismanagement and in June 2014 the National Executive Council endorsed the recommendation the leases should be revoked.
However, since then there has been a complete lack of transparency over which leases have been cancelled and which remain and affected communities have been denied any effective remedies including fair and just compensation for land and resources illegally occupied or damaged.
Meanwhile, the abuse of Forest Clearing Authorities by privately owned Malaysian logging companies has flourished. Over the past three-years, one-third of all log exports have come from FCA areas, with 50 such licences issued, the largest covering more than 250,000 hectares.
The UN says it is concerned these FCAs have been issued without the informed consent of local resource owners and the permits are being unlawfully used as cover for the logging of large-areas of forest in breach of Forestry Act rules.
The letter also raises the lack of public information about the Forest Authority’s promised audit of all FCA logging operations and the implementation of a moratorium on new FCA projects.
The UN says the delays in the cancellation of SABL leases and abuse of FCAs threaten the rights of Indigenous Peoples, particularly their right to own, develop, control and use their communal lands and resources and their rights to justice, effective remedies and fair and just compensation.
The Committee has asked the government to provide a response on all the issues raised in its letter by 17 April 2026. It also notes the government has previous failed to respond to earlier letters sent in 2011, 2016 and 2018 that raised similar issues.
Later this year it will be the turn of the PNG government to appear before the United National Human Rights Council in Geneva to defend its record on human rights under the five-yearly Universal Periodic Review process. The issue of SABL leases and abuse of FCA logging licences are likely too feature heavily in those hearings.
