Issues and concerns

The overriding issue in Papua New Guinean forestry is unsustainable and destructive logging. A number of initiatives have been implemented to afford greater control over logging, but there still remains much scope for improvement. Clear felling for oil palm plantations, agricultural and roading schemes, as well as unsustainable levels of permitted harvest, are major issues. Efforts are being made to address these and it is expected that the 35-year harvesting cycle will be applied to all operations within 5-10 years. Even so, development of an adequate national inventory and mapping system is much needed to allow proper land use planning and operational planning, and to accurately determine sustainable yield levels.

Corruption is an issue acknowledged by the government and logging companies wield a significant degree of financial influence. There is also evidence that much of the legislation is not effectively enforced, with the majority of logging companies operating without recognition of the mandatory provision of environmental impact assessments, projects approved that do not appear in the National Forest Plan, and breaches of the Forestry Act. Most of the government land available for plantation forestry has been planted, and further planting is reliant on achieving lease agreements with landowners. Customary ownership of land makes it very difficult to secure land for reforestation programmes. Obtaining lease agreements is a laborious task and, allied with the loss of some existing long-term leases, this is jeopardizing government planting programmes. The present protected areas system is inadequate in view of the country¿s biodiversity and has proven difficult to establish on account of the land tenure system. Landowner awareness of forestry roles, practices and legislation needs improvement. Compounding this is a lack of resources and training for the Provincial Forest Management Committees. While traditional beliefs and customs have helped to protect the environment in the past, the integrity of the environment is under increasing threat from population growth pressures.

last updated: Friday, May 13, 2005