By Chris Lang
Papua New Guinea is one of the countries that signed the Glasgow Declaration on Forests last week. The Declaration states that the countries signing on “commit to working collectively to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.” But back at home, many of PNG’s politicians are doing little or nothing to stop deforestation – legal and illegal – in the country.
On 1 November 2021, at the start of COP26 in Glasgow, NGOs in Papua New Guinea took out an advertisement in the Post Courier. The NGO statement focusses on the proposed Torricelli Mountain Range Conservation Area, where illegal logging and road-building is currently taking place – without the free, prior and informed consent of the landowners.
The NGO statement highlights the hypocrisy of the PNG government. While the PNG delegation to COP26 paint themselves as saviours of the rainforest, the reality is that forest destruction in Papua New Guinea continues:
As civil society organizations, we take a stand against any forest clearance that threatens the natural habitat of critically endangered species in the Torricelli. We also ask the Government of this country to address all issues of illegal logging, illegally issued Forest Clearance Authorities (FCAs) and the notorious Special Agricultural Business Lease (SABL) issue.
That was too much for the Post Courier’s sensitive legal team. The advertisement was run, but with no mention of free, prior and informed consent, and no mention of illegal logging. The uncensored version of the NGO statement is posted in full below.
In a sentence in which the NGOs call for politicians to address “illegal clearance of the forest in the Torricelli”, and “to put a stop to illegal logging operations in PNG,” the Post Courier‘s lawyers removed the first mention of “illegal” and replaced the second mention of “illegal” with “unnecessary”.
The reality is that illegal logging and Special Agricultural and Business Leases are a major scandal in PNG. SABLs have allowed forests to be clearcut for industrial agricultural plantations, in particular oil palm. SABLs were issued covering an are of 5.5 million hectares. These were largely used by logging companies to bypass forest legislation.
The Torricelli Mountain Range
Since the early 2000s, the Tenkile Conservation Alliance has been working with local communities to protect the Torricelli Mountain Range. Since 2010, communities and the Tenkile Conservation Alliance have proposed a conservation area covering 185,000 hectares.
But approval of the conservation area has stalled.
In May 2021, construction started on a new road that would connect the forests of the Torricelli Mountain Range, with Aitape, a town on the coast. Construction started without any consultation with the communities and the Tenkile Conservation Alliance.
The Torricelli Mountain Range is covered in rainforest, much of it primary forest. The forests are habitat to the tenkile tree kangaroo. Since 1996, the population of tenkiles has increased from about 100 to well over 300.
This recovery is threatened by the construction of the new road. Since August 2021, logging along the road has increased, as these images from a recent Mongabay article show:
Road-building threatens PNG’s forests
A 2019 article published in the journal PLoS ONE revealed that the PNG government has plans to expand its road network from 8,700 kilometres to 15,000 kilometres. In a press statement, Dr Mohammed Alamgir, lead author of the study, said,
Many will cut through critical habitats of endangered wildlife, including that of rare tree-kangaroos and birds of paradise. Altogether, 54 critical biodiversity areas will be threatened and there will be a great deal of forest fragmentation.
The new roads will create many deforestation hotspots for rainforests and carbon-rich peatlands, sharply increasing greenhouse-gas emissions.
Alamgir added that “A few politicians and land developers are getting very rich, but the rest of the country suffers—with traditional communities potentially losing their forests, fisheries, and clean water.”
Papua New Guinea’s politicians need to stop illegal deforestation
Here is the uncensored NGO statement, before the Murdoch-owned Post Courier got hold of it:
SAVE THE TORRICELLI AND THE CRITICALLY ENDANGERED TENKILE TREE KANGAROO!
The Torricelli Mountain Range (the Torricelli) is located in the Sandaun province and is home to the critically endangered Tenkile Tree Kangaroo (Tenkile Dendrolagus scottae), the Weimang Tree Kangaroo (Weimang d. Pulcherrimus) and the grizzled tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus inustus).
The landowners residing within the Torricelli have taken many steps in collaboration with the Tenkile Conservation Alliance (TCA) to preserve these endangered species and the virgin forest they live in. Amongst these steps is the establishment of a conservation area proposed to be called the Torricelli Mountain Range Conservation Area.
We have been informed by our partners that there has been vast forest clearance by logging companies in the proposed conservation area in the past few months. Satellite imagery obtained from the University of Maryland has also shown considerable tree cover loss in the area since August 2021.
The landowners claim that they have not given their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for logging activities on their customary land. Before any logging activities continue, this claim needs to be thoroughly checked by the relevant Authorities.
As civil society organizations, we take a stand against any forest clearance that threatens the natural habitat of critically endangered species in the Torricelli. We also ask the Government of this country to address all issues of illegal logging, illegally issued Forest Clearance Authorities (FCAs) and the notorious Special Agricultural Business Lease (SABL) issue.
We support the concerns raised by the Honourable Gary Juffa, MP, Governor for Oro Province, in the recent Parliament sitting in Papua New Guinea on the issue of illegal logging, which remains unchecked in this country without proper FPIC or permits, and seemingly without penalties for the perpetrators.
We cannot be seen as truly ‘taking back’ PNG if we continue to allow our forests to be pillaged by foreign logging companies, and yet, attend international engagements and pledge support for forest conservation and climate change mitigation activities.
We cannot advocate for the significance of our forests as the third-largest remaining in the world, while simultaneously allowing them to be plundered right under the nose of our Government and citizens. We will not flourish as a nation if our Government continues to allow the desecration of our forests and its inhabitants.
We stand in solidarity with our partners at TCA and ask the Prime Minister, Honourable James Marape, MP, the Minister for Forestry, Honourable Walter Schnaubelt, MP, the Minister for Environment, Conservation & Climate Change, Honourable Wera Mori, MP, and the Minister for Lands, Honourable John Rosso, MP, to address the illegal clearance of the forest in the Torricelli and to put a stop to illegal logging operations in PNG.
Walk the talk. Take back our forests, take back PNG. Save the Torricelli and respect the rights of the customary landowners.
For more information, contact us at pavusi@forcertpng.org.
Homo sapiens – the smart ones? I do not yet see any signs of civilization on this planet.
Apparently, politicians of every party must be able to talk out of two or three sides of their mouths, giving alternative facts designed for each intended audience – for their base, for their businesses, and for what would be best for society or the planet. Try to pin that Jello to the wall!
Always remember what John Dewey said in 1905: “Politics is the shadow cast upon society by big business.”