Biodiversity Conservation Network
17. Eco-Timber from the Forests of New Britain
Location: East New Britain and Other Sites, Papua New Guinea Partners: Pacific Heritage Foundation (PHF)
East New Britain Sosel Eksen Committee
Individual and Community Rights Advocacy Forum (ICRAF)
Forest Research InstituteProject Title: Community-Based Eco-Forestry Projects BCN Funding: $451,738 Partner Contribution: $559,825 Grant Period: October 1, 1995 - September 30, 1998
Project Overview
The forests of the islands in Eastern Papua New Guinea (PNG), including New Britain and New Ireland, home to a number of rare and endemic plant and animal species, now face some of the most intense commercial logging operations in the region, if not the world. Large foreign logging companies have been able to persuade local landowners to sell the rights to their timber for a fraction of its true market value. PNG stands at an extremely critical juncture regarding its forestry policy, as factions within the forestry department seek to remove most existing environmental controls regarding the forestry sector. The country must develop sustainable alternatives to large-scale commercial logging that can also meet community development needs.To counter this threat, PHF and its partners are expanding ongoing efforts to offer local communities an alternative to these commercial logging operations in the East and West New Britain, New Ireland, and Sepik Provinces of PNG. PHF's primary objectives for the Implementation Grant are to: 1) reduce the decline of forest resources by supporting community-owned small-scale logging enterprises as alternatives to large-scale industrial logging, 2) establish a central processing and marketing unit to generate high returns to communities and ensure long-term economic viability, and 3) increase capacities for extension, technical, social, and legal services. The project also will explore other smaller enterprises including the harvest of Galip nuts and other non-timber forest products. Finally, in conjunction with several collaborators, the project will support extensive social and biological monitoring activities.
Community-based ecoforestry has enormous potential as a tool for sustainable use of natural resources. This project will help to demonstrate the sustainability of such small-scale timber operations, and comes at a crucial time for the development of PNG's national forestry policy.
1996 Accomplishments
Community-based portable sawmill projects have been established in Mu, Illi and Murunga villages within the Project area, and a further sawmill project will be established at Merai village within the next month. In particular the project at Mu has been an outstanding success, and the project leader, Martin Katole, has been appointed as the Foundation's District Officer with the responsibility of overseeing all the projects in the area. Some of the tangible results at Mu include the construction and stocking of a village store, and the construction of a village guest house. Previously there would not have been the capital, nor probably the enthusiasm, for either of these projects.The Biological Expedition conducted in 1995 with the assistance of the Christensen Research Institute and the National Museum, not only provided a substantial amount of base data but encouraged some lateral thinking amongst the landowners as to other values of their forest resources. We are now networked with a diverse group of scientists and students, and there will be a series of field updates over the coming year.
Success Stories
PHF led a number of awareness and education campaigns in the Bainings area in 1995 to allow villagers to be able to make informed decisions about a potential gold mine on their land. The strength of the mining lobby was underestimated and they were very active in placing their activists within communities and fomenting attacks against the PHF programs. These reached a peak when they attempted to prove that the prices being paid for sawn timber from the projects was below market. The miners hired a truck and took a load of this timber to various traders in Rabaul. We discovered later that the traders either refused to purchase the ungraded timber, or offered prices well below those that PHF were paying.Whilst we eventually lost the battle against the establishment of the mine, our integrity and objectives were firmly re-established in the minds of the villagers. We also believe that the mine battle will resume once production commences and the more obvious environmental problems surface.
Challenges
The Wide Bay area where we are working with the BCN grant, is listed in the new National Forest Plan for commercial logging in 1998. We have a race on our hands for the establishment of more projects and the upgrading of existing ones if we are to be able to convince the villagers that these are better alternatives to export logging. This situation is made more fragile as we approach the next National Elections in July 1997. Every sitting member has to raise approximately $1 million for campaign funds to have any hope of winning a seat, and the loggers are the most likely source of this level of funds. Many sitting members, together with rafts of hopefuls, will be trying to promote export logging operations.
 |
WHY BIODIVERSITY FIELD STORIES PARTICIPATE RESULTS MARKETSPACE ABOUT THE NETWORK WHAT'S NEW LEARNING MATERIALS SEARCH LINKS SITE MAP HOME |