PNG’s Garden of Eden

What would you do if you saw a guy with a chainsaw start cutting down trees in your front yard? Then he yells over the noise, and tells you that a big company now owns your land for the next 99 years.

This is a place where people live at one with their environment. A place with no rubbish and clean rivers and fresh air. A place where people really appreciate what they have. This is truely paradise.

Let me introduce you to West Pomio, New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea. Paradise is how it looked from the air. The Greenpeace helicopter banked down into a valley. Highlands covered in equatorial forest, tree ferns, flocks of hornbills and parrots everywhere. Then as we flew over the ridge I saw the Bairaman river for the first time, with it's turquoise blue water flowing over white limestone. As I looked down at the pristine country a voice came over the radio, Sam Moko, Greenpeace forest campaigner saying this is what we stand to lose, if we can't stop the loggers. Then as we headed east, in the distance we could see the huge tracks of land being cleared. According to the villages of West Pomio, a 99 year lease for their land has been signed without the consent of the right full landowner, to one of the worlds most notorious multinational logging companies Rimbunan Hijau operating under a front or subsidiary company called Gilford Limited. Greenpeace was invited to Pomio district by the landowners to help them fight for an injunction in the nations capital, Port Moresby, exposing the corrupt lease system now rampant in PNG. I'm' not anti-development, but this is such a tragedy for the planet if we let this one go.

Back in 2003, the PNG Department of Lands and Physical Planning has approved 74 Special Purpose Agricultural and Business Leases (SABLs) covering about 5.2 million hectare of forested customary land; 11% of PNG’s total land area or about 18% of its remaining forest. Most leases run for 99 years and alienate customary owners who can only remain on their land at the discretion of the leaseholder. About 97% of land in PNG is held under customary ownership; therefore, SABLs pose a significant threat to land use and customary ownership in PNG. SABLs were established to increase economic activity and empower local communities. It was anticipated at the time that customary landowners would benefit from rental payments, employment opportunities and increased welfare services and facilities. SABLs are also referred to as lease-lease back schemes as the government leases land from customary owners and communities and then leases the land back to corporate entities. Some of these entities are land owner companies or Incorporated Land Groups (ILGs), but many are logging and agriculture corporations, of which most are foreign owned. In 2007, sections of the Forestry Act were amended to enable project development companies to also harvest the forest under a Forest Clearance Authority (FCA) – formerly harvesting contractors were decided by tenders. FCAs have been issued for approximately 2 million hectares of forest in existing SABLs. This promotes the exploitation of native forest resources without requiring PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA) approval and adherence to existing forestry regulations. SABLs are therefore an avenue to circumvent prevailing efforts to reform the forestry industry in PNG, which has long been plagued by allegations of mismanagement and corruption. Gilford Limited received a Forest Clearing Authority in 2009 and landed at West Pomio with logging equipment in late 2010. Logging has continued since then with about 8 shipment of round logs exported to China. About 200,000 palm oil seedlings wait to be planted on the leases. The project is claimed to be worth K500 million (235 million USD ) and will see 40ha of the 44,000 ha site cultivated by the end of 2011. See PDF 

Once in Port Moresby, Greenpeace and several land owners presented their case with a petition to a government minister, Ken Fairwheather who received on behalf of the Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill. Then the minister presented the petition at the National Executive Council meeting and no action has been taken from that moment until now. It's all now in the hands of 'Commission of Inquiry' to complete their investigation and present their findings to the government and hopefully to take action. On the ground, the logging continues to this day. See video

Music by Te Vaka "Aivoli taoa"