Australian forestry officials have finalized regulations to implement the new Australian Illegal Prohibition Logging Act. This has disappointed foreign Governments and industry trading partners who have expressed their concern that the Act breaches Australia’s WTO obligations and fails to meet previous requests for recognition of national measures, which are used to demonstrate the legality of forest production in timber exporting countries.
In a recent interview, Executive Director Bob Tate of the peak forest industry body, Papua New Guinea Forest Industries Association (PNGFIA), has said that PNG is well prepared for the new European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR). Mr Tate also indicated that the local forestry sector is taking precautionary steps to mitigate other risks associated with the EUTR.
The EU’s efforts to support development of REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) projects in PNG have stumbled. A pilot project designed to demonstrate the benefits of reduced impact logging has been rejected by local landowners because it resulted in unacceptable returns.
The PNG Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, has criticized the Interim Report from the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into Special Agricultural and Business Leases (SABLs), describing it as disappointing and not in the interests of the nation. He has also said that the Interim Report outlines significant administrative failings and the fact that a number of government departments have ‘fundamentally misunderstood their role and legal requirements’.
New Zealand’s (NZ) forestry sector has been named as a key driver of the nation’s fastest economic growth in over three years. The Bank of New Zealand’s (BNZ) Chief Economist, Cameron Bagrie, has said that the success of the industry is often overlooked, but further harnessing its potential will have even greater benefits for average national incomes.
Growing concerns surrounding the implementation and effects of the newly introduced EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) were recently raised at the 21st Illegal Logging Stakeholder Consultation and Update Meeting. New evidence also suggests that the EUTR is likely to benefit European producers at the expense of legitimate foreign producers, since – deservedly or not – timber from many developing countries is perceived as carrying a “non-negligible risk” of illegality.
The Australian Government recently announced AUD 6 million in funding to support the second phase of the Responsible Asia Forestry and Trade Partnership and Program (RAFT), a USAID initiative being carried out in PNG and other Asia Pacific nations. The program, which is heavily influenced by WWF forestry policies, has reportedly been criticised by PNG forestry officials.
A scathing review by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) claims the World Bank has failed its poverty mission in the forestry sector. The recent report shows the Bank’s USD2.6 billion spending on forestry interventions over the last decade has prioritised conservation and neglected other key objectives such as poverty alleviation and economic growth.
A new study on biodiversity conservation has confirmed that the effects of commercial logging on tropical forests have been exaggerated and the conservation potential of production forests downplayed by a technical flaw known as “pseudoreplication”.
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