Author Archives: Forestry and Development

World leaders rejected demands of influential NGO – WWF – at a recent global environmental policy summit in Brazzaville. The summit aimed to reach a global agreement on management and conservation of tropical forests by bringing together 35 countries from … Continue reading →

A recent study by University of Helsinki and The Rockefeller University academics highlights the importance of forest density in carbon sequestration. The findings indicate that the size of trees and the density of forests – rather than just the area … Continue reading →

The World Bank revealed that the global carbon trading market has stalled. A recent World Bank report found that the total value of the global carbon market stalled at $142 billion, despite rising emissions and several years of market growth. … Continue reading →

A study funded through the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has found that PNG’s native forests maintain significant environmental qualities after log harvesting. These findings confirm the view that the overwhelming majority of PNG’s forestry industry operates sustainably, … Continue reading →

A spokesman from the Papua New Guinea forest industry last week told the Australian Government’s inquiry into its proposed illegal logging legislation that the problem has been overstated and the proposed solutions will harm producers. But PNG’s foresters weren’t the … Continue reading →

High levels of campaign activity have put PNG’s special agricultural business leases (SABLs) into the media and policy spotlight. But what is fact and what is fiction? The PNG Government’s recent announcement of an inquiry into SABLs should help clarify … Continue reading →

Local NGOs, flush with international funds, are again standing in the way of economic development in PNG’s rural areas prompting furious reactions from Provincial and National Governments and local landowners.  The latest row centres on a set of major development … Continue reading →

More questions over the legitimacy of the voluntary carbon credit market in the Asia-Pacific region have been raised. The high-profile media coverage of the activities of Australian carbon-credits firm, Shift2Neutral, reinforces the message to PNG landowners that legitimate, sustainable resource … Continue reading →

PNG is witnessing a marked increase in NGO activity. Environmental lobbyists including international and local NGO’s and sympathetic environmental scientists are mobilising. The current target is the PNG Government’s granting of Special Agriculture & Business Leases (SABLs). SABL’s are one … Continue reading →