| Conservation: to manage the environment in
such a way that it will be protected from change
Exploitation: when the environment is used in such a way that it is
destroyed and will be of no use to future generations
Sustainable development: the development of an area using techniques
and approaches that will help to protect the environment for the future |
| Source: 'Tomorrow's Geography',
Harcourt and Warren, Ed. Warn, Hodder & Stoughton |
Papua New Guinea (PNG) possesses one of the planet's largest
remaining tropical rainforest. At least seventy-five percent of its original
forest cover is still standing, occupying vast, biologically rich tracts over
100,000 square miles in all. Its forests provide the habitat for about 200
species of mammals, 20,000 species of plants, 1,500 species of trees and 750
species of birds, half of which are endemic to the island. It has been estimated
that between 5 and 7% of the known species in the world live in PNG. Rare plants
and animals like the largest orchid, the largest butterfly, the longest lizard,
the largest pigeon and the smallest parrot ever registered live in these
forests.
The forests also constitute the home of the indigenous peoples,
the Maisin. For the Maisin, forests provide everything from food and medicinal
plants, to materials for houses, canoes and tools. Under the Papua New Guinea
constitution, the Maisin are the legal owners of their traditional lands. But
these forests and forest peoples are under threat due to large-scale logging
activities and oil palm plantations. Oil palm plantations are not aimed at the
production of edible oil for the local population and almost the entire
production is export-oriented.
| Resource Exploited |
Problems Created |
Groups For |
Groups Against |
| Timber extraction e.g. Kiunga-Aiambak road project
located in previously intact rainforests in Papua New Guinea’s remote Western
Province.
Click for Greenpeace graphic
Click for attitudes of the indigenous population
Click for details of alleged government
corruption
|
Soil erosion
Loss of biodiversity
Diseases spread amongst indigenous Maisin population through
contact with the timber cutters
Increase in viral diseases and malaria,
because of the ecological changes deforestation causes
Loss of game animals
Loss of clean water supply through sedimentation |
PNG Government: who sold logging rights and helped
finance the project
Transnationals and their shareholders: Malaysian company bought
logging rights
Consumers in MEDCs who want cheap plywood and furniture
Indigenous population who obtain work with the logging company
|
Landowners: not consulted and paid very little in
compensation for the loss of their cocoa smallholdings.
Environmental groups: e.g. Greenpeace
Australian Government: Australia lies too close to Papua New Guinea to
be isolated from its social problems
Indigenous population who object to the logging companies illegally
taking over their land and the cultural, social and financial problems
that followed
|
| Oil palm plantation at Aitape |
Sedimentation and Eutrophication caused through
soil erosion (after forest clearance) and use of fertilisers would kill the
nearby coral reef in Sissano Lagoon
Prawn and sea fishing industry destroyed in Sissano Lagoon through use
of fertilisers and pesticides |
PNG Government: offers tax incentives in the oil palm
sector designed to encourage growth and boost production
Transnational oil palm companies and their shareholders
Plantation workers have jobs
Fertiliser and pesticide company have more sales |
Indigenous people who claim legal rights to the land
seized from them
Local fishermen who would lose their livelihoods
Tour companies and workers: the coral reef attracts tourists and
divers
Tourists who prefer to see unspoilt coral reefs |
 |
| Sissano Lagoon: coral reef and
fishing industry threatened by sedimentation after forest clearance |
 |
| Ease of access resulting from the
incursion of a logging road has resulted in the complete loss of forest cover
and subsequent soil erosion |
 |
| The effects of forest clearance on water quality |
Funded by the Chevron Oil company and Greenpeace and agreed by
the PNG government after being taken to court by the Maisin people. The PNG
government has been under pressure from the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Australian Government to enforce
environmentally-friendly changes in their development programme. Awareness
patrols to remote areas by local environmental charity groups have been
spreading the message of what exploitative logging will do to rural communities.
The recent screening on PNG television station EMTV of the Rainforest
Information Centre's documentary Mama Bilong Olgeta on the PNG logging
industry was a great success.
| "The
Papua New Guinea government has decided to exclude Maisin customary lands,
located in Collingwood Bay from plans for timber or large scale agricultural
development. Greenpeace and others have been active in the area in developing
small scale alternative community development schemes. Despite numerous
community attempts to have their land removed from large scale industrial
development consideration, a number of schemes were proposed. This action should
give the community the room they need to regulate their own development
potential in a sustainable, community owned manner"
PNG Government Press Conference
|
Click for graphic
-
Community-based sustainable forestry
-
Training in sustainable forestry
-
Fish farming
-
Butterfly farming
-
Eco-tourism
-
Managed conserved areas
-
Cottage industries: nut harvesting, tourist souvenir and tapa cloth
production
-
Greenpeace active in developing Maisin cloth and art markets in the USA
-
Local log-processing industries are being established. Processed timber is
worth much more on the world market
-
Small logging operations are encouraged, owned by many different companies,
who all have certified sustainable management certificates
- High levels of illiteracy and lack of skills create difficulties in dealing
with tourists
- Rivalries between different tribal clans makes team work difficult
- Government difficulties in controlling the activities of the multinational
logging companies
More information for this case study can be found in
'Tomorrow's Geography', Harcourt and Warren, Ed. Warn, Hodder & Stoughton www.hodderheadline.co.uk
Further reading on the role of China in the destruction of the
tropical forests of Southeast Asia including Papua New Guinea: Forests
in Southeast Asia Fall to China
|
