Making Papua New Guinea’s community-managed tree plantations sustainable

A new research project led by the University of Melbourne aims to make Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) forestry industry financially sustainable and bring social and environmental benefits to the developing nation.

The project – Enhancing value added wood processing in Papua New Guinea – will investigate how improvements to the local wood processing industry, technical ability and know-how can help PNG increase employment and income for local communities and create flow-on improvements in infrastructure, social services, education and environmental sustainability.

The densely forested nation has made inroads against illegal logging in recent years and limited legal logging to plantation and secondary forests (those that have regrown in previously deforested areas).

However, project leader Associate Professor Barbara Ozarska from the Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science says most PNG forest industry is limited to the sale of unprocessed logs. 

“These unprocessed logs sell for a low price, with only 20 per cent of processing occurring onshore, which limits the financial benefit to the local communities that own these forests,” Associate Professor Ozarska says.

The project, funded by a $1.1 million Australian Competitive Grant from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, will help the PNG government meet its goal to increase the proportion of onshore processing to 80 per cent by 2030.

Associate Professor Ozarska says evidence from other countries showed increasing the value of wood exports creates a strong incentive for governments to adopt and demonstrate sustainable forest management practices.

“This policy initiative creates a great opportunity for the PNG timber industry to focus on promoting products made from PNG secondary and plantation forests as eco-friendly,” she says.

“Such increases in local processing would be important for the development of local economies in remote communities and for the nation as a whole.

“By creating higher-value timber products, PNG’s forestry industry will reduce its dependency on log exports, which result in a significant losses of wood values.

“There will also be significant social benefits from the development of wood industry, such as increased employment opportunities, higher community incomes, improved health and safety standards and skills training for workers.”

The project will also investigate the viability of carvers and craftsmen in village communities to make wooden carvings and handicraft components from low quality timber and off-cuts.

While PNG’s forestry sector has been criticised in the past for illegal and environmentally unsustainable logging practices, in recent years the PNG government has made commitments with development partners to improve the standards of its forestry operations.

Recent initiatives include a revision of the PNG Logging Code of Practice and collaboration with various international donors, including Australia and the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), to develop appropriate systems to demonstrate that exported forest products have been produced legally. 

In 2009, PNG and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work towards sustainable forest management and the certification of forests and forestry activities to tackle illegal logging. The MOU was recently reviewed and will continue until 2019. 

Currently PNG is finalising country-specific guidelines to help its timber industries to meet the Australian Illegal Logging (Prohibition) Act. 

www.land-environment.unimelb.edu.au