Should Development of Papua New Guinea’s
Tropical Rainforest be stopped?
Concord Pacific
Some questions to help you prepare for the debate:
How would Concord Pacific feel about the above question? Why?
What benefits does logging bring to;
a) different groups of people in PNG?
b) The government of PNG?
Are there alternatives to logging?
Could you argue that legal logging is better than illegal logging?
Can logging be made more sustainable?
Will logging help PNGs level of development?
How does logging impact the local economy?
How does logging impact the regional economy?
Concord Pacific is a massive Malaysian firm who are involved in logging in PNG. In
December 2001 the controversial firm gained a new logging permit, bypassing the
procedures specified in the Forestry Act.
The permit allows the company to log three kilometres (1.86 miles) on either side
of an 831 kilometre (516 miles) long road corridor. This is a loophole in the
Forestry act because the permit is to build a road when the intention is to access
valuable rainforest hard woods.
While the six kilometre wide strip is attractive in itself, the real prize is the 2.7
million hectares (5.68 millon acres) of forests in eight unallocated logging
concessions that straddle the road corridor.
PNG’s forest industry is no stranger to controversy. In 1988, Justice Tos Barnett
headed a Royal Commission into the forest industry and was scathing in his
findings. Logging companies, he warned, “are now roaming the countryside with
self assurance of robber barons; bribing politicians and leaders, creating social
disharmony and ignoring laws in order to gain access to, rip out, and export the
last remnants of … valuable timber.”
Should Development of Papua New Guinea’s
Tropical Rainforest be stopped?
Sir Michael Somare and the PNG government.
Some questions to consider for
the Debate;
What would Sir Michael Somare
want to happen to PNGs
rainforest resource? Why?
Who does Michael Somare need
to keep happy? Why?
Could the principles of Sir
Michael’s Coalition for
Rainforest Nations be under
pressure?
What would Sir Michael think of
TNCs (e.g. Chevron) working to
exploit the rainforest resources
of PNG?
What would Sir Michael think of
NGOs (e.g. Greenpeace) working
to promote sustainable
development of the rainforest
resources of PNG?
Would Sir Michael advocate a
total ban on use of the forest?
Why? Why not?
What would Sir Michael want
for the future of PNG and its
people? How will he achieve
this?
In 1996 the Prime Minister of PNG was Sir Julius Chan, who
created a National Forest Plan. The plan allowed logging, and
prioritised the interests of industrial logging firms over
wishes of local communities. Non Government Organisations
critised the plan, and the next prime minister, Sir Makere
Morauta, announced in 2000 that there would be no more new
licences for logging and that existing licenses would need to
be sustainable. Today, Sir Michael Somare is in charge of
PNG. He founded the Coalition for Rainforest Nations on
May 10, 2005, at Columbia University. This is an
intergovernmental organization established by forested
tropical counties to collaboratively reconcile forest
stewardship with economic development. The Rainforest
Coalition aims to bring together both LEDCs and MEDCs for
the purpose of creating community-driven, environmentally
sustainable economic growth. The idea is to promote
community-driven environmentally sustainable economic
growth.
Participants: Countries participating within the various
activities of the Rainforest Coalition include: Bangladesh,
Bolivia, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chile, Congo,
Colombia, Costa Rica, DR Congo, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala,
Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malaysia,
Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay,
Peru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Uruguay,
Uganda, and Vanuatu.
What is at Stake: The World cannot afford to fail in this
endeavour, as this approach provides the best opportunity to
reconcile economic development with global climate stability
and environmental sustainability in forested tropical
regions. If these outcomes cannot be attained together, it is
unlikely that either objective will be attained individually.
The stakes are high; the Coalition Nations are tackling the
challenge of implementing policy creatively and
constructively.
Should Development of Papua New Guinea’s Tropical
Rainforest be stopped?
Protecting people and the
environment is at the
cornerstone of
ChevronTexaco’s corporate
policy. The company’s Kutubu
Petroleum Development Project
in PNG shows this. We have
tried to conserve the
environment, preserve cultural
diversity and promote
sustainable communities while
exploring for and producing oil
in an ecologically sensitive
forest.
Richard Matzke
Chevron
Chevron are a huge Trans National Corporation whose headquarters can be found in the USA, they are
affiliated with Texaco. They discovered oil in the Kikori basin area (North West of Port Moresby) in 1990.
A pipeline was built and oil has been exported since 1992. They have tried to put some money from the
project into a project called the Kutubu Joint Venture Project, which aims to protect the biodiversity of the
area. They have offered technical assistance and training and set up ecologically sound agriculture,
butterfly capture and community based forestry, ecotourism and fish farming. However, the extraction of
oil and the pipeline have damaged the ecosystem. Chevron have expanded their operations in PNG.
On March 9, 1998 Chevron announced that crude oil began to flow from the Gobe oil development project in
Papua New Guinea (PNG). Initial production from the onshore project flowed at a combined rate of 10,000
barrels per day (bpd), and is expected to reach 50,000 bpd. Reserves from the oil field are currently
estimated at 100 million barrels. Chevron is PNGs only oil operator.
"Gobe is the second step in the long-range plan to develop Papua New Guinea's oil reserves, and further
demonstrates Chevron's commitment to the development of this country's natural resources," said Richard
Matzke, a director of Chevron Corp., and president of Chevron Overseas Petroleum, Inc.
Questions to consider to prepare for the debate;
1. What would ChevronTexaco think of the
question “Should Development of Papua New
Guinea’s Tropical Rainforest be stopped?” Why?
2. What benefits do ChevronTexaco bring to the
people of PNG?
3. What benefits do ChevronTexaco bring to the
Government of PNG?
4. What alternatives are there to stopping
development of the forest?
5. How do people outside of PNG benefit from
ChevronTexaco’s oil production in PNG?
6. How can Chevron Texaco help the development
of PNG?
7. Can ChevronTexaco claim that their activities
are sustainable?
Should development of Papua New Guinea’s Tropical
Rainforest be stopped?
The Maisan Ethnic Group
Papua New Guinea - Hokowe Pamowe, headman of the Batamoa clan of
the Kosuo tribe (cassowary tribe) surveys a recently constructed
logging road and bridge over the Aworra River. The river is important
to the local people for fishing and there is concern that already fish
stocks are depleted due to the erosion and silting.
Some questions to consider to
prepare for the debate;
1. Read the article opposite.
What would the Maisan people
want for this rainforest?
Why?
2. What do they stand to lose
from any further
developments?
3. What do they stand to gain
from any developments?
4. What would the Maisan think
about TNCs such as Chevron
and Concord Pacific exploiting
the forest resources?
5. How would further
developments, if permitted,
affect the society and culture
of these people?
6. How would further
developments in the rainforest
affect the biodiversity of this
ecosystem?
7. What futures are possible for
this tribe of people?
8. Out of those futures, which is
most preferable for those
people?
9. Is sustainable development
possible in this region?
"Land cannot be measured in monetary
terms. It is non-transferable. It is our
birthright."
About the Masian and the rainforest
The Maisan people are some of the original inhabitants of PNG. They live
around the pristine Collingwood Bay. The rich marine life and coral reefs in
Collingwood Bay have been identified in a biological survey to be of national
conservation significance. The terrestrial environment is no less impressive,
comprising rainforest stretching from one of PNG's highest mountains plunging down
to the sea. This forest of Oro Province provides the habitat of the world's largest
butterfly species, the Queen Alexander Birdwing butterfly, found nowhere else.
In May 2002, a Judge of the National Court of PNG ruled that the
government of PNG in 1998 had illegally sold, to private development and logging
companies, the rights to exploit the customary land of the Maisin people. These
companies entered into an agreement with a Malaysian logging company to clear-cut
the forests for the purpose of developing a palm oil plantation. The Maisin people did
not learn of these dealings until barges arrived in Collingwood Bay carrying bulldozers
and other logging equipment in June of 1999. The court cancelled the Government’s
leases and issued an order preventing the companies from entering the land without
the written consent of the Maisin people. This victory allows the Maisin people to
continue protecting their forests as they have for generations. PNG is home to the
largest remaining rainforest wilderness in the Asia/Pacific region, and the third
largest in the world. These vast forests are also home to roughly 70% of the nation’s
traditional communities. PNG law recognizes that these local communities own their
land. In total, local communities own almost 97% of Papua New Guinea. The Maisin
people own over 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) and have rejected the use of their
land for large-scale industrial logging or agricultural development.
They would prefer to use producing Tapa cloth as an alternative income
source. The Maisin people have a particularly strong culture of tapa production, and
have identified it as a alternative source of income for their communities. In PNG the
cloth is pounded from the bark of the mulberry tree. The trees are grown in family
gardens. The damp bark is beaten flat, and then painted with natural dyes collected
from the forest. Traditionally a women's art in Collingwood Bay, each cloth is painted
with a different design, depending on the clan of the artist. Tapa has been used for
generations for trade, as clothing, and for ceremonies and the Maisan plan to sell it
internationally. Together with CM, ACF and Greenpeace, the Maisin have established a
community based 'micro-enterprise' based on the production and marketing of tapa
cloths. The project has been run through the Maisin Tapa Business Group (MTBG).
http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=100&c=255833
http://www.elaw.org/assets/pdf/png.native.lands.victory.pdf
Should development of Papua New Guinea’s Tropical
Rainforest be stopped?
Greenpeace
Partners in Crime: Malaysian loggers,
timber markets and the politics of selfinterest in Papua New Guinea
Greenpeace activists at the Cabinet Office in protest
against the UK Government's use of illegally logged
timber, sourced from the rainforests of Papua New
Guinea, in the building's refurbishment.
Greenpeace mission statement
Greenpeace exists because this fragile earth deserves a voice. It needs solutions. It needs change. It needs action.
Greenpeace is a non-profit organisation, with a presence in 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.
To maintain its independence, Greenpeace does not accept donations from governments or corporations but relies on
contributions from individual supporters and foundation grants.
As a global organisation, Greenpeace focuses on the most crucial worldwide threats to our planet's biodiversity and
environment.
Some questions to prepare for the debate;
1. How would Greenpeace respond to the
question above? Why?
2. If destruction continues in PNG what will
the region be like in 10 years? 50 Years?
200 years?
3. What local impacts does the rainforest
destruction have on the local
environment?
4. What impacts does the rainforest
destruction have on the global
environment?
5. What impacts does the rainforest
destruction have on the local people?
6. What alternatives are there to rainforest
destruction?
7. What are the moral and ethical
implications of rainforest destruction?
8. What would Greenpeace think of the fact
that Cargill refines its palm oil outside of
PNG?
9. What would Greenpeace think of one crop
(monoculture) agriculture such as palm oil
replacing Tropical rainforest?
Greenpeace’s views and activities in PNG
The Paradise Forests of Papua New Guinea are among the largest
and most biologically diverse ancient forests left in the world.
The future of these forests, and of the people who depend upon
them, is currently at the mercy of an international market whose
appetite for cheap timber, furniture and flooring is driving
ancient forest destruction. This market in Greenpeace’s view
turns a blind eye to the human and environmental devastation it is
causing. Many of the transnational logging companies that
currently dominate Papua New Guinea´s forestry industry have
moved to these forests after depleting rich forests nearer to
home. The Kiunga-Aiambak Road Project is an example of what is
going wrong in Papua New Guinea´s forests. The controversial
Kiunga-Aiambak ‘Road Project´ has in practice been nothing but a
ploy for a Malaysian-owned logging company to access thousands
of hectares of Papua New Guinea´s rainforest. The seven-year
project has had extensive and well-documented environmental,
economic and social consequences, including the loss of the forest
resource itself, the devastation of traditional food sources and
the non-payment of millions of kina in revenue owed to local
landowners.
Amongst the destruction, there is a new hope in parts of the
Paradise Forests. Greenpeace is working with communities to
take back their land and to create a viable living from
ecologically sustainable solutions. In some areas, local
landowners have invited Greenpeace to help forge these
lasting solutions that will return the forest to its people.
Green peace have encouraged eco-forestry and contested
illegal logging by Concord Pacific.
Should development of Papua New Guinea’s Tropical
Rainforest be stopped?
Cargill
Rows of palm oil trees that have re[placed
tropical rainforest. A monoculture, this crop
is a cash crop.
Palm oil at harvest. It is used in food
products, as a greasing agent, in makeup,
cleaning products and has many other uses.
Cargill is Committed to Sustainable Palm Production
Cargill owns and operates palm plantations in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG), palm refineries in several nations and
processes and markets palm products worldwide.
Cargill believes that palm should be produced sustainably and is committed to responsible and sustainable palm production on
its own palm plantations. Cargill defines sustainable palm production as protecting the environment, using best available
agronomic practices, sustaining native animal species such as orangutans and tigers, providing a safe and healthy working
environment for our employees, respecting local land rights and helping to develop local communities.
Together with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local communities, Cargill monitors its impact on the environment
and aims to develop partnerships to conserve resources and biodiversity. Cargill is committed to preserving biodiversity and
complying with local laws pertaining to palm production, including those related to preserving native species and other aspects
of sound environmental management.
Cargill has three plantations in Papua New Guinea (PNG); Higaturu, Milne Bay, and Poliamba. Together, these plantations cover
nearly 56,000 hectares (138,000 acres), which is less than 1/100th of the more than 6 million hectares dedicated to palm
production in Indonesia and PNG.
Cargill currently has about 10,000 permanent and an additional 5,000 seasonal employees working on its palm plantations. It
also supports approximately 17,000 “smallholders,” who are primarily small family farmers generally working one to four
hectares of palm. With its palm operations in Indonesia and PNG, Cargill estimates that it directly contributes to the economic
welfare of more than 100,000 local inhabitants through the products and services it purchases to run its plantations. The palm
oil is refined in Malaysia, India, Germany, Belgium, Russia, the Netherlands, and the United States.
http://www.cargill.com/news/issues/palmoilissue.htm
Some questions to consider as you prepare for the debate;
What benefits does palm oil production bring to the people of PNG?
Which people in PNG benefit the most from palm oil production? How and Why?
What criticisms might come your way? How can you deflect the criticism?
What benefits does palm oil production bring to the world?
Can you argue that palm oil plantations are sustainable?
Can the article above you help you in any way?
Should development of Papua New Guinea’s Tropical
Rainforest be stopped?
Judges
Your job is to come to a judgement on the question above after listening to all of
the arguments posed by the following groups;
 Concord Pacific – a logging firm
 Sir Michael Somare – President of PNG
 Chevron – a petroleum company
 The Maisan Ethnic group
 Greenpeace – an environmental group
 Cargill – a company producing palm oil
You must objectively listen to the arguments of all of the groups, and ask them
questions based upon their presentations.
Jobs to do;
1. Make a list of all of the questions you would like to ask these groups of
people.
2. You should also establish criteria to judge the groups presentations by.
Write a list of these criteria and allocate the criteria marks.
3. Choose – a spokesperson who will speak on behalf of the judges
- a secretary who will record the key points and arguments of the
different groups