Forestry & Development E-News
www.forestryanddevelopment.com 21 September 2006
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	The Australian – Greenpeace criticised Following are extracts from A skewed vision from team green by Alan Oxley, which appeared on The Australian, 16 September 2006: ‘Greenpeace is running a campaign that is raising eyebrows. It is accusing one large company of rape, enslaving its workers, abusing human rights, employing police brutality and corruption. In the worst criticism Greenpeace heaped on Shell over oil drilling in the North Sea and on Monsanto for developing and selling genetically modified oilseeds, it never resorted to such abuse. So who is the target now? It is a company called Rimbunan Hijau, one of the largest foreign investors in Papua New Guinea and its largest forestry business. Greenpeace's attack on the company is a proxy attack on commercial forestry in PNG, which it wants to stop. Greenpeace has been joined by the Centre for Environmental Law and Conservation in PNG and the Australian Conservation Foundation. A recently released CELCOR-ACF report claims to present new evidence of the human rights abuses of the forestry industry. But all that is new are claims of five instances of abuse in nine years, all of which are unsubstantiated.’ … ‘The CELCOR-ACF report carries insinuations that Australian military forces and forestry companies are responsible for distribution of arms throughout PNG. This is a calculated distortion of an ugly reality in PNG. Personal safety in the country has never been poorer. Businesses across the country are calling in help from police forces to keep order. For forestry (and other) companies operating in remote environments, this is crucial. These businesses frequently transport citizens, officials and firefighters.’ … ‘Greenpeace wants commercial logging in PNG's native forests replaced with eco-forestry or subsistence forestry. Yet the consequences would be immense. The commercial forestry industry in PNG employs about 10,000 people, generates about 5 per cent of the economy, earns about $250 million year in exports and adds $100 million to tax revenues. In addition, companies such as Rimbunan Hijau provide roads, airfields, air services, wharves and schools and medical clinics in remote areas.’ … ‘Recently, Patrick Pruaitch, PNG's Minister for Forests, said that if Greenpeace had its way, "the people of PNG would pay the price". He said the Government would resist efforts by international green non-government organisations to weaken PNG's economy.’ … ‘To Greenpeace, PNG is just a pawn in a bigger campaign. For more than 15 years, Greenpeace and WWF have hankered for a global forest convention to implement their goal of replacing commercial forestry with eco-forestry worldwide. Only some European countries support this. Developing countries mistrust their motives and the US does not support it. So the strategy is to whip up concern about illegal logging and goad governments into using trade sanctions to bring developing countries to heel.’ The full text is available on http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20419525-30417,00.html
	In Other News Unsubstantiated claim in new World Bank report 16 September 2006: In a recently published report on illegal logging, the World Bank has claimed (among other things) that an estimated 70% of Papua New Guinea’s total forest production is illegal. However, a review of documents which the report lists as references has failed to find any evidence for the claim. Furthermore, the report fails to provide a working definition of illegal logging, despite admitting that ‘different stakeholder groups use different definitions to promote their agenda’. Strengthening Forest Law Enforcement and Governance - Addressing a Systemic Constraint to Sustainable Development can be found here. Drastic measures proposed by Victorian anti-forestry ngos 9 September 2006: In a report titled Choosing a future for Victoria’s forest, the Victorian Forest Alliance (coalition of NGOs including The Wilderness Society and Australian Conservation Foundation) has called for the area of protected forests in eastern Victoria to be increased by 970,000 hectares. The local timber industry is to deal with a sudden decrease in resources via ‘a rapid shift from commodity production using native forests to commodity production based on plantation’. The report fails to address how this unrealistic shift would be achieved. Instead, it proposes a $104 million investment in tourism, and $32.5 million in recurrent funding for National Parks. The report also suggests widening the definition of “old-growth forests” to include ‘negligibly-disturbed younger forests and forest with a mature growth stage, which have the potential to become the old-growth forests of the near future’. This move appears designed to add credibility to calls for increasing conservation areas. WWF and global timber company team up 14 September 2006: WWF has claimed that 3.2 million hectares of forest in the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo are scheduled to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). According to a WWF press release, the forests are operated by subsidiaries of Danzer Group, ‘a leading global producer of hardwood veneer and lumber’. Certification is set to commence in 2008. Danzer will also join WWF's Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN), which actively promotes the FSC certification scheme.
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