After three years of asking the Papua New Guinea Forest Authority to release public information, Community advocacy organization ACT NOW! is now taking legal action to secure the release of information about large-scale logging operations.
ACT NOW! says while there is a general Constitutional right to information and provision in the Forestry Act for a public register with key information on each forest management area, the PNGFA has repeatedly failed to answer requests for information and has not responded to detailed and well documented concerns about individual logging concessions.
Illegal and unsustainable logging has been recognized as a widespread and serious problem in PNG and the lack of effective action by government agencies has been a contributing factor in PNG’s recent grey listing by the international financial community.
ACT NOW! says that the failure to publish even basic information on logging licenses and forestry operations contributes to a cloak of secrecy behind which foreign owned logging companies and compromised officials are able to operate with impunity.
ACT NOW! has published a number of reports, case studies and risk assessments over the last three years, all of which it says have been ignored by the PNG Forest Authority.
ACT NOW! has also been rebuffed in its attempts to seek more information on the current moratorium on new Forest Clearing Authorities, the audits of existing FCA projects and the latest log export data.
ACT NOW! says it is an unfortunate indictment on the PNG Forest Authority and the government that a civil society organization is having to resort to legal action to enforce basic community rights to information.
It says while the government and the Forest Authority are supposed to be protecting rural communities and ensuring the sustainable management of forest resources, key individuals and organizations have been captured by foreign interests and are working against the national interest.
ACT NOW! says it remains hopeful that the legal system is still strong and robust enough to protect the rights of ordinary people and that its legal action will be successful in uncovering information that can shine a light on the misuse of forest resources and the revenues generated.
