28 February
2008 - Australia — A shipping container
filled with sawn timber from an eco-forestry
project in Lake Murray, Papua New Guinea
(PNG) has arrived in Sydney, Australia.
As part of the eco-forestry
project, we teamed up with the local people
and set up the Global Forest Rescue Station
on the shore of Lake Murray in 2006.
The rescue station was
used as the base for surveying the surrounding
forest to determine traditional clan boundaries,
and training for the local communities in
land and business management, marketing
and timber milling.
Celebrating the arrival
of the first shipment of taun, rosewood
and red cedar to Australia, Lake Murray
landowner, Sep Galeva said that while it
had taken his people a lot of hard work
over the last few years to get the timber
exported, this was just the first of many
containers to come.
"What we have shown
is that anybody can do this. Forest communities
around PNG don't have to rely on industrial
logging for survival, they can do it themselves
in a way that protects the environment and
keeps the land for future generations,"
Mr Galeva said.
"Our bad experience
with illegal and destructive logging from
the Kiunga Aiambak road project, run by
Concord Pacific, made my people choose eco-forestry
instead so that we have control over our
land."
Greenpeace Forest Campaigner
Sam Moko added, "By doing this they
will continue to enjoy all the benefits
their forests traditionally provide them
and get real income from cutting their timber
for generations to come."
"There has been
a lot of pressure on communities in Lake
Murray to sign their land away to logging
and palm oil interests and landowners need
to make informed decisions before they agree
to the big companies, otherwise they could
find themselves regretting their decision
and facing ongoing social, environmental
and legal issues."
"The Lake Murray
people involved in eco-forestry have thought
about their options and have decided to
take their future in their own hands."
The people of Lake Murray
approached Greenpeace, the Foundation for
People and Community Development (FPCD),
Barefoot and other non-government organisations
to help them get their eco-forestry project
off the ground.
According to Yati Bun,
Executive Director of FPCD, this kind of
initiative is a way for landowners to take
charge of their forest resources.
"We joined the
Lake Murray initiative to support landowners
manage the forests themselves and make sure
they are getting the maximum benefits,"
Mr Bun said.
"They are earning
2-3 times what they would get locally from
logging companies for their sawn timber.
Over the long term eco-forestry provides
economic, social and environmental benefits
to local communities, empower them to be
self sufficient and ensures their valuable
forest resource survives into the future."
"We want other
PNG forest owners to know that eco-forestry
is a viable alternative to logging, and
that they can make very good returns exporting
timber to Australia but they also need to
know that it is not easy. If people want
to choose to control their own destinies
they must commit themselves to working hard
and not sit back and expect things to just
come to them," he said.
The Lake Murray eco-forestry
initiative has been supported by funding
from Doen Foundation in the Netherlands.
