Greenpeace has been working in PNG since 1995 exposing illegal logging and promoting alternatives to forest destruction. We are working with local communities to reclaim their traditional lands and help create sustainable solutions. Greenpeace and our PNG partners are calling on the PNG Government to declare a moratorium on industrial logging and forest conversion for large-scale agriculture such as palm oil plantations. We are calling for fair and participatory land use agreements to be developed that allow real and sustainable community development. We are also demanding an open and transparent Commission of Inquiry into SABLs and the overturning of those leases found to have been unlawfully or inappropriately approved.
Created by greenpeaceaustralia on Oct 9, 2011
Last updated: 01/30/12 at 05:10 PM
Greenpeace travels to East New Britain Province to assist landowners in protesting a Rimbunan Hijau logging operation in an illegal SABL.
After a ten year court battle, the PNG National Court finally compensates the landowners of Western Province for the environmental damage and social disharmony caused by Concord Pacific.
http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/news/forests/Landowner-victory-in-Papua-New-Guinea/
Greenpeace embarks on an expedition to Wawoi Gauvi to document illegal logging and worker abuses by Rimbunan Hijau.
Greenpeace, along with a large group of social scientists, natural resource owners and PNG NGOs, launches the Cairns Declaration asking for an inquiry and moratorium on Special Agriculture and Business Leases (SABLs) and Forest Clearing Authorities.
Greenpeace activists travel to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Japan to present PNG Government officials with a Golden Chainsaw for destroying forests.
Greenpeace releases PNG: Not Ready for REDD. The report details why PNG should not receive international forest protection funding until corruption and indigenous rights are addressed.
http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/what-we-do/forests/resources/reports/papua-new-guinea-not-ready-fo/
www.greenpeace.org/austria/Global/austria/dokumente/Reports/wald_preserving-paradise-PNG_2008.pdf
In Gulf Province, Greenpeace uses its largest ship, the Esperanza, to blockade a shipment of illegal logs bound for China. It also documents illegal logging in Manus Island and West Sepik Provinces. The documentation reveals that seven of Rimbunan Hijau’s logging concessions breach the logging code of practice, and exposes woeful conditions for workers, including debt slavery, no safety equipment, no infrastructure development and no tangible benefits for local communities. Watch more stories from Gulf Province.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsDnLXBKTNs&NR=1
Greenpeace drops a massive banner at the International Tropical Timber Organisation’s conference in Port Moresby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-r_NhZ58QI&feature=relmfu
During the PNG national elections, Greenpeace places a community advertisement on TV stations across the country showing the effects of illegal logging on community life.
www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/merbau-report-2.pdf
Greenpeace protests against the refurbishment of the UK Cabinet office using illegal PNG timber processed in China. Read the blog
http://www.greenpeace.org.au/blog/?p=2322
Greenpeace awards Rimbunan Hijau with a Golden Chainsaw award for its role in illegal and destructive logging in PNG.
Greenpeace launches a campaign in China to oppose the massive importation of tropical and often illegal timber, including such timber from PNG.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/RH-30years-forest-plunder/
www.intactforests.org/pdf.publications/Greenpeace.World.IFL.2006.pdf
www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/international/press/reports/chains-of-destruction-the-glo.pdf
Greenpeace sets up a Global Forest Rescue Station (GFRS) at Lake Murray in Western Province. The GFRS brings international attention to the destructive impacts of illegal logging by companies like Concord Pacific and Rimbunan Hijau and the plight of local landowners defending their forest homes. The GFRS also inspires landowners throughout New Guinea to begin community forestry.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/forests/asia-pacific/working-in-paradise/gfrs/
Greenpeace launches a campaign urging the Australian Government to introduce laws to stop the importation of illegal timber.
Greenpeace begins a campaign against giant Malaysian logging company Rimbunan Hijau which operates over 60% of logging in PNG.
Greenpeace embarks on an expedition up the Fly River to investigate logging operations. The expedition documents illegal logging and worker abuse by Rimbunan Hijau in the Wawoi Guavi concessions of Gulf Province.
Greenpeace releases the Partners in Crime report, which profiles the road project as one example of what is causing widespread damage in PNG´s forests.
http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/PageFiles/320427/partners-in-crime-malaysian-l.pdf
Greenpeace’s ship, the Arctic Sunrise blocks a log shipment bound for China. This forces the PNG Prime Minister to announce an inquiry which leads to the Kiunga to Aiambak logging road being stopped.
At the request of landowners in the Lake Murray area of Western Province, Greenpeace begins a campaign to stop Concord Pacific’s Kiunga to Aiambak road project from destroying pristine rainforest.
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