Policy thatworksforforestsandpeople Loggers, donors and resource owners PAPUA NEW Papua New Guinea is well endowed with tropical forest, almost all of which is held by local people under customary title. But the forest sector is in a mess. Over the last ten years a major national process G UINEA of policy and institutional reform has sought to sort out the sector, but some key features of PNG society continue to frustrate this process. The ‘ideology of resource ownership’ is the core of national identity, yet it undermines the potential for diversified economic development based on the use or value of land and forests. Also, a widespread obsession with the pursuit of personal political power grows alongside an equally widespread loss of faith in the ability of government to deliver social and economic devel- opment. These contradictions help to explain why the national policy process centres on a struggle between the logging industry and donor agencies for the hearts and minds of the resource owners. Whilst this struggle throws up many problems, it also presents opportunities for establishing a new approach to policy for forests and people. This would establish the common ground upon which a wider coalition of interests - a new ‘policy community’ - could be built. Opportunities include: developing mechanisms for testing and publicising claims to productive innovation; combining different scales of No: 2 NewGuinea Papua Sekhran with Filer enterprise; generating a vision of the public interest through dialogue; and installing a brokering mechanism to connect needs with existing capacities. Policy that works for forests and people series Forest issues often concern large amounts of money, long timeframes, huge areas of land, and diverse livelihoods. The issues are complex and vary from place to place. However, a pattern of forest problems is common to many countries: continuing loss of natural forests; over-concentrated control and inequitable access to forests; an ill-informed public; and poorly-resourced, inflexible forestry institutions. Policy is the root cause of many of these forest problems. Loggers, This series consists of six country studies - from Costa Rica, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe - and an overview report. The series aims at a better understanding of the forces at play in contests over policy, the winners and losers, and the factors that affect policy outcomes. donors and It also describes the processes that make and manage good policies and the policy instruments that work in different contexts. By dealing with policy in practice - in the ‘real world’ of people and their institutions - the series aims to go beyond the frequently heard complaint that there is a lack of ‘political resource will’ to change, by showing how policy can change for the better. owners This report was financed by the UK Department for International development (DFID) and the Colin Filer Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands Development Assistance (NEDA) with Nikhil Sekhran Policy that works for forests and people National Research Institute ISSN: 1028-8228 PAPUA NEW GUINEA COUNTRY Policy that works for forests and people series no. 2 STUDY Loggers, donors and resource owners Authors: Colin Filer with Nikhil Sekhran Series Editor: James Mayers Study coordinated by International Institute for Environment and Development, UK National Research Institute, Papua New Guinea 1998 Copies of this report are available from: Publications Sales Coordinator The National Research Institute P.O. Box 5854 Boroko, NCD Papua New Guinea Tel: +675 326 0300 Fax: +675 326 0213 e-mail: [email protected] Publications International Institute for Environment and Development 3 Endsleigh Street London WC1H 0DD, UK Tel: +44 171 388 2117 Fax: +44 171 388 2826 e-mail: [email protected] Citation: Filer, C. with Sekhran, N. 1998. Loggers, donors and resource owners. Policy that works for forests and people series no. 2: Papua New Guinea. National Research Institute, Port Moresby, and International Institute for Environment and Development, London. Cover photo: Mother and child in log yard, West New Britain. By Alex Smailes Design and production by Eileen Higgins at IIED. Layout by Bridget Tisdall Illustration © Christine Bass: Design derived from Tapa cloth paintings used in traditional Maisin society as ceremonial clothing. Tapa cloth is made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry tree and is painted with pigments derived from bark, leaves and other ingredients from the forests. Printed by Russell Press, Nottingham, UK. Printed on Highland Velvet Pro 115 gsm, 100% chlorine free Policy that Works for Forests and People is a project coordinated by the Forestry and Land Use Programme of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UK Department for International Development. The Policy that Works for Forests and People Series, edited by James Mayers, derives from this project. Other studies in the series to date are: no. 1 Pakistan Javed Ahmed and Fawad Mahmood no. 3 India Arvind Khare, Seema Bathla, S Palit, Madhu Sarin and NC Saxena no. 4 Ghana Nii Ashie Kotey, Johnny Francois, JGK Owusu, Raphael Yeboah, Kojo S Amanor and Lawrence Antwi no. 5 Zimbabwe Calvin Nhira, Sibongile Baker, Peter Gondo, JJ Mangono and Crispen Marunda no. 6 Costa Rica Vicente Watson, Sonia Cervantes, Cesar Castro, Leonardo Mora, Magda Solis, Ina T. Porras and Beatriz Cornejo no. 7 Overview report James Mayers and Stephen Bass These studies are available from IIED at the address above. Foreword Papua New Guinea’s forest industry has been developed on the basis of forest policy which encourages large scale projects which are intended to be conducted on a sustainable basis to produce a continuous flow of wood. The logical result of this policy is that projects cover large areas of forest so as to be economically viable for the foreign logging companies while securing a revenue source for the government. Large projects such as these discourage the participation of customary landowning groups whose title is recognised by law, but who are not always related by custom or language to the other landowners residing within one forestry project area. Herein lies PNG’s greatest challenge: the equitable participation of customary landowning communities in the exploitation of their forest resources. It is clear that, at the moment, customary landowning communities are at the mercy of the agenda set by aspiring politicians, local big men, the foreign logger and the government. Unless provided with some meaningful ways to participate, they will continue to be rent collectors and bystanders waiting for the delivery of essential services to their rural area, hoping somehow that if the government does not deliver, the logging company may do so, bringing infrastructure and cash into the local economies. Whilst this happens on a piecemeal basis, the community has no sustainable investment in the forest resource and its harvesting. In relation to downstream processing, PNG also continues to pursue a policy based on low-value, high volume output. This policy compounds the trend in favour of large scale logging. New projects negotiated on a similar basis are continuing to lock more communities into becoming disenfranchised bystanders. The long term future of the people’s forests can only be maintained if there is a clear and definite shift to small and medium scale forestry, involving the direct participation of local communities. It will require rethinking the export component of our forest industry, looking for markets that pay the added value for our produce. This resource belongs to the people of PNG Loggers, donors and resource owners i and should be used for the benefit of current and future generations. However, the forest industry will not achieve these aims while the greed of Asian markets continues to be the dominating force for present policy. Loggers, Donors and Resource Owners tells the story, for the first time in PNG, of where policy has come from, who is fighting over it, and what effect this has. It describes the futility of trying to impose policy prescriptions on reluctant people, and analyses the motivation and power of different groups, and the potential they have to make positive changes. The report concludes by proposing a transparent process of testing claims for productive and equitable forest developoment. Through such processes a whole new policy community might be established, of those who can ensure that policy works for both forests and people. I recommend this book wholeheartedly. Meg Taylor Commissioner, World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development, and formerly Papua New Guinea’s Ambassador to the USA 12 February 1998 ii Policy that works for forests and people: Papua New Guinea country study Executive summary Introducing the play and the cast of characters Over the last ten years, Papua New Guinea has been engaged with a major process of policy and institutional reform in response to a perceived crisis in the forest sector. This study examines the successes and failures in this process, and assesses the feasibility of achieving a form of policy that works for the forests and people of PNG. In this story, the forest policy process is seen as a social drama. The characters in the play are politicians, public servants, industry, NGOs, donors and local resource owners. However, some characters make more noise than others, and the national policy process is centred on a struggle between the logging industry and a donor lobby for the hearts and minds of the resource owners. The former two characters have the most concerted voices, while the latter own the scenery. The weakness of the other three characters reflects the fact that nearly all Papua New Guineans are resource owners, and represent themselves in this light when flirting with the characters of politician, public servant and NGO. The theme of the play is “sustainable forest management” but the plot revolves around the relationship between the politics of the Melanesian village and the divergent interests of assorted foreigners.