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SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING IN FORESTRY:
A CASE STUDY FROM WANDUMI VILLAGE – MOROBE PROVINCE,
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
A Thesis Submitted in fulfilment of the Requirement s for the
Degree of Masters of Applied Science (Research)
by
Miriam E Gatau
Southern Cross University
Lismore, NSW
Australia
December 1999
i
CERTIFICATION
I certify that the substance of this thesis has not already
been submitted for any other degree and is not curr ently
being submitted for any other degree.
I certify that all help received in preparing this thesis and
all sources used have been acknowledged.
Miriam E Gatau
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To the three most important persons, who encouraged and
sacrificed the most for this paper, my children - N gaire
Laun, Caleb Kenny and Ruthie Lynelle.
In Australia:
Associate Professor Derrin Davis - Graduate Researc h College,
Southern Cross University - Who not only supervised this
research but encouraged and instilled a greater con fidence in
me.
Drs Hartmut and Sue Holztknecth - Australian Nation al
University, Canberra - for providing a home away fr om home in
Canberra and for linking me with other resource per sons, and
providing valuable suggestions, especially during t he
beginning of the research.
Professor David Mowbray - Visiting Lecturer at the National
Centre for Development Studies, Australian National
University, Canberra - who provided most of the ref erences
for PNG studies and allowed access to his personal library
collections.
Drs Bryant Allen and Michael Bourke - Research Scho ol of
Pacific Studies, Australian National University - f or
assistance with accessing PNGRIS information.
The Australian National University Forestry School provided
office space and their facilities through the Head of the
School, Professor Peter Kanowski.
For computer assistance, editing, lots of encourage ment and
cups of tea, and an engagement ring, thank you so m uch
Timothy Murphy of Lismore.
In Papua New Guinea:
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Members and families of Wandumi Village and the Exe cutives of
the Nakokai Timber Resources Pty Ltd - Wau, Morobe Province.
Mr Robin Kimpton - Manager of Bulolo/ Wau Plantatio ns and
Staff, especially Roselyn Mitar and Kuniam Paul for their
help with photocopying and distribution of the Mana gement
Audit questionnaires. Mr Peter Damba - Supervisor o f Wandumi
Forest Station and his wife Cecelia for their hospi tality
during my stay in Wau.
Mr Lukis Romaso, Manager - Kum-gie Consults Pty Ltd for most
of the information provided in Chapter 10. Dr Fans Arentz -
Team Leader and Staff, Forestry HRD Project for the loan of a
laptop, office space and facilities while in Lae, M orobe
Province.
Ken Costigan - Nuigini Works Lae. Thankyou for spen ding an
whole afternoon looking at the complete draft and m aking lots
of suggestions during the duration of the program.
The Head Librarian of the PNG Forest Research Insti tute -
Lae, Dernah Douglas - provided valuable assistance in
accessing specific information on Bulolo/ Wau and f orest
research notes.
A special thankyou to my sister Pauline Tumatui and daugter,
Deanne in Lae and brothers Simon, Daniel and Michae l, and my
mother Litia Kiagi in Goroka, for standing by me.
Above all, to the one who opened impossible doors a nd
strengthened me to walk through them.
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ABSTRACT
From October 1998 to July 1999, an environmental au dit was
conducted in Wandumi Village of the Morobe Province , Papua
New Guinea (PNG). The key objectives were to test t he audit
framework, and to determine the status of forestry and
forestry benefits at village level from the perspec tive of
sustainable livelihoods. The framework combined fou r
interrelated components: State of Environment repor t (SoE),
Policy Impact Assessment (PIA), Review of Internal Practices
(RIP), and a Management Audit (MA). While informati on on the
natural and human-made stock was derived from the P apua New
Guinea Resource Information System (PNGRIS) and the National
Forest Service (NFS) records, all the information o n the
cultural status of the Village and information for the PIA,
the RIP and the MA was derived from structured
questionnaires, open interviews and general observa tions.
Each component of SoE, PIA, RIP and the MA is discu ssed in
relation to socio-cultural, environmental and econo mic
issues. The PIA assesses section 57 of the Forest Policy
(1992) and landowner participation, while the RIP reviews
practices of the three key stakeholders, the Nation al Forest
Service (NFS), the Village of Wandumi and the Nakok ai Timber
Resources (NTR). The MA is the audit of the Wau/ Bu lolo
office and the inter and intra-linkages within and with other
agencies, while the SoE establishes the state of Wa ndumi
Village.
The audit established Wandumi Village to be natural resource
- rich, with coffee, gold and forestry as the most important
commodities. The Village is subsistence based with strong
traditional kinship ties, and strong community and church
values, but places forestry as the least important activity.
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While forestry has contributed some benefits to the Village,
it is perceived to have failed in providing basic s ervices
such as electricity, water reticulation and educati onal
assistance. The analysis of Section 57 of the Fores try Act
(1992) indicates a change in the role of the Nation al Forest
Service and the acceptance of the Nakokai Timber Re sources
(NTR) Pty Ltd in a joint venture partnership. The R IP
highlights two potential problems from the joint ve nture and
the MA discloses possible weaknesses in the continu ity of
ventures such as the NFS/NTR joint venture. The con clusion
indicates the possible success of the joint venture and the
start of a new paradigm in sustainable forest manag ement.
Moreover, environmental auditing is found to be of
significant potential benefit in sustainable forest ry
development and management in PNG.
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Map of PNG
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I - BACKGROUND
CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION
1.1 OVERVIEW 1
1.2 THE PROBLEM 2
1.3 AIMS & OBJECTIVES 4
1.4 METHODOLOGY 5
1.5 STUDY OUTLINE 6
CHAPTER TWO - BACKGROUND
2.1 INTRODUCTION 9
2.2 CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 9
2.2.1 Rome to Rio 9
2.2.2 Biological System 13
2.2.3 Economic System 14
2.2.4 Social System 15
2.2.5 Political Framework 18
2.3 PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 19
2.4 CONCLUSION 21
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CHAPTER THREE - DEVELOPMENT OF FORESTS AS NATURAL RESOURCES
‘PRIMEVAL TO MODERN’
3.1 INTRODUCTION 23
3.2 RENEWABLE & NON RENEWABLE RESOURCES 23
3.3 NATURAL RESOURCE USE & DEVELOPMENT 24
3.4 FOREST RESOURCES 26
3.5 TROPICAL RAINFORESTS 27
3.5.1 Major Rainforest Blocks 28
3.5.2 Rainforest Structure 29
3.5.3 Rainforest Formations 30
3.5.4 Climate 31
3.5.5 Rainforest Soils 32
3.5.6 Flora & Fauna 34
3.5.7 Humans and Rainforests 37
3.6 CURRENT TRENDS IN FOREST RESOURCE USE 38
3.7 CONCLUSION 39
CHAPTER FOUR - ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING
‘ RIO TO REALITY’
4.1 INTRODUCTION 40
4.2 EARLY DEVELOPEMTENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
AUDITS 40
4.3 ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING 43
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4.3.1 Definitions and Levels of EA 43
4.3 2 Principles of EA 44
4.3.3 Components of an EA 46
4.3.4 Environmental Indicators,
Principles and Criteria 50
4.3.5 Standards/Best Practices 53
4.4 SUPPORTING INSTRUMENTS IN AN AUDIT TASK 55
4.5 ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING & CERTIFICATION 57
4.5.1 Development of Certification 57
4.5.2 EA within the
Certification Process 58
4.6 ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING &
ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING 59
4.7 INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES
IN EA GUIDELINES 60
4.8 CONCLUSION 61
CHAPTER FIVE - PAPUA NEW GUINEA FOREST RESOURCES
‘MANAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT’
5.1 INTRODUCTION 62
5.2 BACKGROUND 62
5.3 NATURAL RESOURCES 66
5.4 NATIONAL FOREST RESOURCES 69
5.4.1 Between P Hasluck & Judge Barnett 69
5.4.2 Technical Framework 72
Creaming to Clearfelling
x
Uniform to Policyclic Systems
5.4.3 Political Framework 77
5.4.4 Ecological Framework 80
5.4.5 Socio-Cultural Framework 85
5.4.6 Economic Framework 87
5.5 IMPEDIMENTS IN SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY
MANAGEMENT 92
5.6 CURRENT STATUS OF FORESTRY IN PNG 94
5.7 CONCLUSION 96
CHAPTER SIX - METHODOLOGY
6.1 INTRODUCTION 98
6.2 RATIONALE FOR SELECTION OF WANDUMI
AS THE KEY AUDIT UNIT 98
6.3 METHODOLOGY 99
6.3.1 The SOE Approach 100
Phase one - Scoping
Phase Two - Formal Clearance
and Study Trips
Phase Three - Development of
Questionnaires
Phase Four - State of
Forestry Resources in Wandumi
6.3.2 The PIA 102
6.3.3 The RIP 103
6.3.4 The MA 104
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6.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 105
6.5 RESULTS & RECOMMENDATIONS 107
PART II: RESULTS & RECOMMENDATIONS
CHAPTER SEVEN - STATE OF THE WANDUMI ENVIRONMENT
‘WANDUMI VILLAGE’
7.1 INTRODUCTION 108
7.2 WAU 108
7.2.1 Bow and Arrow to Gold 108
7.2.2 From Gold to Green 110
7.2.3 Wau Today 112
7.3 WANDUMI VILLAGE 113
7.3.1 Background 113
7.3.2 Natural Stock 114
7.3.3 Forestry Resources 116
7.3.4 Manmade Stock 119
The Village
Forestry Station
Services
7.3.5 Socio/Cultural Stock 125
Population Sampled
Leadership & Governance
Land Ownership & Kinship
Languages
Traditional Skills & Crafts
Education Status
Religion
xii
Standard of Living
Perceptions of Forestry
7.3.6 Economic Stock 137
7.4 CONCLUSION 140
CHAPTER EIGHT - POLICY IMPACT ASSESSMENT
‘SECTION 57’
8.1 INTRODUCTION 144
8.2 INCREASING LAND OWNER PARTICIPATION 144
8.2.1 Colonial Forest Policy 145
8.2.2 Current Legislation 147
8.3 INCORPORATED LAND GROUPS (ILG) 147
8.4 NAKOKAI TIMBER RESOURCES (NTR) LTD 151
8.4.1 The Beginning 151
8.4.2 Sawmill Operations 154
8.4.3 Benefits 156
8.4.4 Problems 157
8.5 CONCLUSION 158
CHAPTER NINE - REVIEW OF INTERNAL PRACTICES
‘WANDUMI, NTR & NFS’
9.1 INTRODUCTION 161
9.2 STAKEHOLDER ACTIVITIES 161
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9.3 INTERNAL PRACTICES OF WANDUMI 163
9.3.1 Gardening, Fishing,
Hunting and House-building 163
9.3.2 Bilums & Bows 167
9.3.3 Community, Church and Gold 167
9.4 FORESTRY ACTIVITES 168
9.5 INTERNAL PRACTICES OF NTR SAWMILL 169
9.6 CONCLUSION 170
CHAPTER TEN - MANAGEMENT AUDIT
‘PEOPLE LINK’
10.1 INTRODUCTION 172
10.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE MA 172
10.3 NATIONAL FOREST SERVICE (NFS) 173
10.4 BULOLO/WAU PLANTATION 176
10.4.1 Intra and Inter Links
10.5 CONCLUSION 184
CHAPTER ELEVEN - CONCLUSION
11.1 INTRODUCTION 186
11.2 WHY ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITS IN FORESTRY 186
11.3 WANDUMI VILLAGE AUDIT 188
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11.3.1 Status of the Village 188
11.3.2 Status of Forestry 190
11.3.3 Increasing Landowner Participation
through Section 57 191
11.3.4 Management Links 194
11.4 CONCLUDING COMMENTS 195
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
I State of Environment: The Questionnaire
II Management Audit: The Questionnaire
LIST OF TABLES
4.1 Supporting Instruments in Eas 56
5.1 National Summary of Vegetation Cover - 1975 65
5.2 Comparative Commodity Export - Volume and
Value 1987, 1995 and 1997 68
5.3 National Forest Plantations 84
5.4 Comparative Export Growth 87
5.5 Forestry Growth in Volume - 20 Year Period 88
5.6 Gross Area & Allocated Cut by Province - 1993 91
5.7 Permitted Cut and Export Against Actual Cut
and Export - 1993 92
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7.1 Plantations by Compartments 117
7.2 Plantations by Species 119
7.3 Leadership Roles in Wandumi Males 128
7.4 Leadership Roles in Wandumi Females 129
7.5 Wandumi Clan Membership & Others 130
7.6 Most Used Language 131
7.7 Traditional Skills and Craft 132
7.8 Type of School Completed by Age Group of
Respondents 133
7.9 Type of School by Gender 134
7.10 Non Income Activities 134
7.11 Choice of Activities 135
7.12 Weekly Menu 135
7.13 Housing 136
7.14 Householders Expectations of Forestry 137
7.15 Small-holder Economic Activity - Division 7:
Biangai 138
7.16 Small-holder Economic Activity - Wandumi Village 13 8
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7.17 Forestry Income Activities 139
8.1 Monthly Income And Expenditure - 1998 154
9.1 Activities of Wandumi, Nakokai and NFS 162
9.2 Negative Impacts of Forestry Activities 164
9.3 Positive Impacts of Forestry 165
10.1 Links between Bulolo/Wau and other Divisions of
NFS 178
10.2 Links between Bulolo/Wau and other Agencies 180
10.3 Links between Bulolo/Wau and Wandumi 181
10.4 Intra-Link: Management and Supervisors 182
LIST OF FIGURES
1 Papua New Guinea vi
2.1 Sustainable Development within a political
Framework 12
4.1 Process of Environmental Auditing 47
5.1 Map of PNG 64
7.1 Map of Morobe Province 111
7.2 Map of Plantation Compartments 118
xvii
7.4 Profile of Groups within Wandumi 120
7.5 Profile of Main Village 122
7.6 Profile of Forestry Station 123
7.7 Population Sampled by Age Group 127
7.8 Population Sampled by Clan Group 127
10.1 Organisational Structure of NFS before May
1999 174
10.2 Organisational Structure of NFS as of May
1999 175
10.3 Organisational Structure of Bulolo/Wau
Plantation before May 1999 177
ABBREVIATIONS
ASEAN Australian and South East Asian Nations
AIDAB Australian International Development
Agency Bureau
BSI British Standards Institute
BOD Board of Directors
BUC Bulolo University College
BS British Standard
Comm Dev Community Development
CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Responses,
Compensation and Liability Act
CSA Canadian Standards Association
DAL Department of Agriculture and Livestock
xviii
ENB East New Britain
EESSTRU Environmentally , Ecologically, Socially
Sustainable Tropical Rainforest Use
EPI Environmental Performance Indicators
EQI Environmental Quality Indicators
FRA Forest Resources Assessment
FRI Forest Research Institute
FoE Friends of the Earth
FIM Forest Inventory Mapping
FMPP Forest Management and Planning Project
GIS Geographical Information System
HEO Health Extension Officer
HRD Human Resources Development
HTU Harvesting and Training Unit
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development
IPA Investment Promotion Authority
ITW Initiative Tropenwald - Germany
ISO International Standards Organisation
JICA Japan Inter Cooperation Agency
JVA Joint Venture Agreement
LCA Life Cycle Analysis
MPDC Manpower Planning and Development
Committee
RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
RRA Rapid Rural Appraisal
SABS South African Board of Standards
RMU Resource Mapping Unit
SDA Seventh Day Adventist
ANU Australian National University
AusAID Australian Agency for International
Development
BGD Bulolo Gold Dredging
CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organisation
xix
DEC Department of Environment and
Conservation
DoF Department of Forests
DPI Department of Primary Industry
EA Environmental Audit
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
EMAS Eco-Management Audit Scheme
EMS Environment Management System
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation
FMA Forest Management Area
FSC Forest Stewardship Council
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GNP Gross National Product
ILG Incorporated Land Groups
ITTO International Tropical Timber Trade
Organisation
IUCN International Union for Conservation of
Nature
JANT Japan and New Guinea Timber
KGC Kum-Gie Consults
KGIDP Kandrian Gloucester Integrated
Development Project
LANCO Landowner Company
LFA Local Forest Area
LFMU Local Forest Management Unit
MA Management Audit
MUS Malayan Uniform System
NFA National Forest Authority
NFS National Forest Service
NGG New Guinea Gold
NSDS National Sustainable Development Strategy
NTR Nakokai Timber Resources
PIA Policy Impact Assessment
PIDC Pacific Island Developing Countries
PMV Public Motor Vehicle
xx
PNG Papua New Guinea
PNGFP PNG Forest Products
PNGRIS PNG Resource Information System
PSS Polycyclic Selection System
RIL Reduced Impact Logging
RIP Review of Internal Practise
SGS Societe Generalle de Surveillance
SIA Social Impact Assessment
SMS Selection Management System
SNA System of National Accounts
SoE State of Environment
SOM Soil Organic Matter
SPREP South Pacific Regional Environment
Program
TNC The Nature Conservancy
TRP Timber Rights Purchase
TSS Tropical Shelterwood System
UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development
UNDP United Nations Development Program
UNEP United Nations Environmental Program
UNESCO United N ations Environment Social and
Conservation Organisation
WWF World Wildlife Fund
xxi
PART ONE: BACKGROUND
1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 OVERVIEW
Since gaining prominence at the United Nation's Con ference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) Earth Summit in 1992, the
'holy grail' of sustainable development has become the global
goal (Barton & Bruder 1995:3). Within the South Pac ific
Region, the South Pacific Regional Environment Prog ram
(SPREP) was established to provide a regional forum for
environmental matters, acknowledging that economic
development and environmental management are inextr icably
linked. Although many Pacific Island developing cou ntries
(PIDC) have made advances in environmental manageme nt, there
is not enough being done to reconcile environment a nd
development concerns into overall economic planning and
decision making (SPREP 1996). Accepting that challe nge, Papua
New Guinea (PNG) developed the National Sustainable
Development Strategy (NSDS) in 1993.
The NSDS is a plan of action to implement the visio n
contained within the Directive Goals of the Nationa l
Constitution of PNG and was designed to build on, e nhance and
reform current responses to environment and develop ment. Its
strength lies in a 'bottom up' approach, empowering and
strengthening village level initiatives, and buildi ng on
existing structures and programs while viewing gove rnment’s
role as a facilitator in development (UPNG 1992). N SDS is a
strategy that attempts to integrate the concept of
sustainable development into the fundamental develo pmental
planning processes of PNG. Although the concept of
sustainable development has become the accepted nor m for
today's development, there is no clear and accepted
definition of the concept.
2
The concept of sustainable development takes on dif ferent
definitions depending on the context in which it is used, its
position in the development hierarchy, and the glob al
perspective adopted. Therefore, it is open to diffe rent
interpretations and can sometimes appear to be inte rnally
inconsistent when moving from one context to anothe r or from
one hierarchy to another. However, as a concept tha t is a
dynamic process consisting of three interactive and connected
systems (economic, ecological and social), it becom es clear
that implementing sustainability requires trade-off s between
objectives. It is not so much a conflict in definit ions, but
differences in emphasis or weights placed on one sy stem over
another, as the concept is adapted for use at diffe rent
levels, localities and within different contexts.
In summary, sustainable development is a question o f balance
between three interactive systems. It is pluralisti c and
holistic in approach, encouraging and allowing for the
involvement of all stakeholders within the developm ent
process in determining development that is appropri ate for
their livelihoods. Nonetheless, as with many ideals , there
are constraints to achieving sustainable developmen t. High
population growth rates, low literacy levels, lack of
detailed scientific data, breakdown and disintegrat ion of
traditional values and governance, and lack of part icipation
by the major stakeholders - the landowners in decis ion-making
processes - are some of the constraints faced in PN G.
1.2 THE PROBLEM
Sustainable development promotes a holistic approac h that
combines three broad systems - ecological, economic and
social. It is an attempt to find a balance to ensur e that
resources borrowed from future generations can be p assed on
in the same level of quality and quantity or better . This
3
level of resource use previously provided adequate
livelihoods for traditional PNG societies when popu lation
pressure was minimal or non-existent. However, in t he
globalised PNG this is no longer the case. Today, r esources
face conflicting demands from traditional users, go vernment,
international concerns, resource developers and com mercial
agriculture.
PNG is a country that is abundant with natural reso urce
wealth, where ownership of these resources is with the
people. Despite ample environmental legislation to safeguard
against depletion and degradation, and despite effo rts to
ensure an equitable distribution of revenue, PNG st ill
battles losses in unmonitored log exports of around AUS$327
million per year (O'Callaghan 1994 as cited in Merc er 1995).
Furthermore, uncontrolled timber harvesting has cau sed
extensive soil erosion and downstream siltation pro blems. The
denudation of the land in high rainfall areas is ca using
landslides and unnecessary risks to human safety. L arge-scale
logging, especially given the absence of adequate b iological
data, has the potential to destroy localised endemi c species
and erode the cultural base. Nonetheless, better kn owledge
and management could avoid or minimise such losses.
An environmental audit has become a necessary manag ement tool
in planning for sustainable development in many cou ntries.
Developed and conducted in a systematic framework, localised
in approach but globalised in concept (Carey 1996; Barton &
Bruder 1995), an environmental audit can provide th e means to
assess progress or regress in relation to sustainab le
development. Furthermore, it can provide positive a ction-
related options to improve progress towards the glo bal aim of
sustainable development.
An environmental audit requires time, financial and human
resources and, therefore, can be an expensive task for any
4
organisation. However, because auditing is a proces s, it can
be conducted in stages addressing the different com ponents
over an acceptable timeframe. Therefore, audits can gradually
become part of an organisation's culture, but when audits are
considered an exercise primarily to improve the ima ge of an
organisation the outcome is a product of a one-off exercise,
and not a process (Buckley 1989; Barton & Bruder 19 95). For
the purposes of this study, a full audit was conduc ted over a
period of eight months using an integrated audit fr amework
designed specifically for forestry resource use in PNG.
1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The overall aim of the study is:
• to construct a systematic, comprehensive and action
orientated environmental audit framework specifical ly for
PNG.
Secondary to the overall aims are:
• to test the framework in a case study in PNG; and
• to determine through the audit whether forest resou rce use
has contributed to sustainable livelihoods.
The objectives of the study are:
• to compile a synoptic audit on the state of environ ment
(SoE) of the study area;
• to review key forestry and village practices;
• to assess certain policies pertaining to landowner
involvement and the impact of those policies on vi llage
activities; and
• to conduct a management audit on the key agency
responsible for forest resource development.
1.4 METHODOLOGY
5
Papua New Guinea is a much studied country, drawing national
and international researchers in anthropological, e cological,
botanical, zoological and other scientific areas of study.
The results of many of these studies are contained within
national departments, international institutions an d non-
government organisations. In the past five years at tempts
have been made, with assistance from International donor
agencies such as the Australian Agency for Internat ional
Development (AusAID), the United Nations Developmen t Program
(UNDP) and the World Bank, to collate available dat a on
natural resources into a national data base. This h as
resulted in the PNG Resource Information System (PN GRIS),
Forest Inventory Mapping (FIM) and other informatio n systems
which are compatible with PNGRIS, such as the Agric ultural
System developed by the Department of Human Geograp hy at the
Australian National University (ANU), Canberra. The
Environmental Audit (EA) is based on these informat ion
systems, environmental and forest management plans,
interviews, questionnaires and field observations.
An EA is gaining more focus as a sustainable develo pment tool
and, as such, the approach adopted is pluralistic a nd
holistic. Furthermore, where possible it is an anal ytical
tool focusing on specific policies that have direct
consequences on landowners and it helps in assessin g the
failure or success of such policies. The study has four
components - the SoE, the Policy Impact Assessment (PIA), the
Review of Internal Practises (RIP) and the Manageme nt Audit
(MA). Each component is reviewed and analysed separ ately,
although all the components are interrelated.
1.5 STUDY OUTLINE
6
Although it may be argued that sustainable developm ent as a
concept was espoused in various reports prior to th e UNCED
Earth Summit, Chapter 2 begins with the UNCED Earth summit in
1992 as the beginning of the 'new approach’. A hist orical
contribution by individuals and groups in economics ,
sociology, and a background on human use and unders tanding of
resources is reviewed. These provide the stepping s tones to
grasping the concept and the driving principles of
sustainable development.
Chapter 3 begins with a broad overview of the two b road
categories of natural resources and their subsequen t
development from the anthropogenic perspective. Foc us is
drawn to forests as a natural resource, specificall y
reviewing the different formations within the tropi cal
rainforest biome.
Having reviewed the tropical rainforest, Chapter 4 provides
an overview of environmental auditing as a sustaina ble
management instrument. It outlines the early develo pment of
EA from compliance to acceptance as an instrument o f good
practice in environmental management and, in additi on,
discusses timber certification and environmental ac counting
in relation to EAs.
While Chapters 2,3 and 4 establish the concept and principles
of sustainable development, the development and pri nciples of
EA, and forests as a resource, Chapter 5 draws the focus to
forests in PNG. Firstly, the historical context of the
importance of forest resources to the nation’s econ omy is
outlined, beginning from colonial administration to the
present. Further discussion reviews the current for est
resources from the political, economic and socio-cu ltural
perspective, and the impediments facing progress to wards
achieving sustainable forest management.
7
Chapter 6 details the methodology, which includes t he
rationale for the selection of Wandumi Village for the case
study and the processes involved. To ensure a syste matic
approach, the four components of the audit are disc ussed
individually, while recognising the inter-relations hips
between the components.
Chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10 present, discuss and analys e the
results of the case study. Chapter 7 establishes th e State of
Environment of Wandumi Village, which includes natu ral,
human-made and socio-cultural stock, with detailed discussion
of the plantation resources on Wandumi land.
Landowner involvement in forest resource developmen t is an
important issue in forest policy in PNG. Chapter 8 assesses
Section 57 of the Forest Policy (1991) which provides the
policy instrument for landowner involvement through the
Incorporation of Land Groups (ILGs). The analysis f ocuses on
the landowner company - Nakokai Timber Resources (N TR) of
Wandumi - and the success of the policy in encourag ing
landowner participation through joint venture arran gements
with the National Forest Service (NFS).
In Chapter 9 the activities of the three stakeholde rs, NFS,
NTR and Wandumi village are reviewed together, whil e the
impacts of each stakeholder activity are reviewed i n relation
to one another. The review identifies impacts that may
require further investigation and corrective measur es where
possible.
Chapter 10 is the audit of the Bulolo/Wau Plantatio n, the
interaction with other divisions of NFS, other agen cies such
as the Department of Environment and Conservation ( DEC), and
Wandumi. It also reviews the intra-relationship of the
management with the supervisors and their level of contact
with NTR and other members of Wandumi.
8
The final Chapter concludes with an assessment on, firstly,
the success of the framework in fulfilling its obje ctives
and, secondly, whether the audit determines to some degree
progress or regress away from achieving sustainable
livelihoods for the village of Wandumi. Thirdly, it places
EAs within the overall context of sustainable fores t
management into the next millennium.
9
CHAPTER 2
BACKGROUND
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Sustainable development is a dynamic and multi-face ted
concept, and one which is influenced by history. Al though
Rio de Janeiro provided the global stage for its ac ceptance
in 1992, the building blocks to understanding this concept
were laid by classical and neo-classical economists and
post-modern sociologists. In the early 1970s so cal led
environmental waves contributed to the concept, whi ch is now
accepted as the global goal.
2.2 CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
2.2.1 Rome to Rio
Although there is no consensus on when sustainable
development as a concept was first introduced, ther e is some
consensus on the concept being part of an environme ntal
revolution or waves of environmentalism (Pearce & W arford
1993; Rees 1985; Beder 1993). Beder (1993) identifi ed two
waves, where the first wave began in the 1960s and flowed
into the 1970s, and the second wave began around th e early
1980s. While the first wave was conservation-driven and
therefore, characterised as anti-development, the s econd
wave was far-reaching in its influence and acceptan ce
because of the promise of combining environmental
conservation and economic growth. However, factors such as
timing, receptiveness of the global political clima te and
the non-threatening nature of the concept to indust rialised
nations also contributed to wider acceptance of the second
wave (Beder 1993; Pearce & Warford 1993; Rees 1985: 4).
Although the report by the Club of Rome – Limits to Growth
(1972) drew-extensive criticism and outrage worldwide,
writers such as Van Dieren (1995), Redclift (1987), Kula
10
(1994) and Pezzoli (1997) suggested that the essenc e of the
concept of sustainable development was captured in the
report. Furthermore, the main thrust of the report
highlights the finiteness of natural resources and the
limited carrying capacity of the world and therefor e, the
need to reassess the current approach to economic g rowth.
In spite of the lack of consensus on the origins of the
concept of sustainable development, the 1980 World
Conservation Strategy, a report produced by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUC N) in
collaboration with the United Nations Environmental Program
(UNEP) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) (now World Wildlife
Fund for Nature), is credited with initiating the u se of
sustainable development as a concept (Smith 1993 as cited in
Kula 1994; Van Dieren 1995; Dasman 1985 as cited in Redclift
1987) . Although Brundtland Commission's Report, Our Common
Future , brought the concept to prominence, as a concept i t
was already espoused in the World Conservation Stra tegy
report. Pezzoli (1997) and Redclift (1987) agree th at as a
term, it was in use in the Cocoyoc Declaration in Mexico in
1974.
The Club of Rome developed the concept, while IUCN initiated
it. However, the UNCED Earth Summit in Rio de Janei ro in
1992 stands out as the event that brought the conce pt of
sustainable development to much greater heights.
Furthermore, the Earth Summit served to raise aware ness on a
global scale, across disciplines and at all levels (Mercer
1994; Beder 1993; O'Riordan 1995; Pezzoli 1997). Al though
the Rio Summit is criticised for more talk than act ion, and
for the non-binding nature of Agenda 21 - the Rio
Declaration and Management of Tropical Rainforests - it has
a high symbolic significance (Beder 1993), and is
"testimony to a collection of agreed and negotiated wisdoms"
(Korch & Grubb 1997:455). It provided the first glo bal forum
for different countries to gather and discuss a com mon
11
problem, and to agree that sustainable development or the
'Rio Way', is the only way forward for the human ra ce.
It is less than a decade since the global launching and the
acceptance of sustainable development, yet defining the
concept remains problematic. Definitions found in t he
literature reflect this difficulty with a wide rang e of
definitions available. These range from a descripti on of the
concept as a whole, to defining one aspect of the c oncept
within the context of use. Therefore, at this stage it is
more appropriate to provide a general definition of the
concept for discussion and establish the guiding pr inciples
within the broad concept.
In the broadest sense most writers agree with Barbi er (1987)
that sustainability involves economic, ecological a nd social
systems (Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996; Waller Hunter 1996;
Pearce & Warford 1993). Leff (1993 cited by Pezzoli 1997)
defined the conceptual framework as a concept that involves
economics, social, biological and ethical issues wi thin a
political framework.
Sustainable development occurs where the three syst ems
overlap and interact, supported within a political system
that encourages this interaction. The political asp ect is
necessary because it provides the framework that en ables the
correct interactions, trade-offs and assistance to occur to
ensure long term viability (Fig.2.1). Sustainable
development is a process that is hierarchal, broad and
pluralistic, thereby allowing for multiple viewpoin ts or
intellectual approaches (Adamowicz et al . 1996). It
challenges all levels of society to bring forth sma ll
changes within their locality to progress towards t he goal
of sustainable development, reflected in the term, 'Think
globally, Act locally'. Sustainable development is about
12
growth, not just economic growth but growth that ta kes into
account all three systems in the planning and manag ement of
all resource use to improve livelihoods for the pre sent
generation as well as the next.
Figure 2.1 Sustainable Development within a politic al framework.
Notwithstanding the discussion above, the fundament al issues
are economic in nature and, therefore, the principl e task of
sustainable development is the incorporation of bio logical
and social concerns into mainstream economic though t (Barnes
1992 cited in Beder 1993). Most causes of environme ntal
degradation lie in the workings of a mismanaged eco nomy
(Pearce & Warford 1993). Furthermore, there is an i ncreasing
body of opinion that environmental degradation lead s to real
losses in the economy (Dixon et al 1988), so addressing
economic issues within the context of sustainable
development will provide the means to achieving suc h
development.
2.2.2 Biological System
Political Framework
Social Economic
Environment
13
The biological system consists of subsystems or wha t can be
referred to as ecosystems. Ecosystems are dynamic a nd
therefore, ever changing in their natural state.
Nevertheless, excessive external influences on any ecosystem
can force dramatic changes on the organisation of t he system
and causing the system to over-reach natural thresh olds
(Vogt & Vogt et al. 1996). Depending on factors such as
frequency and type of influence, an ecosystem can a djust by
'internalising the externalities' by adjusting ener gy and
the nutrient cycle, species composition and populat ion
dynamics. However, an ecosystem's capacity to adjus t can be
stressed to a point of total collapse, and recovery may not
be possible. As well as providing air, water and so il, the
basic building blocks to sustain life, the biologic al system
provides natural resources, which are essential to
productive processes, which have been and continue to be the
basis for economic growth.
Economic activities can generate stresses or impact s on
ecosystems. These impacts are categorised by Common er (1972)
as follows:
• exploitation of biological productivity where a res ource
is removed from the system without replacing it wit h an
accepted substitute or the resource itself;
• externally augmenting certain biological components of the
system; and
• introduction of foreign substances into the ecosyst em,
substances which cannot be biologically degraded t o
useful and/or harmless substances in the system.
Understanding how an ecosystem functions in its nat ural
state of dynamism, the various thresholds it operat es
within, and the possible states of transformation d ue to
degrees and intensity of changes imposed on it, lea ds to a
better informed management approaches. Unfortunatel y,
14
ecosystem management and natural resources manageme nt do not
always share the same physical boundaries. Therefor e, where
possible, an approach to sustainable natural resour ce
management should include ecosystem considerations.
2.2.3 Economic System
Malthus was one of the earliest writers to realise the
limitations of the earth in 1798. Central to his th eory is
the law of diminishing returns, which he related to a fixed
supply of land. With population increasing geometri cally,
Malthus concluded that food production per capita w ould
decline and the world would experience mass starvat ion.
Although Malthus recognised the possibility of the opening
up of new lands, he argued that it would be a slow process
and not of good quality. Nevertheless, he failed to account
for changes and advances in agricultural technology and
education levels, changes that would contribute to changes
in the attitudes of the population at that time (Ku la 1994;
Ibrahim 1996). Building on Malthus, David Ricardo i n 1817
introduced the theory of stationary growth due to n atural
resource scarcity, thus focusing attention on the f initeness
of natural resources. In addition, Ricardo is credi ted for
theories on international trade, labour value and r ent (Kula
1994).
In 1862 J S Mill refuted claims by many of his peer s on the
idea of continued advancement. While his contempora ries
argued for materialistic accumulation, he strongly believed
in keeping the value of the environment in its natu ral
state, thereby introducing conservation ethics into economic
theory (Kula 1994). Other influential authorities o n
classical economic theory were A C Pigou (1929); Do bb
(1946); Holzman (1958) and Hirshleifer (1960). Kula (1994)
refers to Pigou as one of the earliest economists t o write
on the distribution of income. Dobb and Holzman tak e the
15
case of equity further by introducing ways and mean s by
which equity can be achieved through market respons es and a
centralised system of governance.
These historical contributions by early economists, though
unable to be credited with accuracy in their predic tions,
provided valuable building blocks for the developme nt of
environmental economics (Ibrahim 1996; Pearce & War ford
1993). The issues that have a bearing on environmen tal
economics today were issues of concern from the tim e of
Malthus through to Holzman. They acknowledged the m ulti-
faceted nature of economics in natural resource use and
attempted to address issues relating to natural res ource
scarcity, equity in distribution, and possible limi tations
on economic growth.
2.2.4 Social System
Post Modern Sociology
As Malthus, Ricardo and J.S Mill influenced the dev elopment
of classical economics, August Comte (1798-1857), K arl Marx
(1818-1883), and Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) influe nced the
development of post-modern sociology. Credited with coining
the term sociology, Comte also developed the theory of
rational social planning as an answer to solving so ciety’s
problems. Conversely, Spencer believed that society evolved
to higher levels through a natural selection proces s, and
although Spencer’s theory of ‘Social Darwinism’ has no
basis, it provided the basis and arguments for raci sm,
eugenics and the holocaust (Osborne & Van Loon 1996 ;
Abercombie, Hill & Turner 1994).
Compared to Comte and Spencer, Karl Marx developed a broader
view of society based on society as a totality, alt hough he
identified economics as the basic motor and the det ermining
factor in society. Therefore, social change is not random
16
but a consequence of the response of human relation ship to
economic organisation.
While others believed in rational planning and capi talism to
change society, Max Webber (1864-1920) argued that religion
led to social change. Around the same period, Emile Durkheim
(1859-1917) argued that social systems are moral en tities,
and that collective consciousness is a moral force that
binds the individual to society. However, Ferdinand Tonni
(1855-1936) viewed society in two broad classes of
Germeinscaft and Gesellschaf, based on the social
relationship of individuals to their families. Wher e the
family relationship is lacking or non-existent, the
relationship is impersonal and non-kinship based.
Because Europe has a longer history than the United States,
early European sociologists developed theories and arguments
based on history. However, lacking the benefit of h istory,
American sociologists based their theories on empir ical
studies. Lester B Ward (1841-1913) identified laws governing
American social life, W Dubois (1868-1963) studied the
living and working conditions of the Blacks, and Ja ne Adams
(1860-1935) documented the slum conditions of Chica go’s West
Side.
In the development of sociology as a profession, va rious
schools of thought were influential. The Chicago sc hool,
founded in 1892, is famous for urban studies and sy mbolic
interaction while the Frankfurt school, in the 1930 s and the
1940s, was concerned with the problem of society,
emphasising the importance of culture and media in shaping
individuals.
Increasingly, post 1960s sociology became more awar e of
culture and communication as significant factors in
analysing society. Jurgen Habemas (1929) was concer ned with
rational communication. Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 -1913), a
linguist, developed the theory of semiotics or the study of
17
signs, which has filtered into sociology. Roland Ba rthes
(1915-1980) and Claude Levi-Strauss (1908) were gre at
advocates of the structuralist approach through the ir work.
The most relevant part of the structuralist approac h is the
area of cultural studies (Osborne & Van Loon 1996).
Culture
Culture determines a society, it is an entire way o f life,
and therefore covers all of sociology. Defined as a
‘collective noun for the symbolic and learned, non-
biological aspects of human society, it includes la nguage,
custom, convention and norms, by which human behavi our can
be distinguished from that of other primates’(Aberc rombie,
Hill & Turner 1994:98). It is all the modes of thou ght,
behaviour and communication handed down from genera tion to
generation via the mode of language and other forms of
communication. In addition it is an accepted way of doing
things, by a large group of people, built up over t ime.
Cultures are dynamic and, therefore, change accordi ng to the
pressures and demands placed on them by external an d
internal factors. Nonetheless, the level of change, along
with the intensity and frequency of pressure and ch ange, can
threaten the balance within that society, causing
irreparable damage to the cultural system.
While the early development of sociology attempted to make
sense of capitalism, industrialisation and modernis ation, it
failed to consider the implications of imperialism and
colonialism. Natural and human resources were explo ited to
sustain industrialisation and modernisation resulti ng in the
destruction and degradation of traditional cultures .
Nonetheless, this oversight by postmodern social sc ientists
is being corrected by modern day social scientists as they
grapple with the multi-faceted nature of social and cultural
concerns.
18
It can be concluded that the quest for sustainable
development must include careful consideration of c ultural
mores. Inappropriate development has the potential to
undermine long established cultural systems, thereb y
rendering societies non-sustainable.
2.2.5 Political Framework
The implementation process for achieving sustainabl e
development has not been fully and adequately inves tigated
and articulated. Nevertheless, sustainable developm ent
provides a broad framework, and is dynamic and incl usive,
allowing adaptation to any national situation and t o all
levels of society (Van Dieren 1995:88). Even before the Rio
Summit, many countries had begun to respond to the concept
of sustainable development.
Some countries responded by developing new policies ,
guidelines and reports, while others strengthened e xisting
environmental Acts and legislation. For example, th e United
Kingdom began their White Paper process in 1990, on the
current state of the environment, titled ' This common
inheritance'. Since then, the report has been reviewed
annually, and new targets and policies set for the future
(Osborn 1996; Thomas 1996). Canada developed the Green Plan
in 1990, a plan containing targets and timetables t o which
the public can hold the Government accountable (Sla ter
1996). The United States made major amendments to t he Clean
Air Act of 1970, the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the
Superfund Act of 1980 (Thomas 1996). In the Pacific Region,
SPREP was set up to develop a 'Pacific Way' strateg y (SPREP
1996). PNG developed the NSDS in 1993 establishing a policy
framework that, indicated the political will and
receptiveness to embracing the concept of sustainab le
development at national level (Nadarajah 1994).
19
2.3 Principles of Sustainable Development
While defining sustainable development is difficult , there
are some basic principles governing the concept, in cluding
the following:
Precautionary Principle: the goal of sustainable development
is loaded with uncertainty due to its pluralistic n ature and
the pragmatic approach required to achieving it. At tention
should be focused on avoiding irreversible or serio us
environmental degradation unless the cost of doing so is
unacceptably high. Where there is insufficient info rmation
and uncertainty about the effects of human actions on the
environment, the asset should be left intact until a later
time when more information and certainty on the eff ects are
clearly understood. In many cases this may not be p ossible,
so opting for precautionary, low risk strategies, c ombined
with safe minimum standards and reasoned best judge ment,
should guide decisions on resource use (Beder 1993;
Thistlethwaite 1996)
Accounting for resource depletion : a proper system of
gauging the overall well-being of a nation should a ssign
economic values to the depletion and/or degradation of
environmental assets (Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996; McDowell
1996). The standard system developed by the United Nations,
the System of National Accounts (SNA), has been use d by most
countries to gauge the economic well-being of a nat ion
through the measures of Gross National Product (GNP ), or
Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, this system fails to
account for the depletion of natural environmental assets.
Adjusted national accounts might correct this short coming of
the SNA and consider environmental goods as capital assets
subject to depreciation, thus leading to more appro priate
policy and resource strategies (Mercer 1991; Van Di eren
1995; Daley 1994; Brard 1996).
20
Valuing externalities and adjusting for market fail ure:
market failure occurs whenever resource users decis ions do
not consider the full costs of production and consu mption,
including environmental and social costs. Therefore , the
final market value of many goods or services does n ot
reflect the real value of the product. For example, in the
extraction of timber for round logs, biodiversity l oss,
excessive soil loss due to erosion from ill constru cted
roads, and bad practices in timber harvesting techn iques
increase siltation in waterways and loss of food pl ants. But
these costs are not reflected in the final price of logs
that leave the country.
Investment in natural assets: a certain part of the revenue
earned from exploitation of natural resources shoul d be
invested in these natural assets. In the case of re newable
assets such as forestry, it can be in such forms as
reforestation levies, or regeneration and silvicult ural
investments. In non-renewable resources, investment s can be
made in a renewable resource or other agreed substi tute
source of economic activity (Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996;
Lopez 1996).
Efficiency and equity: as the basic principles of
sustainable development are efficiency and equity, any
policy on resource use must be established with bot h in
mind. Where equity is traded for efficiency (or vic e versa),
the policy must accommodate the necessary trade-off s between
the two (Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996; Mercer 1991; Van
Dieren 1995; Simula 1996; Ibrahim 1996).
The use or allocation of resources is efficient if the net
benefit to society is maximised by that allocation or level
of use. On the other hand, allocation of resources is
inefficient if it is possible to make at least one member of
society better off without making any other member worse.
21
Equity is assessed from three levels: inter-generat ional,
intra-generational and international. Inter-generat ional
equity is futuristic, while intra-generational equi ty
concerns equality across different classes and grou ps.
International equity relates to the distribution of benefits
between the developed and developing nations (Eden 1996).
2.4 Conclusion
Although sustainable development as a concept may h ave been
part of a second wave of environmentalism, historic al
contributions by individuals and groups have contri buted to
the concept as it is understood today. The pioneeri ng
contribution by Auguste Comte from 1798-1857 on the study of
society, provided the beginnings for subsequent stu dies and
theories by postmodern sociologists such as Durkhei m, Karl
Marx, and modern day sociologists such as Michael F ocault.
Present day resource economics is based on pioneeri ng
contributions by Thomas Malthus, Ricardo, Pigou, Mi ll and
others. Materialistic well-being and prosperity is directly
related to resource identification and use, but thi s has
come at a cost to society. What seemed to have been a
mathematical extrapolation of doom and gloom by the Club of
Rome Report - Limits to Growth - in 1972 and an
environmental concern by the IUCN collaborated repo rt -
World Conservation Strategy - in 1980, is now a global
reality.
Sustainable development, as endorsed by the Earth S ummit is
a global approach to a global problem, but defining it
requires an operational approach. An approach that must
combine the three systems - environment, social and economic
- within a political framework, and consider the tr ade-offs
required between each system to achieve sustainable
development.
22
Although there are many possible approaches due to the
pluralistic and hierarchal nature of sustainable
development, and although defining the concept rema ins
problematic, there are some underlying principles t hat must
be considered in the quest for sustainable developm ent.
These are the precautionary principle, accounting f or
resource depletion, valuing externalities and adjus ting for
market failure, investment in natural assets and, f inally,
efficiency and equity which includes inter-generati onal,
intra-generational and international equity. Furthe rmore,
because society’s use and /or misuse of natural res ources
has been, to a substantial degree, governed by the workings
of economics, the means to achieve sustainable deve lopment
also lie in the workings of the economic system.
23
CHAPTER 3
DEVELOPMENT OF FORESTS AS A RENEWABLE RESOURCE
“PRIMEVAL TO MODERN”
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Forests are a unique resource that has always been available to
humans. Although forests are renewable, critical zo ne resources
within a forest ecosystem may not be renewable afte r commercial
extraction. While Palaeolithic humans maintained a balance with
the environment traditional, and subsequently, mode rn cultures
have increased pressure on a wide range of forest f ormations.
Although figures for forest loss world-wide in the 1980s and
1990s indicate a slowing down, most of the total gl obal forest
loss is concentrated in developing countries.
3.2 RENEWABLE AND NON RENEWABLE RESOURCES
Natural resources can be classified into the two br oad
categories of non-renewable and renewable resources . Although
all natural resources are renewable, those that are renewable
within human timeframes are normally considered as such, while
those beyond are considered non-renewable. Generall y, non-
renewable resources are finite in quantity, and can be
classified into two broad categories of consumed by use and
recycled. For example, fossil fuels are 'consumed b y use' non-
renewable resources, while most minerals are recycl able.
However, in principle, the technology exists to rec ycle all
minerals although, in practice, high cost and high- energy
requirements make it impossible.
Renewable resources including water, air and plants , can be
further classified as critical zone and non-critica l zone
resources. While non-critical zone resources can re ach some
point of temporary depletion but remain renewable i rrespective,
critical zone resources may, at some point, reach a state of no
24
recovery, where stock levels have gone below a crit ical
threshold (Rees 1985).
Based on this classification by Rees (1985), a fore stry
resource is considered a non-critical zone flow res ource -
commonly referred to as a renewable resources. Neve rtheless, it
must be noted that this is an over-simplification o f complex
ecosystems. For example, although forests are a non -critical
renewable resource, logging results in the removal of critical
zone resources such as endemic species or ecosystem s (Rees
1985; Sekhran & Miller 1995)
3.3 NATURAL RESOURCE USE AND DEVELOPMENT
From the Palaeolithic to the technological age, the capacity
for humans to rationalise, think and to plan has re sulted in
the identification and development of natural resou rces (Rees
1985; Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996). As this ability improved
with the advancement of technology, the needs of th e human race
also changed from basic livelihood needs to materia l wealth and
prosperity.
The identification and development of natural resou rces can,
therefore, be directly correlated with the developm ent and
advancement of the human race. While the Palaeolith ic humans
needed very few elements in gathering food, settled communities
increased their resources through necessity. Conseq uently,
elements that previously were considered ‘neutral s tuff’
(Zimmerman 1951 quoted in Rees 1985:12) gained stat us as a
resource. As each stage of humankind's development brought new
demands and challenges, this in turn stimulated inn ovative
technological advances (Rees 1985; Beder 1993).
Prosperity through economic growth increased, and t echnology
increased the ability to extract natural resources, but so too
25
has there been increases in population, consumption of fossil
fuels and other natural resources such as wood. Fro m 1900 to
1990 the world economy boasted a twenty-fold increa se in
economic growth (prosperity), consumption of fossil fuels
increased by a factor of 30, and industrial product ion
increased by a factor of 50 (McNeil et al. cited in Pezzoli
1997). Population, a major contributing factor to n atural
resource depletion, also multiplied. It is envisage d by many
writers that, at the current rate of population gro wth of one
billion each 10 years, world population will reach the 10 to 12
billion mark by 2050 (Wilson 1996; Kendall 1996). N inety
percent of this increase will be in the poorest of all
countries of the third world (Serageldin 1996; Brun dtland
1997).
Although human history is full of examples of prosp erity by
exploitation of a natural resource beyond the limit s of its
capacity, leading to decline and eventual collapse, these
examples have been restricted to countries or civil isations or
localities, and not on such a scale as at the prese nt time
(Pezzoli 1997; Fuller 1996). Today, it is a global issue
affecting countries in both the developed and devel oping
nations grappling with the mounting danger and the consequences
of population growth and an eroding natural resourc e base (Kula
1994; Carey 1996; Hughes 1996; Asvall 1996; Hertzma n 1996;
Amoako 1996; Harrington 1996; Lethem 1996).
While developed countries deal with energy consumpt ion and
pollution levels, developing countries are faced wi th problems
of resource depletion directly linked to population pressure,
stage of economic development, inappropriate techno logical
transfer, imposition of western social structures, and
attitudes and beliefs (Pezzoli 1997; Redclift 1987) . Economic
development through the exploitation of natural res ources as
perceived by developed nations, was believed to be needed and
desired by developing nations to enable them to joi n in the
26
march to prosperity. However, attempts to control a nd exploit
nature have led to environmental and social catastr ophe
(Pezzoli 1997).
Developing countries striving to achieve the same l evels of
economic growth and prosperity as developed countri es must take
account of the depletion of their natural resources if they are
to achieve development that is sustainable. In deve loping
countries, it is the renewable resources that are m ost critical
for the livelihood of people. Without sustainable n atural
resources use, management regimes and policies, the se resources
may not naturally renew themselves (Pearce & Warfor d 1993), or
may require exceptionally high cost inputs to renew .
Furthermore, there is an extremely high likelihood of the
destruction of critical zone flow resources within any
exploitable natural resource and, once destroyed, t hese cannot
be restored by any intervention.
3.4 FOREST RESOURCES
Forest resources provide a wide range of goods and services,
both tangible and non-tangible. These include wood and non-wood
products, spiritual and socio-cultural products, ae sthetic
services and biological diversity. Wood products in clude
industrial round woods, fuelwood and charcoal. Whil e commercial
logging often results in obvious environmental degr adation,
fuelwood and charcoal account for more than half of wood
product consumption, with 90 percent of this consum ption in
developing countries (Braatze 1997).
According to a 1995 estimate, forests of the World, constitute
3,454 million hectares (ha) or 26.6 per cent of the total land
area (Greenland and Antarctica land area is not inc luded) which
includes both natural and plantation forests. Sligh tly more
than half of this (56.8 per cent) is in developing countries,
mostly consisting of tropical forests, while develo ped
27
countries contain mostly temperate and boreal fores ts (Braatze
1997). Papua New Guinea accounts for 1.5 per cent o f the
world’s tropical forest (Sekhran & Miller 1995).
In traditional PNG societies forests signified not only the
physical but spiritual and emotional development. I t provided
trees, lianas and leaves for the construction of sh elter,
fruits, nuts and drink for sustenance, and dyes and tannins for
the variety of handcrafts such as billums, reed bas kets and
carvings. Forests also provide a wide range of trad itional
pharmaceutical
The nuts of one of PNGs commercial timber species, Canarium
indicum provides the galip nut for many coastal villages.
Islands off the coast of Madang such as Manam and K arkar weave
decorative baskets for galip nuts as an important t rade and
gift item. The okari nut is also a product of the r ainforest
Terminalia species. When in season, it provides a source of
income for many rural dwellers. The tulip plant, Gnetum gnemon
is a source of food and fibre for billum-making along the
northern coast of the mainland. Although many of th ese plants
have not been domesticated, many rural dwellers der ive income
from the sale of such items in their local markets.
3.5 TROPICAL RAINFORESTS
Tropical rainforest remains a subject of fascinatio n for
scientists, explorers and, more recently, social sc ientists and
environmentalists. It is noted for its diversity, r ichness in
form and species and, from a philosophical perspect ive, is seen
as an expression of universal harmony in diversity (Bruenig
1996). Furthermore, it is a complex community or ec osystem
whose framework is provided by many tree species of different
sizes. The following discussion on rainforests reli es
extensively on Whitmore (1975), complemented by Bru enig (1996)
and Sekhran & Miller (1995).
28
Tropical rainforest biome occurs within 20 degrees south and
north of the equator, between the Tropic of Cancer to the north
and Tropic of Capricorn to the south. It describes the forests
of the ever-wet tropics where there is none or mini mal seasonal
water shortage. Where there are rainforests outside of the
tropics, such as the Far East, southwards in easter n Australia
and northwards to 28 degrees in southern-most China , these
forests are referred to as subtropical forests. How ever, these
forests have been largely cleared except for the sl opes and the
wet valleys.
3.5.1 Major Rainforest Blocks
There are three large blocks of tropical rainforest s - the
American, the Indo-Malayan and the African. The Ame rican is the
most extensive, comprising of 400 million hectares or one sixth
of the total broad-leaf forests of the world (Pring le 1969 as
cited in Whitmore 1975). Centred in the Amazon basi n it extends
northwards to the Caribbean, and southwards to the Andean
foothills and the Atlantic coast. The Indo Malayan block is
estimated to cover 250 million hectares, whilst the African
block is estimated to cover 180 million hectares an d is said to
be the poorest in species composition. The Indo-Mal ayan
rainforest includes Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippine s and the
island of New Guinea, with outliers in China, Sri L anka and
Northeastern Australia. The African rainforest is c entred in
the Congo basin, extending along the north coast of the Gulf of
Guinea with outliers in Uganda. While the Indo-Mala yan block is
more species rich than the African rainforests, it has been
subject to more anthropogenic disturbances than the African
block or the American.
Although the structure, physiognomy of species and general
climatic conditions within the various kinds of rai nforest are
similar, there are profound differences between geo graphical
regions. At the macro scale there are climatic, geo logical and
29
geomorphological, floristic and faunistic differenc es, whilst
at the medium scale there are differences between c limatically
similar biogeographical regions which are caused by differences
in evolution, migration of species, soil and site t ypes. At the
micro scale, the floristic and faunistic difference s would be
more pronounced and detailed within each country, a nd further
still within each vegetation type and formation.
3.5.2 Rainforest Structure
Tropical rainforest canopies are often referred to as being
layered or stratified. Although a profile diagram d epicts well-
defined layering, in reality this is possible in on e or two
species forests. Nonetheless, a typical tropical ra inforest has
five stratas or layers. Emergent trees form the A l ayer, the
main canopy is B, the lower storey is the C layer, woody
treelets or shrubs constitute the D layer, and herb s and
seedlings on the forest floor comprises the E.
Emergent trees in the A layer are more exposed to t he external
climate of high temperatures, isolation and excessi ve wind
movement. It is home to many photophytic or sunlovi ng
epiphytes, climbers, stranglers, insectivorous and carnivorous
birds and bats. The main canopy is habitat to mostl y
phytophagous birds and mammals that feed on leaves and fruits
and, to a lesser degree, nectar and insects. Moist conditions
within this layer provide an ideal microclimate for shade
loving epiphytes, both vascular such as orchids and ferns, and
non-vascular such as algae.
The C layer consists of growing trees, and is home to epiphytes
such as ferns, flying insectivorous birds and bats, mammals and
some carnivores. Mostly saplings constitute the D l ayer, which
is frequented by many of the animals that frequent the C layer,
especially the mammals. Finally, the forest floor w ith an
30
abundance of litter, seeds, seedlings and herbs is home to
large ground herbivores and attendant carnivorous a nimals, and
undergrowth mammals and birds.
As well as layering, a forest has three different p hases of
development - the gap formation, the building, and the mature
phase. Forests are dynamic, and although a mature p hase forest
is at a dynamic equilibrium, gaps are formed throug h a single
tree fall, or from fire and cyclone damage. The mos t productive
phase of the forest, where the net primary producti vity
increases to a maximum, is at the building phase, w hich
decreases once the mature stage is reached.
3.5.3 Rainforest Formations
The principal criteria used to identify the differe nt forest
formations are structure and physiognomy, irrespect ive of flora
or fauna. Formations are divided into groups accord ing to
habitats with further divisions based on moisture, soil types,
elevations and so on. In classifying formations the re are
overlapping areas between two distinct formations, which are
considered as either a distinct formation or a sub- formation.
The four main forest types are dryland, wetland, mo nsoon and
mountain. The dryland forests consist of six sub-ty pes, which
include:
• lowland evergreen rainforest;
• semi-evergreen rainforests;
• hearth forests;
• forests over limestone;
• forests over ultrabasic; and
• beach forests.
Wetland forest types consist of:
• mangroves;
31
• peat swamps; and
• freshwater swamps.
Monsoon forest formations include:
• moist deciduous;
• savanna;
• tropical grassland;
• thorn forests; and
• tropical deserts.
Finally the mountain forest formations are:
• lower montane;
• upper montane; and
• sub-alpine vegetation.
Almost all the formations are represented in the In do-Malayan
block, although, some are more extensive that other s. Most of
the formations are also represented in PNG except f or thorn and
tropical deserts, while the most extensive formatio n is the
lowland evergreen rainforest.
3.5.4 Climate
The most important features of tropical climates ar e their
warmth and virtually frost-free nature, except on t he highest
mountains. The tropical mountain climates have a ce rtain
insolation regime where the midday sun is high, and there is
only a slight variation in day length all year roun d. The
diurnal range is greater than any variations from o ne time of
the year to another, and the climatic variations ra nge from
perhumid or ever- wet through seasonally dry to per manently dry
or arid climates.
32
An important variable affecting vegetation range is
availability of moisture and its seasonal distribut ion, rather
than the total amount of moisture. Yearly moisture fluctuations
coupled with temperature fluctuations, impact on th e large-
scale circulation system that determines the presen t
macroclimate of rainforests. Whilst the American ra inforests
predominantly feature Hadley cell circulation, the Indo-Malayan
and African rainforests typically feature very vari able
monsoonal circulation superimposed on the Hadley ce ll
circulation.
3.5.5 Rainforest Soils
The heterogenous nature of rainforest soils makes t he task of
classification and generalisation difficult. Noneth eless, next
to climate, soil is one of the most important contr olling
factors in the distribution of plants. There have b een efforts
to classify soils on an international scale by the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Natio ns
Environment Social and Conservation Organisation (U NESCO).
Whitmore (1975) quotes Dudal, Moorman and Riquier ( 1974) as
having produced an updated review of South East Asi an Soils
using the classification by UNESCO/FAO. On a nation al scale,
the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organisation (CSIRO) produced a soil classification based on
the United States Department of Agriculture soil cl assification
for PNG soils (Bellamy et al . 1986). Therefore, with no
internationally accepted soil classification system , resulting
in multiplicity in classification, and further exac erbated by
the heterogeneous nature of tropical rainforest soi ls, any
efforts to classify soils within this context is be yond the
scope of this discussion. However, because soils ar e an
important factor that control the distribution of p lants within
the tropical rainforest biome, further discussion c entres on
the common properties of rainforest soils within a typical soil
profile, rather than on the classification of soils .
33
A typical soil profile of rainforest soils consists of a
sequence of layers (horizons) from the surface to t he unaltered
parent rock or geological material. There are three horizons:
the A, B and C horizons. The A horizon consists of a layer of
fallen leaves and plant debri, usually referred to as litter
(L) sometimes underlain with partly humified plant remains (F)
and a layer of well decomposed humus (H). Under ana erobic
conditions, peat is formed within this layer. The B -horizon is
the weathered horizon and is referred to as the min eral
horizon. Further breakdown of this horizon is depen dent on
whether there is an enrichment of clay subscript an d/or the
type of mineral weathering and translocation that h as occurred.
The C-horizon is the parent rock or the geological material.
The high levels of weathering, leaching, biological activity,
and soil acidity of rainforest soils can be attribu ted to the
two most important features of rainforests: general ly high
rainfall frequency and warm temperatures. Due to th e high
levels of weathering and leaching, rainforest soils are usually
low in fertility but rich in clay content. There is complete
weathering of all common minerals except quartz to kaolinitic
clays. At low pH, kaolinite soils do not have a hig h cation
exchange capacity and, therefore these soils are no t high in
nutrient content. Heavy leaching also removes any w eathered
minerals, which would otherwise be available as nut rients to
plants. The high biological activity of both macro and micro-
organisms ensures that the nutrients are rapidly re leased and
effectively taken up by roots or leached through th e subsoil
and lost. Although studies have indicated that myco rrhiza
present in the root system of most trees of tropica l
rainforests play an important role in the nutrient uptake
process, the extent of their role has not been clea rly defined.
An important feature of rainforest soils that needs further
mention is the soil organic matter (SOM). After the canopy, the
34
soil organic matter is the next most important feat ure of soils
that influences tropical rainforest growth. The moi sture
holding capacity of the soil is dependent on soil o rganic
matter. Furthermore, the SOM of forests has several important
ecological functions which include: providing nutri ents for
micro-organisms in the soil and for living plants, stabilising
substances for improving soil stability, increasing cohesion of
soil crumbs, and increasing aeration and porosity, thereby
improving root penetration. In addition, the nutrie nt content
of the soil is also dependent on the SOM, which is dependent on
the nature of the cation exchange complex.
3.5.6 Flora and Fauna
The rich, dynamic, heterogenous and constantly chan ging nature
of rainforest flora and fauna is a consequence of l ong and
short-term influences. The long term evolution and richness of
plants, animals and microbes is facilitated by biol ogical
barriers between genetic populations, the multitude of breeding
systems, genetic isolation mechanisms, heterogeneit y of soil
and climate, dynamics introduced by tectonic moveme nts, sea
level changes and multi-scale climatic variations a nd changes.
Added to these long term factors, present influence s that
maintain the diversity of flora and fauna are habit at
variations due to crown breaks, tree mortality, win d-throw,
lightning, pests and diseases, and anthropogenic in fluences
forming small gaps of a few square kilometres to la rge gaps of
100 square kilometres or more.
Whitmore and Sayer (1992) estimated the number of t ropical
plant and animal species to be 3-5 million (as cite d by Bruenig
1996). However, there is considerable uncertainty w ith respect
to insects and invertebrates. Furthermore, existing information
is fragmentary and, therefore, such an estimate may be regarded
as an under-estimate of the actual number of plant and animal
species in the tropical rainforest. The difficulty in making an
35
accurate estimation is further exacerbated by the e ver-changing
and extremely heterogeneous nature of the rainfores t. If it has
taken two centuries of botanical collection and res earch to
catalogue 30,000 flowering plants by the regional p rogram,
Flora Malesiana, how much longer will it take to ca talogue the
mobile species of the rainforests, such as animals, insects and
microbial species?
Within the rainforests, trees are an important elem ent of the
forest ecosystem, providing the framework for other plants and
animals. The composition, distribution and successi onal
development of species association are a consequenc e of
interacting biotic and abiotic factors of site, int ernal gap-
mosaic dynamics and external disturbances, and the longer term
influences of past climate and evolution (Whitmore 1975,
Bruenig 1996). The self-sustainability and regenera tion
capacity of tree species is dependant on weather co nditions,
pollination, pests and diseases during flowering an d fruiting,
herbivorous consumers and detritus decomposers in t he forest
canopy, on the soil surface and in the rooting sphe re of the
forest floor. Furthermore, the amount of transmissi ble light
through the forest canopy influences the survivabil ity of
seedlings and saplings. However, the actual dispers al and
viability of seeds of tree species are largely infl uenced by
climatic and faunal factors. These factors combined make self-
sustainability of tropical rainforest ecosystems mo re fragile
and the successful regeneration of tree species mor e
unpredictable than in temperate forests.
The richness of the flora and fauna of rainforests, or what is
now termed the biodiversity of rainforests, is diff icult to
measure. Although comparative value statements, suc h as the
forests of the Indo-Malayan block are more species rich than
the American or the African, have been sufficient i n the past,
this comparisons are no longer sufficient. With inc reasing
awareness and appreciation of the role of biodivers ity, there
36
have been efforts to express some biodiversity valu e. However,
this is likely to be an arbitrary exercise.
Biodiversity can be measured through the following: species
richness; a combination of species richness and abu ndance;
genetic heterogeneity; and taxonomic distinctness. Bruenig
(1996) expressed tree species richness as the numbe r of species
in 100 randomly selected trees above a certain stem diameter.
The evenness of mixture is expressed by the McIntos h index of
diversity within the 100-tree batch. The measure of evenness is
an indication of the diversity of habitat, which in cludes
genetic heterogeneity and taxonomic distinctness. A rough
canopy can harbour more species of animals and plan ts than a
smooth canopy. Furthermore, a greater number of spe cies within
a rough canopy would support more animal, plant and microbial
species. Nonetheless, any index, including the McIn tosh index,
varies widely between sampling plots within any one forest.
Therefore, while indices are useful for broad compa risons
between distinct forest communities at the medium a nd large-
scale, they are of little use when applied on a mic ro-scale.
Tropical rainforests are the most diverse and riche st, and the
continuing influence of interacting macro and micro -factors
will maintain species diversity, regeneration and s elf-
sustainability of the flora and fauna of the rainfo rests. As
the value of rainforests biodiversity becomes incre asingly
important, efforts in developing a biodiversity ind ex will
increase. While efforts to do so are needed, and co mpromise a
step in the right direction, such biodiversity indi cators
should have well defined boundaries of use.
3.5.7 Humans and Rainforests
Before the advent of humans, primeval tropical rain forests
covered 90 per cent of the earth’s land surface. Th e history of
human advancement within the tropical rainforests p rogressed in
three stages: the primeval, traditional and modern culture.
37
The primeval human accepted forests as part of thei r nomadic
existence. Using limestone caves for shelter, the f orests
provided animals to be hunted and food to be collec ted.
Although forests, food and animals were spread over time and
space, the primeval human had both commodities in a bundance,
was limited by lack of biotechnological capabilitie s and was,
therefore, unable to disturb the balance within the forest
habitat and the forest resource.
Traditional cultures developed when humans moved fr om a nomadic
existence to settled agricultural existence. It is likely that
the first settlements were on alluvial plains, and in aseasonal
to weakly seasonal tropical forests such as monsoon forests.
With the aid of fire and readily available combusti ble
undergrowth in such forests, humans were able to de stroy
nature’s balance in a forest where resistance and n atural
regeneration ability were the weakest. With improve d tools,
shifting agriculture was no longer dependant on nat ure’s
provision of combustible undergrowth. Slash and bur n was
employed to progressively clear large tracts of for ests for
agriculture, animal husbandry and hunting.
Modern cultures are introduced cultures, superimpos ed onto
traditional cultures by the arrival of western civi lisation.
Initially as traders, missionaries and settlers, pe ople from
modern cultures were responsible for introducing ne w ideas,
changes and attitudes. New crops such as the sweet potato, corn
and maize, along with weeds and diseases accompanie d their
arrival. Furthermore, the introduction of hand held saws and,
eventually, mechanical chainsaws cleared more prime land for
cash crops, roads and settlements. Consequently, mo dern culture
has been responsible for further depletion of tropi cal forests,
reaching forest formations that were otherwise not easily
accessible to traditional cultures.
38
3.6 CURRENT TRENDS IN FOREST RESOURCE USE
Tropical forest loss, according to the World Resour ces
Institute in their 1994-95 annual report, amounted to 15.4
million hectares per annum. Braatze (1997) quotes 1 3.7 million
ha per annum for the period 1990-1995. Compared wit h annual
natural forest losses of 15.5 million ha for the 19 80-1990
period, this suggests a slowing in forest loss. Whe ther this
indicates the beginning of a positive trend will be shown by
data from the Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) pre sently being
conducted under the FAO 2000 studies.
Forty per cent (24.1 mill. ha) of closed forest los s in the
tropics has been attributed to permanent agricultur e, cattle
ranching and reservoirs, and more than 25 per cent (24.1
mill.ha) to fallow agriculture. Open forest or long fallow
shifting cultivation accounts for 20 per cent (18.2 mill.ha) of
losses, while forestry activities and agricultural plantations
only account for four per cent (4 mill.ha) of natur al forest
loss (Braatze 1997). These figures provide a global indication
of deforestation, although regional and country def orestation
figures vary according to localised socio-political pressures
placed on the forest resource (Pearce & Warford 199 3).
3.7 CONCLUSION
Forests of the tropics are a naturally renewable re source that
provided sustenance and shelter for primeval and tr aditional
cultures. Although sustenance of livelihoods has re mained a
function of many traditional cultures, today modern culture
introduces new ideas and values, most often clashin g with
traditional ideas and values. Forest formations, wh ich were
traditionally not accessible for slash and burn agr iculture,
39
became available as tools for clearing improved fro m the stone
tools to hand-held metal saws and, subsequently, me chanised
chainsaws. The value of forest has changed from the source of
sustenance and shelter to the means for material ga in. In
addition, forests are now valued for their biodiver sity,
thereby adding another dimension to the changing va lue of
tropical rainforests.
40
CHAPTER 4
ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING
"RIO TO REALITY"
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Where does environmental auditing fit within the co ncept of
sustainable development? Legislative requirements g ave rise to
the first environmental audits in the United States in the
1970s as a matter of compliance. From compliance, e nvironmental
audits are now accepted as an environmental managem ent tool
that allows an holistic, systematic and process-bas ed approach
to the assessment of policy, practise and managemen t in
relation to an audit unit. The issues of environmen tal
accounting and forest certification are also discus sed in this
chapter in relation to environmental audits because these too
have developed as a response to the Rio ideals, and the process
of certification requires some level of environment al auditing.
The approach to environmental audits is still being developed,
allied with other environment management systems th at have been
developed at national, regional and international l evels.
4.2 EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITS
Companies in the United States in the 1970s can be credited
with the early use of environmental audits and, con sequently,
their early development. It began as a matter of co mpliance
required by legislation such as the ‘ Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA)’, the ‘ Comprehensive Environmental
Responses, Compensation and Liability Act ’ (CERCLA) and the
Clean Air Act (Thomas et al .1996; Barton & Bruder 1995). The
polluter pays principle under such legislation forc ed many
large companies to conduct ‘performance reviews’ an d
‘compliance audits’ to avoid liability. In doing so , companies
were able to assess where their activities were pla ced in
relation to such legislation rather than having to pay for non-
41
compliance. Where most companies responded for reas ons of
compliance, over time some adopted EA as a tool to promote good
environmental management.
The standard approach by companies during the early development
of EA was analysis of input and output, thereby est ablishing
what the environmental impacts of the inputs and ou tputs were.
In establishing impacts, companies then searched fo r measures
to either correct or minimise such impacts. Today,
environmental auditing has spread to other countrie s, initially
through subsidiary companies of large American pare nt
companies, and the concept of the EA has also broad ened from
compliance to a matter of good environmental manage ment. The
broadening context can be attributed to a greater e nvironmental
awareness of the public at large, and the global re sponse to
the Rio conference.
In the lead up to and immediately after the Earth S ummit, many
countries responded by developing new policies, gui delines and
reports, while others strengthened existing Acts an d
legislation in relation to the environment. The Uni ted Kingdom
began their White Paper process in 1990, on the cur rent state
of the environment, titled ‘This Common Inheritance’ . Since
then, the report is reviewed annually, and new targ ets and
policies set for the future (Osborn 1996; Thomas 19 96). Canada
developed the ‘Green Plan’ in 1990, a plan containing targets
and timetables to which the public can hold the gov ernment
accountable (Slater 1996). The United States made m ajor
amendments to the Clean Air Act of 1970, Clean Water Act 1972
and the Superfund Act of 1980 (Thomas 1996). In the Pacific
Region SPREP was set up to develop a ‘Pacific Way’ strategy
(SPREP 1996). PNG developed the NSDS in 1993 (Nadar ajah 1993).
The various country and regional efforts establishe d the policy
framework but also signalled the political will and
receptiveness for change at national level.
42
Embracing the concept of sustainable development an d
establishing the political framework at the appropr iate levels
were easy tasks. However, when the hype of Rio sett led, there
appeared to be a chasm between the ideals of Rio an d reality in
each country and within each sector. Questions aris e about
where a country begins in order to move down the pa th of
sustainable development, what the available tools a nd
mechanisms are that will ease development onto that path, and
how might the process begin? With all these questi ons, EA as a
management tool was in use, initially out of compli ance, and
with greater awareness, voluntarily. For many organ isations
there is a growing realisation that the environment al audit is
a tool to bridge the gaping chasm between Rio and r eality, and
the transition to EA to improve management has beco me a
conscious management decision. For others it remain s an issue
of compliance (Box 4.1)
Box 4.1: EA by Compliance
An example of audit as a condition attached with in ternational expectation was the response of the PNG National Forest Authori ty (NFA) in 1997, and the current response to environmental audits. Although the Forest Policy was reviewed in 1993 to accommodate the growing concern for the unsustainable management of tropical forest resources, and to ens ure that policy was on par with the rest of the world, in 1996 the Manpowe r Planning and Developement Committee (MPDC) of the NFA considered environmental audits as irrelevant to forestry development. However, today, donor agencies such as the World Bank are making environmental audits a co ndition of further forestry development. This provides an opportunity for the NFA to go beyond policy and to establish the use of an appropriate m anagement tool in PNG and to assess progress and train staff to conduct such audits. Unfortunately, the pressure to accept the relevancy of environment al audits as necessary to forestry development in PNG has been driven from ou tside. Furthermore, the needed expertise may have to be sourced from outsid e the country due to a lack of human resources for environmental audit wor k.
4.3 ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING
4.3.1 Definition and levels of EA
43
The Macquarie dictionary (1983) defines an audit as "an
official examination and verification of financial accounts and
records". An EA, in the current context of sustaina ble
development can, therefore, be defined as an examin ation and
verification of sustainable management accounts and records.
Bernard Carey (1996) suggested two definitions of a n EA. These
were:
• "A systematic, objective review of the actual or po tential
impact of an organisation upon the environment."
• "A tool comprising a systematic, documented, period ic and
objective evaluation of how well environmental orga nisation,
management and equipment are performing".
Carey (1996) also pointed out that, whilst the firs t definition
is concerned with the relationship between the envi ronment and
the organisation, the second definition predominate s the
literature. Both the Macquarie and Carey definition s are
applicable to EA, but Carey defines EA by the princ iples that
direct the process of an EA, and is influenced by t he early
development of an EA as a matter of compliance. Con versely the
adapted Macquarie definition assumes that accounts and records
are available and, therefore, an audit is a matter of verifying
what is there and is influenced by standard financi al audits.
Under the generic EA label, the accounting professi on has
distinguished four types of related audit services, which
allows a broad framework for an audit. These are en vironmental
consulting services, site assessment, operational c ompliance
assessments and environmental management system ass essment
(Carey 1996). It is important to note that other ma nagement
tools can be utilised under any or all the services within an
EA such as an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) , forest
inventories and Logging Codes of Practice, Standard s, and other
land use management tools such as Geographical Info rmation
Systems (GIS) and remote sensing data. However, the se alone do
44
not constitute an EA.
Carey (1996) identified four levels of EA, based on the
instigator of the audit and on its context. Statuto ry sudits;
Company audits; Management audits; and Diagnostic a udits. Most
EAs to date are conducted by companies at complianc e level, and
most often when something has gone wrong. Unfortuna tely,
governments also view EAs as a matter of compliance and not as
a sound and useful management tool in decision maki ng. In
addition, early EAs were seen as one-off products t o raise the
environmental profile in response to increased glob al concerns.
As a consequence, there has been very little diagno stic
auditing (Carey 1996; Barton & Bruder 1995; Buckley 1989).
4.3.2 Principles of Environment Audits
With the increased global focus on the environment after Rio,
organisations searched for ways to transform the hi gh ideals of
Rio into practical and institutionally operational objectives.
Additionally, an environmentally conscious public w as
increasingly holding organisations dealing directly with
natural resource use accountable for their actions. This led to
moves internationally and nationally to develop "st rategic
environmental assessment and environmental manageme nt systems"
(Barton & Bruder 1995:17). These systems venture fu rther than
the Rio ideals captured in green charters and susta inable
development policies, and involve actual diagnostic on-ground
assessment to ascertain whether the ideals in green charters
and policies have been converted to appropriate act ion. In
addition, these systems should be capable of taking into
account the three systems that constitute sustainab le
development within a broad but objective framework.
An EA is such a system with the following guiding p rinciples.
Holistic : an EA should be holistic. However, the extent of a n
45
holistic approach is a consequence of how well the concept of
EA is accepted by others both within and outside an
organisation, the impact or possible impacts of cer tain
activities of the organisation on global issues, an d the
selected policies guiding the task (Barton & Bruder 1995; Carey
1996; Brown 1993).
Open, transparent and objective : an EA should be open,
transparent, honest and objective in approach. An E A report
becomes a useless tool for management if the establ ished
hierarchy choose to either ignore or tamper with an y findings
that may show up poor management practices. Defensi veness and
insecurity may become major obstacles to an open an d objective
EA, resulting in a decreasing environmental profile , declining
morale, and stagnation. It is essential that suppor t for the
audit and its scope are established from the outset of the
exercise, from top level management downwards. Esta blishing a
clear understanding will avoid any possible obstruc tion from
top management, and allow openness and an easy flow of
information when the audit findings are made known. To maintain
and integrate EA into the organisational culture, i t should be
tied into the existing system of reports such as an nual
reports, newsletters and reviews. This will raise a wareness of
progress within the organisation in achieving previ ously set
targets and the setting of new targets (Brown 1993; Barton &
Bruder 1995).
Action Orientated : it should be action orientated, systematic
and become a regular on-going process that includes an overall
action plan developed from the auditing of any one or all of
the components of an audit strategy, and linking ba ck into the
established decision making procedures. An audit sh ould be more
than just a set of guidelines, principles or statem ents of
intent or a checklist for achieving sustainable dev elopment. It
should be a means of achieving change, introducing new values,
46
and raising awareness, which should lead to improve d decision
making at all levels. The changes that take place i n people
result in changed practices and positive progress t oward
achieving targets (Barton & Bruder 1995; Bruenig 19 96; Gelder &
O’Keefe 1995).
A useful audit strategy can be developed from these principles
to guide the process, but tailored to the specific needs of the
organisation or activities of the organisation. It must go
beyond just compliance and be diagnostic and, where possible,
include quantitative measures. Where international audit
guidelines exist, these provide the background to e stablish an
appropriate framework, not the blueprint for any gi ven
situation. Although environmental auditing can be a very
subjective task and may not be always scientificall y accurate,
it is a positive move towards effective integration of social
and ecological values into the existing political e conomy.
4.3.3 Components of an EA
Barton & Bruder (1995) identified a comprehensive E A as
comprised of four major components of the SoE RIP, PIA and MA
(Figure 4.1). Carey (1996) identified the audit com ponents
under different services, which include site assess ment
services, operational compliance services and envir onmental
systems assessment services. While any one or a com bination of
these components can constitute an EA, this must be clarified
by the auditor as a partial or full EA.
47
Figure 4.1 Process of Environmental Auditing
(Source: Barton & Bruder 1995: 15)
State of Environment (SoE)
The SoE culminates in a SoE Report based on the sur vey of the
status of the prevailing environmental conditions i n which a
company, an organisation or institution operates. C ollecting
information for an SoE may be a daunting task but, in most
cases, information may already be available from di fferent
sectoral agencies or special interest groups. In so me
instances, information may be available but not acc essible or
just non-existent. In the latter case, the need to conduct
fresh research should be balanced against the impor tance of the
missing information, available resources and time. Because time
is often a limiting factor, it is extremely importa nt to
establish the parameters for information collection during the
scoping exercise to avoid collection of irrelevant information
which may result in the collapse of the SoE under i ts own
weight (Barton & Bruder 1995; NSW 1995).
An SoE can either be a synoptic review or policy or ientated.
While a synoptic review requires a review of the fu ndamental
indicators of stock, a policy orientated review foc uses on
issues of importance to an organisation.
Policy Impact Assessment (PIA)
The PIA is the assessment of policy or those aspect s of policy
that impact on the environment. The Eco-Management and Audit
48
Scheme (EMAS) equivalent to PIA is the Environmenta l review (or
audit) of service effects. An assessment can be con ducted
through one of four approaches or a combination of approaches.
Firstly, assessing the actual impact of policy on t he ground.
Secondly, estimating policy impacts on all elements of the
environment. Thirdly, by comparing existing policy with proven
best practice and finally assessing the management system
required to implement the policy in question. The f ourth
approach links the PIA with the MA.
Although approaching a PIA through actual policy im pact on the
ground is highly desirable in evaluating actual per formance, it
is time consuming and costly. While it has the adva ntage of
linking back to the policy orientated SoE, high cos ts inhibit
detailed assessment of actual impacts, and limit sy stematic
monitoring of key variables. PIA can be conducted w ith the
assistance of professional judgement from experts a nd
accompanied with the use of a matrix. However, the selection of
issues to include in a matrix may reflect existing political
agendas rather than issues of environmental importa nce, thereby
resulting in omissions of environmental issues esse ntial to
achieving institutionally established targets and c riteria
(Barton & Bruder 1995).
While the first approach is time consuming, the est imation and
comparative analysis of policy against best practic e elsewhere
provides a quick and directional assessment of poli cy. It
essentially requires a checklist against which poli cy is
compared to provide some degree of guidance on the performance
of policy, and indicates areas that need strengthen ing.
However, this approach does not allow a diagnostic assessment
of the policy.
The final PIA approach is based on the premise that policy is
as good as the people who implement it. Although th is approach
49
clearly moves away from the actual content of polic y and direct
environmental impacts it raises questions on whethe r
environmental objectives, the means to achieve them , and the
responsibilities of persons tasked are clearly defi ned within
the organisational structure. Furthermore, it calls into
question the organisational culture, level of aware ness and
training and willingness to embrace change, when th e need
arises, through policy directives.
Review of Internal Practices (RIP)
The RIP component assesses current practices and op erations
within any organisation that impacts on the environ ment
directly or indirectly and suggests change where ap propriate.
The EMAS equivalent is the Environmental Review (or audit) of
direct effects. Standard organisations are usually sectoral,
but issues impacting on the environment are cross-s ectoral, so
use of a matrix allows for an effective summation o f practices
within the organisation and the environmental polic y.
Management Audit (MA)
The MA is an assessment of the management system re sponsible
for implementing policies that impact on the enviro nment. The
EMAS equivalent is the review of the environmental management
system, which Carey (1996) refers to as the environ mental
systems assessment. Assessment and review of existi ng
organisational structures, job descriptions, linkag es within
and outside the organisation, and the communication channels
are assessed to determine whether the existing orga nisational
culture is conducive to environmental policy effect iveness and
increased awareness.
Ideally, conducting an audit on all four components
concurrently would raise the environmental profile of an
50
organisation however, realistically it may not be p ossible and,
furthermore, not necessary. Because the PIA and the RIP are
progressive components, these can be conducted over an
acceptable timeframe and frequency to allow for reg ular
reviews. The MA can be a one-off exercise however, to determine
the effectiveness of the existing structure, identi fy areas
that need strengthening, and provide possible optio ns for
improvement. The SoE is primarily a monitoring exer cise, and
should therefore be on-going.
4.3.4 Environmental Indicators, Principles and Crit eria
Indicators are pointers and are "quantitative or qu alitative
parameters, which can be scaled to assess distance from
critical load levels" (Bruenig 1996:232). Therefore , the
usefulness of indicators is dependant on how well a chievable
targets are set, how well environmental quality is described
(to allow measurement of progress or regress), and whether the
summation of environmental and socio-economic facto rs is
captured (to provide an indication to aid decision- makers and
management). Selection of the most appropriate indi cators
within the context of an audit is essential to meas uring
progress towards quality management and, subsequent ly,
sustainable development.
The difficulty associated with the selection, and t he use of
environmental indicators is due to a lack of unders tanding of
the terminology, the vagueness of issues and the de velopment of
indicators by many different organisations. Identif ication of
SD indicators appropriate to EAs are essential. (Br uenig 1996;
Barton & Bruder 1995). Where possible, indicators a re being
developed in the national and international arena t o provide
guidance on selection. Initiatives by organisations such as the
Local Agenda Steering Group in the United Kingdom, Canadian
Task Force (Barton & Bruder 1995), the Initiative T ropenwald-
Germany (ITW), and the International Tropical Trade
Organisation (ITTO), provide such guidance (Bruenig 1996; Upton
51
& Bass 1995). As indicators are also essential in t he
certification process, various accreditation and ce rtification
organisations, such as the Forest Stewardship Counc il (FSC),
Societe Generalle de Surveillance (SGS), Friends of the Earth
(FoE) (Upton & Bass 1995), and the Economically, Ec ologically
and Socially Sustainable Tropical Rainforest Use (E ESSTRU)
(CSIRO 1992) initiatives have developed their own s et of
indicators for sustainable development and for sust ainable
forest management.
The SNA has proven the usefulness, value and benefi ts of
indicators in planning and development. Combined wi th
indicators such as the level of unemployment and st andard of
living, the GNP and the GDP have provided planners and
decision-makers with useful economic indications of the wealth
of a nation. However, the shortcomings of GNP and G DP as
economic indicators within the context of sustainab le
development have now been recognised and there are efforts by
certain agencies and countries to rectify the limit ations of
these indicators. Their approach is either to devel op an
environmentally adjusted GNP, which will require va luing the
environment in monetary terms, or to replace GNP wi th
environmental accounts (Repetto 1992; Brard 1996; B arton &
Bruder 1995). Whatever approach environmental econo mists arrive
at, GNP and GDP as economic indicators have success fully
provided the measure needed during the period when prosperity
was paramount in development, and because environme ntal
concerns have now become an important issue globall y, it does
not mean that prosperity is no longer an issue. The refore, it
would be more practical to establish a system of en vironmental
accounts with its own physical indicators to be use d alongside
GNP and GDP. This approach provides a more balanced view of the
wealth and health of a nation from a sustainable de velopment
perspective. An appropriate strategy for natural re source
dependant countries would be the development of ind ices for the
major natural resources and an overall natural reso urce index
52
in conjunction with GNP and GDP.
Although there are two broad categories of indicato rs -
Environmental Quality Indicators (EQI) and Environm ental
Performance Indicators (EPI), selection of appropri ate
indicators depends primarily on the context of use. Due to the
heterogenous nature of environment, socio-cultural and
political circumstances, there are no universal ind icators for
every situation. Although international guidelines exist, the
use of the guidelines should be adapted to the loca l context of
use (Bruenig 1996).
While EQI is determined by significant natural feat ures, which
may include impact levels, scarcity or features ind icative of
an overall measure of quality or basic trend, EPIs or secondary
and tertiary indicators are measures of the influen ce of human
activity on the environment. While secondary indica tors measure
basic quality by proxy and effectiveness of policy, tertiary
indicators are more specific and assess direct effe cts of
specific policies on-ground (Barton & Bruder 1995).
A good choice of indicators helps to define the sco pe and
relevancy of information and data collection within the SoE
component. It also allows for a measure of effectiv eness and
assessment of progress over time and space and, as an index, it
provides a summary of data that enables the assessm ent of
environmental components which cannot be measured d irectly by
measuring variables that indicate the presence or c ondition of
the environment. Indicators are not conclusive evid ence of a
given situation but should be regarded as an indica tive tool.
As such, indicators achieve their fullest usefulnes s in
assisting decision-makers and policy makers to make informed
judgements and set achievable objectives (Barton & Bruder 1995;
Upton & Bass 1995).
Principles are fundamental laws and codes of conduc t within any
organisation and, within the framework of an EA, pr inciples and
53
codes of conduct are guided by the overall concept of
sustainable development. Although identifying appro priate
indicators is essential as a useful measure of prog ress towards
set targets, there must be well-defined standards o r criteria
to make measurement useful within the overall guidi ng
principles of sustainable development.
4.3.5 Standards/ Best Practises
Concise and clear standards are needed in auditing to allow
effective and progressive measurement and assessmen t in the
PIA, RIP and MA components. A standard is defined a s a "quality
or measure serving as the basis or principle to whi ch others
conform or should conform or by which the accuracy or quality
of others are judged (Oxford English Dictionary, as cited in
Upton & Bass 1995:26)". The International Standards
Organisation (ISO) definition specifies that "stand ards are
documented agreements containing technical specific ation or
other precise criteria to be used consistently as r ules,
guidelines, or definitions of characteristics, to e nsure that
materials, products, processes and services are fit for their
purpose" (Upton & Bass 1995: 27).
An international body complemented by national init iatives,
sets external standards and, where possible, all st akeholders
at both levels are involved in the process. The sta ndard
capture general principles, avoiding excessive deta il which may
result in inflexibility (not allowing for local dif ferences),
and also avoiding standards that are difficult to i nterpret and
achieve. Furthermore, detailed standards may cause
discrimination against countries, organisations or localities
that are poor and not well equipped to fulfil all t he
requirements of a standard (Upton & Bass 1995).
Conversely, internal standards are set by organisat ions that
interpret external standards for their particular s ituation. At
this level, setting standards requires accurate and appropriate
54
identification of the environmental and socio-cultu ral impacts
affecting an organisation or operation. Any well-co nducted and
structured EIA and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) c an fulfil
this requirement. Furthermore, accurate identificat ion of
impacts allows for the establishment of appropriate objectives
and targets or means of verification and reference levels.
Objectives and targets are quantifiable where possi ble however,
while objectives are broad goals reflecting standar ds and
identified environmental effects, targets are detai led
performance requirements that are applicable to env ironmental
and social impacts.
Nonetheless, there are problems associated with sta ndard
setting, including:
• lack of full information on critical variables and
scientifically or technically verifiable facts;
• in establishing achievable external standards ther e is a
danger of setting standards too low so as to accomm odate
poorer countries;
• conversely, demanding standards can be too costly a nd more
difficult to monitor and assess; and
• defining sustainable development is difficult enoug h, while
defining standards to achieve sustainable developme nt can be
just as difficult.
Having defined (to some degree) and established the value of
appropriate standard setting, and acknowledging the problems
associated with standards, it is obvious that the
identification of standards or best practice are pr e-requisites
for proper development of PIA, RIP and MA component s of an EA
task. Standards provide the needed focus and ensure that the
process is directional and capable of continuous im provement
towards the ultimate goal of sustainable developmen t.
With guidance from international initiatives, appro priate
internal standards can be established for a given s ituation,
55
operation or organisation. External standards devel oped by
international bodies such as ISO, Canadian Standard s
Association (CSA) Z808 -standards for sustainable f orest
management; ITW - standards for tropical rainforest ; FSC - Ten
Principles & Criteria, are initiatives which can be used to
provide direction, and assist harmonisation at the two levels.
External standards can be further enhanced with app ropriate
policy, codes of practice and management systems at the
operational level.
Where standards are non-existent or inappropriate, the next
best option is the use of established best practice from
elsewhere. This has the advantage of being field te sted and
proven. This option performs the same task as stand ards where
existing practice, process or product is measured a gainst a
known and accepted standard.
4.4 SUPPORTING INSTRUMENTS IN AN AUDIT TASK
An EA is a management tool that is guided by the ho listic
concept of sustainable development. Therefore, it i s not
sectoral but draws from other established managemen t tools and
instruments that have been developed in response to increased
environmental awareness. Although other environment al
instruments may only provide information on certain aspects of
sustainable development, the use of these within th e EA
framework helps formulate an holistic picture. Tabl e 4.1
provides a breakdown of the main supporting instrum ents that
need to be taken into account for this purpose.
56
TABLE 4.1 SUPPORTING INSTRUMENTS IN EAs
SUPPORTING INSTRUMENTS
DESCRIPTION
ISO Standards
ISO 1400 – Environment Management System,
ISO 14 9000 – Quality Management Systems
Environment Management
Systems (EMS) • improves processes rather than products
ISO 14 000
BS 7750
ANSI/ ASQC E41993
SABS 0251:1993
Codes of Practice FAO Model Code of Forest Harvesti ng Practice
PNG Logging Code of Practice 1996
Social Impact Assessment
(SIA)
Environment Impact
Assessment (EIA)
Allows for the assessment of human aspect of
development in a comprehensible and
directional manner. May not fully assess the
cultural impact of development.
EIA assesses the environmental impact of
development.
Geographical Information
System (GIS)
Provides a normative view of any locality but
always pays to verify by actual site checks.
PNG Resource Information System (PNGRIS)
Forest Inventory Mapping (FIM)
Life Cycle Analysis Cradle to grave analysis of a p roduct to
allow for intervention along the lifetime of
the product.
4.5 ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING AND CERTIFICATION
At the mention of environmental auditing, most peop le make
mention of certification and trademarking of forest products,
whilst some refer to organisations such as FSC, ITT O and SGS.
57
In order to provide a better view of EA in relation to these
other developments and organisations, the next sect ion
discusses certification and places it in the contex t of the EA
process.
4.5.1 Development of certification
Forest certification developed as a result of the g rowing
concern for the depletion of forests in the tropics and for
degraded boreal and temperate forests, mostly by de veloped
countries in Europe, North America and Australasia. As
governments searched for ways to implement the vari ous Rio
initiatives and waited for regulatory instruments t o provide
workable solutions, certification of forests and fo rest
products was developed as a voluntary and market dr iven
instrument to achieve sustainable forest management .
Certification recognises institutional and market f ailures
within and outside of the forestry sphere as those among the
root causes of forest problems (Bruenig 1996, Upton & Bass
1995).
Institutional failures are very closely linked with policy
failures and can be directly related to the lack of good
information, different and sometimes conflicting pr iorities
between stakeholders, lack of coordination between policy
makers, decision makers, researchers and implemente rs, and lack
of response because managers are operating within a n outdated
institutional framework. In many developing countri es
international aid projects are donor driven, but th e existing
government controls and mechanisms in recipient cou ntries are
inadequate. These failures are further exacerbated by
inequality between developed and developing countri es, within
different sectors, and by the general lack of polit ical will.
Certification aims to provide the incentives to add ress some of
these failures and raise the awareness of both prod ucers and
consumers (Upton & Bass 1995).
58
Forest certification is a long-term process and req uires a
local approach to address global problems. The proc ess of
certification calls for changes to be made within c urrent
forest management practices to progress towards qua lity forest
management and, subsequently, sustainable forest ma nagement.
4.5.2 EA within the Certification process
Certification only forms part of the solution to be tter
management, but it forces a focus on forestry probl ems and the
effectiveness of management systems within both ind ustry and
government. An EA task is incorporated within the p rocess of
certification to verify policy, practices and manag ement of a
forestry resource within a Local Forest Management Unit (LFMU)
(Upton & Bass 1995). Therefore all four components of an EA are
needed in the process of certification.
While time and money can be spent on producing ulti mate
standards in sustainable forest management for cert ification
purposes, without any effective assessment procedur es it can be
a waste of time and money (Upton & Bass 1995). Ther efore, an
effective PIA, RIP and MA provides the means to ass ess
procedures tailored to specific LFMUs.
4.6 ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING & ENVIRONMENT AUDITING
As previously noted, the emergence of the concept o f
sustainable development has led statisticans and de cision
makers to question the capacity of the existing SNA to
incorporate the goal of sustainable development. Th e SNA
provides guidance for public decisions on economic matters.
59
Consequently, it constitutes a pre-requisite for al l actions in
the political economy of any nation (Brard 1996). However, by
not capturing natural resource losses, the depletio n and
degradation of the environment, and by continuing t o regard
natural resources as income, the SNA will continue to provide
misleading measures of a nation’s real wealth to pl anners and
decision-makers. This can and has led to national e conomic
disaster, as was the case with Costa Rica. Repetto (1992)
detailed the case of Costa Rica, a country renowned to many
naturalists as the Western Hemisphere's conservatio n leader.
One fifth of its land was set aside for national pa rks,
pioneering programs in eco-tourism and restoration ecology.
Nonetheless, Costa Rica has experienced a very high rate of
deforestation, soil losses averaging 300 tons per h ectare from
annual cropping land, 50 tons per hectare from past ure, and
subsequent water pollution and destruction of coral reefs and
depletion of fish stocks. Economic losses from this destruction
amounted to commercial timber losses of US$400 mill ion in 1989,
soil nutrient losses of 17 per cent of the value of the annual
agricultural crops, and 14 per cent of the value of livestock
products, yet these losses were not reflected in Co sta Rica's
national accounts.
Efforts have been made by a growing number of resou rce-
dependant countries to compile natural resource acc ounts
similar to those prepared for Costa Rica. However, preparing
environmental accounts is not only a complex task b ut also one
reliant on value judgement. The difficulty is highl ighted by
the case studies of Mexico, Indonesia and PNG. Alth ough these
studies showed that it might be possible to develop an
environmental account, the list of pre-requisites i ndicated the
subjectivity of such an exercise and, in some cases , the
difficulty of even attempting such an exercise. The refore,
there is a need for a system that allows the transi tion from
the current situation of lack of accounting for the environment
60
and social consequences of development, to sustaina ble
development and an account that can demonstrate the actual
costs and benefits of sustainable development.
As the construction of environmental accounts at th is stage
poses major problems, an environmental audit allows for the
transition from non-accounting to some accounting i n both
qualitative and, where possible, quantitative terms . For
countries attempting to move towards sustainable de velopment,
there must be a positive move towards accounting fo r the
environment. However, while the principles of envir onmental
accounting are still being developed, governments, institutions
and local authorities should move into the transiti onal phase
of environmental auditing (Tuppens 1996).
4.7 INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES IN EA GUIDELINES
EMAS and other EMS are also sustainable management tools
developed for the same reasons, and consisting of s imilar
components, to an EA. Therefore, in identifying ini tiatives
from different countries both EMS and EMAS guidelin es are
considered allies of EA.
EMAS is an initiative of the European Union, compri sing an
effort to formalise procedures for the assessment o f
environmental impact, environmental policies and pr actices and
providing feedback on a program of action. It is ve ry similar
to the BS7750, although EMAS encourages continuous and actual
improvement and allows for greater public consultat ion and
openness as a form of validation. Conversely, the B S7750 is
more concerned with developing a better system of m anagement
and only requires an environmental statement (Barto n & Bruder
1995; Upton & Bass 1995).
The CSA is one of the first country initiatives to develop the
"Guidelines for Sustainable Forestry Management Aud iting -
Z809.1". As in EMAS, it promotes a systems approach defined by
sustainable forest management principles and criter ia (Upton &
61
Bass 1995). Although the "Environment Audit Guidebook"
published by the Centre for Professional Developmen t in
Victoria is more industry orientated and not specif ically for
forest management, it is comprehensive. It includes an overview
of auditing in Australia, voluntary auditing, condu cting an
environmental audit, and the audit protocol guideli nes to self
audit (Brown 1998).
4.8 CONCLUSION
The very essence of an EA that allows adaptation to any given
audit unit, whether large government departments, l ocal
governments, projects or a smaller unit, is the bro ad framework
that constitutes four basic but essential component s of any
operation. The four basic components of the SoE, PI A, RIP and
MA also ensure that an audit task is orientated to include the
three interacting systems of the environment, socia l and
economic systems within the framework. In addition, the
systematic approach of an EA can point to areas of weakness,
identify improvements and provide options that are achievable
within the given state of environment or with minim um cost.
When an EA task is accepted as an ongoing process t hat should
be linked back to an existing framework of manageme nt, reports,
reviews and assessment, it can achieve a higher lev el of
transparency and openness. It will also help in mai ntaining
awareness of environmental issues at all levels, an d supports
positive changes in attitude and practice within th e
organisation. Consequently, it can be a powerful an d effective
assessment tool that allows decision-makers, planne rs and
managers to operationalise the ideals of Rio.
62
CHAPTER 5
PAPUA NEW GUINEA - FOREST RESOURCES
"Management and Development"
5.1 INTRODUCTION
The last unknown, land of the unexpected, anthropol ogist’s
paradise, and the El-Dorado of the South Pacific ar e some of
the phrases used to describe PNG from a tourism per spective.
However, from the perspective of natural resource u se and
development, especially in forestry, concern arises about
sustainable resource management. The rich forest re source of
PNG holds out the hope for the possibility of achie ving
sustainable resource use. PNG is thought to have ti me on its
side, and there exists adequate legislation to guid e forest
resource use towards that goal. Nonetheless, real a nd
persistent concerns continue to deter progress, whi le more of
the nation’s forests are felled at an increasingly alarming
rate. The current established government mechanism responsible
for the management of the Nation’s resources is a " mixture of
meandering intellectual neglect" (Barnett 1989 as c ited in APAG
1990:13) and is ill-equipped to do so, even though the
guidelines and policies are in place to provide the framework
for sustainable management of the forest resources. While the
benefits bestowed upon the nation through forest re source
exploitation are economically conclusive, the envir onment and
socio-cultural costs have yet to fully manifest the mselves in
the nation’s balance of sustainable accounts.
5.2 BACKGROUND
Inhabited for at least 30,000 years, PNG is located at 12
degrees south latitude and 160 degrees east longitu de, with a
total length of 1,300 kilometres (km) from north to south
63
(Hurst 1990; Unisearch 1992) (Figure 5.1). The inla nd area is
believed to have been settled by the first immigran ts from
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The second wave from
the Pacific arrived 5,000 years ago, settling along the coast.
Because of the early migration and the remoteness o f many
communities, there exists significant cultural hete rogeneity
between the highlands, coast and the islands, formi ng three
broad groups of people (Hurst 1990; Lamb 1990).
After the ‘discovery’ by both the Portuguese and th e Spanish in
the 16th century (Comm. of Aust.1964), the Island o f New Guinea
remained unknown for another two centuries before t he Dutch
claimed the western half for Indonesia in 1828. In the later
part of the 19th century, Germany claimed a large p art of the
eastern end to the north, and Britain claimed the s outhern end
(Hurst 1990; Lamb 1990; Comm. of Aust. 1964; Sincla ir 1998).
PNG comprises of the eastern half of the Island of New Guinea
and nearly 600 islands and archipelagoes, the large st of these
islands being New Britain, New Ireland and Bougainv ille to the
east. It is home to 3.7 million people with a popul ation growth
rate of between two and three percent and a populat ion density
of eight persons per square kilometre (Hurst 1990;
Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996, Unisearch 1992). More than 700
distinctly different languages are spoken with ‘Tok pisin’ and
Motu as the common languages and English the langua ge of
commerce and business (Hurst 1990; Ruhen 1963).
PNG has a total land area of around 464,100 square kilometres
(sq.km). According to McAlpine & Quigley (1998), of the total
land area, forest cover accounts for more than 71 p er cent. The
rest of the vegetation consists of grasslands, wood land savanna
and scrub. More than 10 per cent of the land is com mitted to
urban, mining or other land uses (Table 5.1).
64
Figure 5.1 Map of Papua New Guinea
65
Table 5.1 National Summary-Vegetation Cover 1975
Vegetation Type Area (sq. km)
Forest 330,650
Woodland 26,950
Savanna inland area 11,900
Scrub 6,000
Grassland/ Herbland 32,400
Mangrove 6,050
Land use (a) 47,400
Other (b) 2,750
Total 464,100
(a) areas of significant land use, urban, mining et c.
(b) bare areas, lakes etc.
Source: McAlpine & Quigley 1998: un-numbered - Fore st Resources of PNG, Summary statistics from
the Forest Inventory Mapping (FIM) System
The central cordillera extends 240 km from the Voge lkof
Peninsula in the west, to Milne Bay in the east, ex tending the
full length of the island of New Guinea. Consequent ly, most of
the mainland is mountainous, with more than a quart er of the
topography above 1000 metres. Although PNG lies tot ally within
the tropics, the climate varies between regions. In the
lowlands, it is humid and warm, with average day te mperatures
of 28-30 degrees and an average of 20-24 degrees in the
evenings. In the Highlands, day temperatures averag e 20 to 26
degrees and night temperatures are 15 to 20 degrees (Unisearch
1992; Comm. Of Aust 1964).
PNG falls within the Western Pacific climate with t wo distinct
wind and rainfall seasons (McAlpine et al. 1983:49 as cited in
Unisearch 1992). During the period of April to Octo ber the
southeasterly trade winds prevail, but these change to
northwesterly monsoons from November to March. Howe ver, due to
the high central mountain range and the "flanking m ountain
ranges near the other island coastlines", generally PNG is not
66
a windy country (Unisearch 1992:9). The average ann ual rainfall
is considered high, being in the vicinity of 2,000 - 3,000
millimetres (mm), and variable except for the rains hadow areas
in the Western Province and around Port Moresby, th e Markham
Valley and the lower end of the Eastern Highlands ( Whitmore
1975; Lamb 1990; Hurst 1990; Unisearch 1992).
5.3 NATURAL RESOURCES
In comparison with neighbouring countries in the Pa cific, and
possibly within the greater Asia - Pacific region, PNG is well
endowed with natural resources. These natural endow ments have
created a dependency on the extraction of natural r esources to
provide the means for the march to prosperity. Natu ral resource
exploitation began in earnest in the 1960s and toda y the
natural resource sector accounts for 40 per cent of GDP.
By the 1970s, minerals and mining, including oil an d gas,
became the principal contributors to economic growt h. This
growth continued to the 1990s and, by 1994, mineral s accounted
for 1,782.7 million kina, well over half of the ear nings for
the country (Table 5.2). With the potential income from
projects such as the Kutubu Oil project, the Lihir Gold Mine,
and the Hide Gas project, minerals and mining will continue to
be the main export earner for PNG into the next mil lennium
(Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996; Lamb 1990; Unisearch 1991).
The marine area of PNG covers 800,000 square kilome tres
(Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996), with a barrier reef system that
begins west of Port Moresby and extends eastwards i nto the
Coral Sea with outliers surrounding the Louisiade I slands,
northwards to the D’Entrecasteaus Islands, and nort h around the
Trobriand Islands (Unisearch 1992). However, very l ittle of the
marine resources or the coastal features have been exploited
for commercial purposes. In 1994, marine products a ccounted for
67
only 10.3 million kina of the total natural resourc es revenue
(Table 5.2). Although skipjack tuna export has some potential
and was a successful operation from 1970 to 1982, d eclining
world prices brought the operation to a halt in 198 1 (World
Bank 1988, as cited in Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996; Unisearch
1991). The export of prawns and crayfish dominates the
fisheries sector with annual catches of 1,200 to 1, 500 tonnes
per annum (Unisearch 1991). However, any possible g rowth in the
fisheries sector continues to be hampered by insuff icient
investments, poor market access, poorly developed
infrastructure, services and marketing networks, in sufficient
skills and lack of motivation for large scale fishi ng by
national fishermen. In addition, insufficient knowl edge of the
different marine stocks and coastal features, for b oth marine
products of commercial and ecological interest cont inues to
deter any significant growth in this sector (Thistl ethwaite &
Davis 1996).
Both the agricultural cash crop export sector and t he
subsistence sector continue to be very important se ctors of
PNG’s economy, accounting for 30 per cent of the GD P, and
contributing about a third of foreign earnings. Alt hough the
importance of the subsistence sector has not been f ully
captured in any detailed study (apart from the surv ey in
1961/62) the subsistence economy is the backbone an d the only
economic activity undertaken by 80 per cent of the population
(Samana 1985, cited in Unisearch 1991). Surpluses f rom the
subsistence sector have contributed to offsetting d eclines in
the rural economy (Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996).
The formal agricultural export sector consists of c ash crops
such as coffee, cocoa, rubber, copra, coconut produ cts, oil
palm and oil palm products, tea, and some spices. A lthough
agricultural exports contribute substantial foreign revenue
prices of cash crops have been unstable and on the decline
68
since the 1980s.
Table 5.2 Comparative Export - Volume & value 1987, 1995 & 1997
Export 1987 1994 1995 1997 Vol.
Value mill.K
Vol. Value mill.K
Vol. Value mill.K
Vol. Value mill.K
Minerals Gold ( tonnes)
34.6 422.9 55.8 702.3 55.2 840.1 44.3 718.7
Copper (‘000 tons)
209.7 281.9 207.2 367.4 215.7 754.5 77.8 259.8
Silver (‘000 tons)
n.a 10.3
Crude oil mill.barrels
43.5 702.7 37.0 827.7 28.0 852.2
Total 244.3 704.8 306.5 1,782.7 307.9 2,422.3 150.1 1,830 .7 Agric. (‘000 tons)
Coffee 64.8 134.7 64.7 204.8 55.1 214.5 58.8 324.0 Cocoa 34.4 56.2 26.0 29.0 30.6 47.7 36.7 69.0 Copra 84.1 15.2 50.3 14.7 64.2 27.4 90.3 47.2 Coconut oil 32.4 20.1 Palm oil 97.3 23.9 230.8 77.5 186.6 142.2 274.9 207 .1 Rubber 3.7 3.1 3.4 2.9 2.7 4.0 4.4 6.5 Tea 3.4 4.2 Other
21.4
Total 284.3 233.1 410.3 374.6 339.2 435.8 465.1 635.8 Forest (‘000 cub.m)
Logs 1,450.0 103.0 2,943.9 483.2 2,512.5 436.7 2,37 5.9 409.3 Other 11.3 Total 1,450
.0 103.0 2,943.9 499.5 2,512.5 436.7 2,375.9 409.3
Marine (‘000 tonnes)
4.7 10.3
Total
1,040.9 2,662.
3,294.8 2,893.8
Source: Adapted from Filer & Sekhran 1998: 412 & T histlethwaite & Davis 1996:55
5.4 NATIONAL FORESTRY RESOURCES
5.4.1 Between P Hasluck and Judge Barnett
Following the First World War, under a mandate from the League
69
of Nations, Germany relinquished administration of New Guinea
to Australia on behalf of Britain, but as a separat e
administration to British Papua. It was only in 194 9 that a
joint administration of both German New Guinea and British
Papua was established, again as a directive from th e League of
Nations and under the Papua-New Guinea Provisional
Administration Act 1945-1946 (Lamb 1990; Hurst 1990; Comm. of
Aust. 1964; Sinclair 1998). During this period, for ests were
cleared for the purposes of establishing agricultur al
plantations and colonial settlements.
The rebuilding and restoration as a consequence of the Second
World War caused a world demand for timber. As was the practice
of most colonial powers, resources of their colonie s were
exploited to provide raw materials for their own re building
programs. Consequently, the Australian Administrat ion
strengthened the Department of Forests (DoF), initi ally to keep
abreast with exploitation by private companies, and later to
exploit the forest resources in its own right (Saul ei &
Kiapranis 1996 as cited in Damas 1999; Hurst 1990). Although
one of the conditions of timber concessions was the
establishment of sawmills, this also restricted any involvement
of traditional landowners in commercial ventures. I n addition,
it ensured a monopoly by Australia over the timber resources of
PNG within the period of 1950 to 1970 (Hurst 1990; Lamb 1990).
The development of forest resources was greatly inf luenced by
the Administration’s policy of "gradualism and uni form
development" and the recommendations of the World B ank Report
in 1964. As the Territories Minister from 1951 to 1 963, Paul
Hasluck believed that the development of the Territ ory should
proceed gradually and at a uniform pace (Lamb 1990: 9; Porter
1993). By establishing patrol posts and police stat ions he
extended Administrative contact and control to less exposed
areas, while areas that were considered relatively developed
70
were maintained at that level to allow less develop ed areas
time to catch up. In addition, he clearly identifie d the
inextricable link between economic and social devel opment (Box
5.1).
Box 5.1 Paul Hasluck’s view of Development in the T erritory
(Source: Porter 1993:99)
-there is a need to keep a balance in Papua and Ne w Guinea between material progress and the social progress w e make in respect of the indigenous people. If these two thin gs get out of balance - if we push ahead in a ruthless and alt ogether careless fashion, merely exploiting the resources o f the country- we could easily find ourselves facing grea t problems which, perhaps, might even destroy our administrati on there. We could also set up conditions that would be contrary to the welfare of the indigenous people.
Although Hasluck’s view stemmed from an understandi ng of the
situation, the commissioning of the World Bank repo rt prior to
his departure in 1963 was the beginning of exploita tion of
natural resources without due regard for social dev elopment.
What Hasluck feared the most would eventually take place as a
result of the Report.
The World Bank Report (formerly the International B ank for
Reconstruction and Development - IBRD) was presente d to the
first elected House of Assemblies in 1964 and relea sed in 1965.
The aim of the report was for PNG to earn foreign c apital and
become less dependent on Australian aid. It strongl y
recommended a definite and immediate move away from the policy
of gradualism and uniformism to policies of rapid e conomic
growth focused in sectors of low inputs but expecte d high
returns. Forestry was one such sector identified fo r rapid
economic development. Consequently, downstream proc essing such
as sawmilling was discouraged because of high costs , and the
export of raw logs was encouraged (Lamb 1990; Hurst 1990; Comm.
71
of Aust. 1964).
Further focus was placed on the World Bank recommen dations by
the release of the first 5-year plan in 1968. Fores try,
fisheries and mining development were given more su pport in the
plan, as well as development of smallholder agricul tural
production by indigenous people. The plan outlined specific
programs and policies for each sector to achieve ec onomic
development and economic independence for PNG, as d esired by
the Australian Administration (Lamb 1990).
The 1965 World Bank recommendations and the 1968 5- year plan
opened up PNG’s natural resource exploitation to in ternational
corporations with the finance and the expertise to fish, log
and mine. In spite of the added support to forestry , fisheries
and mining, agricultural cash crops still remained the main
export earner from the period of 1960 to 1970, boas ting an
increase from A$38 million to A$94 million. However , the
massive increase in economic growth was offset by i ncreases in
imports, causing the gap between exports and import s to widen
(Lamb 1990, Unisearch 1991). Consequently, the rati onale for
opening up the exploitation of PNG’s natural resour ces in the
first place was negated. PNG is still very dependen t on
Australian and other international aid and, even th ough the
exploitation of natural resources has increased, th e trade gap
has not substantially decreased.
When PNG’s own DoF was established to take on the
responsibility of managing the forest resources of the new
Independent State, one document called into questio n the
practices of both the DoF and the logging industry, as well as
the policies governing the exploitation of the natu ral forest
resources of the nation. In 1985, Judge Barnett was
commissioned to conduct an inquiry into the whole i ndustry. The
72
final report of the findings of the inquiry, releas ed in 1988
(Srivastava 1992b), brought attention to the abuse and misuse
of the forest resource by developers, extensive mal practice and
corruption within both the industry and government, and
legislation that allowed too many loopholes and amb iguity in
interpretation. It also pointed to the financial lo ss to the
country through transfer pricing (APAG 1990; Lamb 1 990;
Srivastava 1992b; Filer & Sekhran 1998). Recommenda tions of the
inquiry led to a contractual arrangement with SGS, an
international monitoring and surveillance company, a new Forest
Act and Forest Policy, introduction of the PNG Logg ing Code of
Practice, and the change from the DoF to NFA.
5.4.2 Technical Framework
Creaming to Clearfelling
There are three broad extraction systems in PNG: (1 ) species
creaming; (2) selective logging; and (3) clearfelli ng. Creaming
the forest for specialist timbers for their propert ies such as
for canoes, house building, twines, and dyes are pa rt of
traditional practice. During the early colonial adm inistration
of many tropical countries, this system took on an added
dimension of international use when selected specie s were
logged for boats, house building, musical instrumen ts, dyes or
incense, and exported to the home country. Trees we re felled
singularly or in patches and removed manually, with the help of
animals or simple mechanised track and pulley syste ms. This
extraction system imitated nature’s process of gap formation,
although this form of harvesting is both wasteful a nd
destructive (Bruenig 1996).
Selective logging is the "indiscriminate harvesting of all
merchantable timber of commercial tree species" (Br uenig
1996:268), irrespective of ecological and long term
73
environmental and social consequences. It is highly mechanised,
using one of the three forms of harvesting: convent ional
harvesting, a hybrid system of ground and air haula ge, or air
haulage (Bruenig 1996; Whitmore 1975).
Conventional logging techniques have been shown to impact on up
to 60 per cent of the area through compaction, soil erosion and
damage to residual crops. The hope that a second ha rvest is
possible within the next 20 to 50 years becomes unr ealistic due
to the sub-standard quality of residual crops. Logg ing damage
results in residual crops of poor genetic quality a nd the
exposure of the C and D layers (refer to Chapter 3) to extreme
open canopy conditions. Therefore, if inferior tree s are left
behind then the second harvest, if any, will be of inferior
quality (Enwright 1978 as cited in Nalish 1999; Kob ayashi 1992;
Oavika 1999). Other implications for general flora, fauna and
water quality have been documented in the rainfores ts of
Malaysia, Africa, the Amazon and PNG (Bruenig 1996; Whitmore
1975; Nadarajah 1994; Kobayashi 1992). Although oth er logging
techniques of hybrid land/air or heli-logging may c ause less
environmental damage, the cost of such logging syst ems and the
specialist training needed has prevented the extens ive use of
these techniques in PNG (Buenflor 1988).
Clearfelling can occur naturally, where large areas are either
burnt, blown down or defoliated by pests or disease s, but can
recover over a period of time. Clearfelling, as a f orest
harvesting technique, was first introduced by the J apanese army
in Malaysia during the Second World War, and subseq uently led
to satisfactory regeneration of Dipterocarps . However, the use
of this technique in PNG has not achieved similar r esults as in
Malaysia. An initial arrangement in 1963 for select ive logging
of the Gogol Valley in the Madang Province was chan ged in 1971
to the right to clearfell for woodchips by Japan an d New Guinea
Timbers (JANT). Although the landowners have receiv ed royalty
payments, the extent of associated environmental an d social
74
implications are just beginning to be felt. From th e point of
view of sustainable management, it is not economica l, and
socially and ecologically such practice is unaccept able
(Bruenig 1996; Hurst 1990; Lamb 1990).
A system emerging in response to calls for sustaina ble forest
management is Reduced Impact Logging (RIL). The mos t essential
and primary tool in RIL is careful planning (Brueni g 1996; Dale
& Applegate 1992), from the pre-felling stage to th e sale
yards. Bruenig (1996) provides a full technical che cklist of
the pre-requisites to achieve RIL. The North Queens land
Polycyclic Selection System (PSS) for Tropical Rain forest (Dale
& Applegate 1992) is a system that utilises the pri nciples of
RIL, and one that has proven - over a period of 40 years - that
such a system is workable. Surprisingly, the checkl ist does not
introduce any new technical innovations, but emphas ises proven
traditional forestry principles, placing the respon sibility of
sustainable resource use on the developer, governme nt, and
landowners. Most of the requirements on the checkli st are also
requirements within the National Forest Policy (1992), the
environmental plans of any major forestry developme nt, and the
24 key standards in the PNG Logging Code of Practic e. However,
the major obstacles to successful execution of RIL in PNG are
lack of properly trained and equipped manpower, fea r of change,
general lack of ethical responsibility and lack of real
landowner participation in all stages of forestry d evelopment
(Unisearch 1991; Bruenig 1996; Louman 1991 as cited in
Nadarajah 1994).
Uniform to Polycyclic Systems
Although silvicultural systems have traditionally b een
determined by soil, regeneration status, forest str ucture, size
and age of harvest, the practise of silviculture re quires a
multi-disciplinary approach. The success of any sil vicultural
system is related to timing, species selection, see d quality
75
and choice, and response to site and social accepta nce.
Of the two broad categories of silvicultural system s,
rainforest silviculture is more difficult than plan tation
silviculture. Nonetheless, various systems have evo lved in the
quest to develop appropriate systems for the rainfo rests.
Silvicultural systems include the Malayan Uniform S ystem (MUS),
Tropical Shelterwood System (TSS), and the Selectio n Management
System (SMS). Three other systems for further discu ssion are
the reforestation naturally, Queensland PSS and RIL , although
RIL is not strictly a silvicultural system. The RIL and PSS
systems have been discussed in the previous section , but are
also mentioned as silvicultural systems because RIL is a pre-
requisite to both the PSS and reforestation natural ly.
In 1993, the AusAID funded Kandrian Gloucester Inte grated
Development Project (KGIDP) in West New Britain (WN B)
established demonstration plots to show the viabili ty of a
possible silvicultural system for natural rainfores ts. The
system, "Reforestation naturally", required commitm ent and
involvement from landowners, on-ground support from NFS, and an
acceptable level of good harvesting practices durin g logging of
the site. Species of commercial importance are iden tified in-
situ, and growth and increment are encouraged throu gh tending
and release of seedlings and saplings. Landowners f rom the
demonstration areas were shown the technique, and e ncouraged to
participate (Vigus 1996; Hurahura 1996). Although l andowners
were involved, the question arise as to the feasibi lity of such
a technique from a social rather technical perspect ive. In
addition, the project completed its term in 1997 af ter four
years and the question of the success or failure of
reforestation naturally can only be ascertained in another 20
to 30 years.
Natural forest silvicultural techniques or proven p ractices are
76
greatly lacking, with the added difficulty of provi ng any
concept within an acceptable and useful timeframe. However, one
exception, is the Northern Queensland PSS (Dale & A pplegate
1992; Bruenig 1996). The PSS system can provide the needed
principles and guidelines for management of PNG’s n atural
forest. Therefore, the underlying principles of the PSS system
should be adopted and adapted to PNG’s requirements . Although
reforestation naturally developed a system to maxim ise the
taxonomic structure of the forest, to utilise the n atural
dynamics of the ecosystem, and involved landowners, it did not
have the advantage of the PSS system as a proven sy stem over
time. Furthermore, the project life of four years w as not
sufficient and combined with economic, social and p olitical
factors any success may be negligible in the long t erm.
The reasons for failure in appropriate silvicultura l practices
in many countries include policy failures, institut ional
shortcomings, technical failures such as mis-timing of
silvicultural prescriptions, lack of good harvestin g practice,
lack of ecological understanding, and social factor s.
Furthermore, most of the countries with tropical ra inforests
are developing countries where financial and manpow er resources
are scarce. Consequently, many of those countries h ave opted
out of rainforest silviculture because of low retur ns and high
costs (Evans 1982).
Although plantation silvicultural systems are bette r
established and documented, many PNG foresters have invested
time and resources in an effort to develop a system especially
suited to PNG conditions. Furthermore, while it is accepted
that the PNG situation is different from countries with well
established plantations, the underlying principles governing
plantation silviculture are the same for all planta tions. Evans
(1982) provided a comprehensive account of plantati on
silviculture in the tropics, including many referen ces to PNG.
77
Various other NFA documents outline specific silvic ultural
practices for species such as Araucaria hunsteinii (Klinki), A
cunninghamii (Hoop), Tectona grandis (teak), Eucalyptus
deglupta (kamarere) and Ochroma lagopus (balsa) (White &
Cameron - DOF undated).
Plantation silvicultural practices are better devel oped and
success has been proven in other tropical countries and in the
Wau/Bulolo plantations in PNG. The most logical opt ion would be
to use the reforestation levies for plantations, pr ovided
workable solutions are developed for landownership and the
subsequent management of these plantations.
5.4.3 Political Framework
The first legislated forest policy established to g overn forest
resource use was announced in 1957 by Hasluck under the
Forestry Ordinance 1936-1961 (Comm. of Aust.1964), and in 1962
a five year forestry plan was released. The policy provided for
the protection and management of forests, timber re serves,
acquisition of land and timber rights. Issues of pe rmits and
other forestry related matters were also governed w ithin the
framework of the 1936-1961 Ordinance . Before the first forest
policy and the subsequent five-year plan, P.C Spend er made an
official statement on forest policy in 1951, althou gh
exploitation during that time was concentrated most ly in the
Bulolo Valley. Nonetheless, assessments of the nati onal
forestry resources were conducted in other areas su ch as the
Gogol Valley in Madang Province, Vanimo in the Sand aun
Province, West New Britain Province, Bougainville i n the North
Solomons Province, and the Milne Bay Province (Lamb 1990;
Unisearch 1991; Comm. of Aust.1964).
The Forestry Private Dealings Act of 1971 was the first Act
enacted by the Papua and New Guinea House of Assemb lies. The
underlying concept of the Act was to ensure that cu stomary
78
landowners would be encouraged to actively particip ate in the
development of forest resources on their land. Ther efore, the
Government’s function was to ensure the interests o f the
landowners and the Nation were taken into account i n any
agreements. However, it had no power to decide on w hom the
landowners selected to develop their resources. Lef t to the
discretion of the landowners, the Local Forest Area (LFA),
governed by the Private Dealings Act, gave landowners the right
to make private dealings outside of the government’ s
established processes (Hurst 1990; Lamb 1990; APAG 1990; Filer
& Sekhran 1998).
Unlike the Private Dealings Act, the 1973 Forestry Act
empowered the state to purchase timber rights from landowners
and sell those rights to a developer from Timber Ri ghts
Purchase (TRP) areas. Certain conditions governed b y this Act
included terms of royalty payments, and the inclusi on of
environmental and cultural measures within the Fore st Plan.
These requirements were further strengthened by the
requirements of an EIA legislated under the Environmental
Planning Act of 1978 (Hurst 1990). Although these requirements
kept abreast with the growing environmental awarene ss in the
international arena, there were institutional and e thical
problems associated with compliance to conditions s tated by
both the 1973 Forestry Act and the Environmental Planning Act
of 1978 .
The current Act, which superseded the 1971 Forestry Ac t and
repealed the Private Dealings Act 1971, is the Forestry Act
1992 . The current Act empowers the NFA (previously the PNG DoF)
to acquire, on behalf of the State, authority over forest
resources through a Forest Management Agreement (FM A). The
Forest Board consults the landowners and the respec tive
Provincial Government on their intention to allocat e timber
permits within the FMA. Upon consultation and lando wner’s
79
agreement, expressions of interest are called to de velop the
forest resource within the respective FMA. In addit ion, the
landowners are encouraged to register their clan gr oups as a
recognised legal business entity, an entity able to enter into
business agreements with the government and a fores t resource
developer (refer to Chapter 8.3) (Nadarajah 1994; F iler &
Sekhran 1998).
Accompanying the Forestry Act of 1992 was the Reviewed National
Forest Policy (1992) which stated its main goal as being:
• to ensure that the forest resources of the country are used
and replenished for the collective benefit of all P apua New
Guineans and for future generations.
The core objectives of the policy are:
• the management and protection of the nation’s fores t
resources as a renewable asset; and
• utilisation of the nation’s forest resources to ach ieve
economic growth, employment creation, greater PNG
participation in industry and increased viable onsh ore
processing.
Based on the National Policy of 1992, a national fo rest plan
was completed in May 1996, outlining development pr ograms at
national, provincial and project levels, and projec ting
provincial harvests to 2001. In addition, it also i dentifies
the different forest classifications and reiterates the goals
and objectives of the Forest Policy (NFA 1996).
Other supporting Acts of Parliament that have some relevance to
forestry resource development are the Conservation Areas Act
1978 (amended 1992) , the Fauna Protection Act 1966 (amended
1974), Environment Contaminants Act 1978, International Tr ade
80
(Flora and Fauna) Act 1979 and the Water Resources Act 1974 . An
Act which is useful in checking the credibility of developers
and ensures that nationals are given a fair go in e mployment
within any forestry projects is The National Investment
Development Act 1974 (Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996; Lamb 1990;
Filer & Sekhran 1998).
As far as the legislative framework is concerned, P NG is well
covered to ensure sustainable resource use. Within the
development of the current primary legislation gove rning
forestry development, a wealth of information and d ata bases
have been established through the national and prov incial
forest plans, assisted by the FIM and PNGRIS (McAlp ine &
Quigley 1998; Hammermaster & Saunders 1995).
5.4.4 Ecological Framework
Box 5.3: Ecological Diversity
(Source: Mok 1992:43)
"Papua New Guinea has an extraordinary diversity of ecosystems, ranging from mountain glaciers to humid rainforests , and some of the most remarkable wildlife on earth.....the av ifauna is one of the richest and varied in the world".
The tropical forests of PNG account for 1.5 per cen t of the
world’s tropical rainforests, while on a per capita basis it is
one of the richest countries in biodiversity in the world
(CSIRO 1992; Mok 1992). The diversity and extremely rich flora
and fauna can be attributed to a combination of lon g term
factors such as the meeting of three broad floristi c groups:
the Australasian, the South American and the Indo-M alayan. The
meeting of the Australian and the Pacific tectonic plates also
gives rise to "one of the greatest mountain systems in the
world", reaching from 2,000 metres to the highest p eak, Mt
Whilhelm at 4,350 metres (Lamb 1990:18; Loffler 197 7 as cited
in Unisearch 1992), along with zones of volcanic ac tivity,
81
raised coral atolls and low reef based islands (Uni search 1991;
Comm. of Aust. 1964). The hills around Port Moresby airport
still show clear signs of the glaciation that has a lso helped
shape the landscape, with some still being active a cross the
border in Irian Jaya. Further causes of species div ersity can
be attributed to short term factors of macro and mi cro climatic
variations, moisture frequency and distribution, an d soil types
(Bruenig 1996; Filer & Sekhran 1998).
There is an extremely high level of endemism and di versity of
wildlife in PNG, with endemism ranging from 55 to 9 0 per cent
(Mok 1992). It has representatives of all three typ es of
mammals: the primitive egg layers, the marsupials a nd the
placental mammals. There are over 700 species of bi rds, 500 of
which are restricted to the forests, while 33 out o f 43 birds
of paradise species in the world are endemic to PNG . In
addition, of the 70 species of bats, 35 are endemic ; and out of
the total rodents identified, 90 per cent are endem ic. Added to
that are the 170 types of lizards and 100 species o f snakes,
200 species of frogs and 455 species of butterflies , well over
80 per cent of which are endemic and more remains t o be
discovered (Hurst 1990; Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996 ; Mok 1992).
As a direct consequence of the influence of the Sou th American,
the Australasian and Indo-Malayan flora in PNG, the re is an
extremely rich and diverse representation of plant life
(Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996; Mok 1992). The montan e formations
of PNG consist of the biggest conifer flora anywher e in the
Indo-Malayan region (Whitmore 1975). More than 10,0 00 species
of flora are found in the forests, including 1,200 tree species
(Hurst 1990; Unisearch 1991), many rare and potenti ally
threatened species of ferns and orchids (Unisearch 1991) and
other palms and vines. It is not unusual to identif y a hectare
of natural lowland evergreen rainforest consisting of up to 150
different species of trees alone (Hurst 1990), not counting the
82
climbers, vascular and non-vascular epiphytes, fern s and palms.
Of the total forested area of 34 million hectares ( ha) (AIDAB
1993 as cited in Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996) (Hurs t 1990 cites
39 mill. ha, CSIRO 1992 cites 36, 420 mill. ha), mo re than 90
per cent is natural forest and the remainder is pla ntation
forest. According to Hurst (1990), of the total nat ural forest
there are five major types of forest formations (Un isearch
1991:4 states 10 types). Firstly, the lowland rainf orest
(according to Whitmore’s classification this is the tropical
lowland evergreen rainforest) makes up 20 mill. ha; montane
forests (includes both the lower and upper montane) 11 mill.
ha; swamp - four mill. ha, savanna - three mill. ha ; and
mangrove one mill. ha. The latest data on vegetatio n types
provided by FIM are shown in Table 5.1 although thi s does not
provide spatial data on the different forest format ions.
Currently, the most important formation for commerc ial
extraction is the lowland rainforest (Nadarajah 199 4; Unisearch
1991) as most loggable montane forests of the Highl ands
Provinces were logged in the early 1960s (Whitmore 1975). Prior
to the Second World War small scale plantings were established,
initially as provenance trials, and later as planta tions in
various parts of the country. Some of these small p lantations
have extended to the current plantations listed in Table 5.3.
The largest government planted and managed plantati ons are in
the Bulolo/Wau area of the Morobe Province, 12,000 ha
consisting of mostly Araucaria hunsteinii (Klinki pine) and A.
cunninghamii (Hoop pine). Plantations of tropical Pines such as
those grown in the Highlands suffer from severe ins ect and
fungal attacks as well as from the lack of good man agement
which is also the case with most other government p lantations
(Lamb 1990; Hurst 1990; Bakart 1996).
83
Of the 50 companies that are currently operating in PNG, three
- the Stettin Bay Lumber Company in WNB (Bakart 199 6), the Open
Bay Timber Company in East New Britain (ENB) and JA NT in Madang
(Bakart 1996) (Table 5.3) - have undertaken a total planting of
18,800 ha. The total current plantation area is mor e than
40,000 ha, but the rate of annual harvesting of 21, 000 ha. per
annum continues to be far greater than the annual r eplanting by
both government and companies (Hurst 1990).
Log extraction in PNG has serious environmental imp lications
for the flora, fauna, soil structure and water qual ity,
compounded by the rugged topography of much of the mainland and
the main islands. The floral composition of a fores t is changed
by logging, resulting in losses of ecological and g enetic
diversity, a reduction of habitats (Unisearch 1991; Buenflor
1988), or development of new habitat formations due to
increased light conditions. As most birds and other animals are
restricted to rainforests and consist of an excepti onally high
percentage of endemism (Hurst 1990), decreasing the ir habitat
results in displacement or total extinction. Compac tion caused
by logging machinery leads to decreased soil aerati on and
porosity, lack of humus in the ‘A’ horizon, resulti ng in
Table 5.3 NATIONAL FOREST PLANTATIONS Province Area (hectare) Species Agency
Kerevat (East New Britain)
1 900 Eucalyptus deglupta
NFA
Kaut (New Ireland)
250 E. deglupta
NFA
Kuriva (Central) 600 Tectona grandis
NFA
Brown River (Central)
1 200 T grandis
NFA
Lapegu (Eastern Highlands)
3 200 Pinus spp
NFA
Fayantina (Eastern Highlands)
1 100 Pinus spp NFA
Whagi (Western Highlands)
2 100 Eucalyptus robusta, E. grandis, Pinus
NFA
84
patula Bulolo/ Wau (Morobe)
12,000 Araucaria cunninghamii, A hunsteinii
NFA
Stettin Bay (West New Britain)
8,400 Stettin Bay Lumber Company
Open Bay (East New Britain)
9 200 Open Bay Timber Company
Gogol (Madang) 12,000 Acacia mangium JANT PTY LTD Source Bakart 1996: un-published
increased surface run-off, loss of top soil and rap id drying
due to exposure. Run-off has resulted in silting up of water
and river systems from increased topsoil loss, caus ing
extensive damage to infrastructure such as roads an d bridges
and village settlements. As most of the important n utrients for
plant growth are stored in leaf litter, increased r un-off and
top soil loss results in low fertility soils (Kobay ashi 1992;
Bruenig 1996). Unfortunately, more than 50 per cent of logging
occurs within the most diverse and rich forest form ations in
PNG, the lowland rainforests (Unisearch 1991). Furt hermore,
research and well-documented studies of the lowland rainforest
environment and the actual impact of logging on the flora,
fauna, soil and water are sadly lacking (Bruenig 19 96;
Nadarajah 1994; Nalish 1999; Stocker 1992).
5.4.5 Socio-cultural Framework
Box 5.2 Cultural Diversity acknowledged in Report f or 1963
Source: (Commonwealth of Australia- Territory of Pa pua- Report for 1963 - 1964).
(Papua New Guinea) ‘is an area of great cultural di versity as well as considerable variations in the degree and n ature of cultural contact. These factors, combined with the difficulties of terrain and the climate, -. the resistance to ch ange in the indigenous social system and the unsuitability of i ndigenous institutions for development beyond the small or tr ibal group or beyond the subsistence level, result in administ rative problems of extraordinary complexity and magnitude"
85
From stone age to space age within a period of 60 y ears best
describes the quantum leap by traditional PNG socie ty into the
modern day. Colonialism attempted to unite the 700 different
languages into three common languages of Tok Pisin, Motu and
English. Combined with modern telecommunication and the
development of a basic road network, communication that was
once restricted opened up the country. A larger per centage of
the population have access to modern health care an d medicine,
resulting in a decline in infant mortality and exte nded life
expectancy. Traditional multi-crop agriculture that was
dependant on nature’s replenishment and pest and di sease
control, shifted to agricultural monoculture of cas h crops
needing fertilisers to replenish, and insecticides and
pesticides to control pests and diseases. Modern ed ucation
benefited some and made others dissatisfied with th e
traditional ways. The introduction of western mater ial wealth,
and concepts of prosperity introduced during the pe riod of
gradualism and uniformism, and the subsequent incre ased
economic exploitation called to question the tradit ional value
system, kinship allegiance and responsibilities. Fu rthermore,
it forced a reappraisal of the value of land and th e resources
on it and, consequently, led to socio-cultural prob lems of a
different dimension.
More than 97 per cent of land is under customary ow nership, and
more than 80 per cent of the population is essentia lly rural
and depend on subsistence agriculture for their liv elihood
(Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996; Bellamy et al . 1981; Unisearch
1991; Hurst 1990). The patrilineal descent system i s prevalent
on the mainland with the exception of Milne Bay and the islands
of New Britain, New Ireland and Bougainville, which are
matrilineal (Lamb 1990; Hurst 1990). Within both sy stems land
and land ownership has always played a very importa nt role in
traditional societies, providing status and wealth, and it
remains one of the most important factors affecting the success
86
or failure of any development (Srivastava 1992 b).
Most Papua New Guineans have a strong sense of belo nging to the
land, which is interwoven with their kinship ties. Land
ownership is by the kin group rather than individua ls. In
addition, no individuals are allowed to alienate an y of the
land from the kinship group. Although the tradition al system of
demarcating boundaries has been dependant on topogr aphical and
physical features, this has been sufficient to esta blish
ownership rights to a point. Nonetheless, most trib al conflicts
in traditional societies have been linked with land disputes,
and within the context of today’s values and increa sed natural
resource use, traditional demarcation is no longer sufficient,
nor is it sufficient to assume that traditional val ue systems
have remained static over time. Consequently, lando wner
conflicts are still prevalent today in natural reso urce
development (Hurst 1990; Lamb 1990).
5.4.6 Economic Framework
PNG continues to be a source of raw logs for intern ational
markets, especially the Asian markets where resourc es have
either been depleted or protected. Compared to mine rals and
petroleum, foreign revenue from forestry and forest products is
over-shadowed (Table 5.4).
However, forestry will continue to make an importan t
contribution to foreign exchange earnings. Furtherm ore, unlike
mineral resource use, there is a real possibility o f achieving
sustainable resource management within the forestry sector. To
achieve sustainability, however, the sector is also dependant
on management that is not only economically viable, but
socially sound and acceptable, and environmentally safe. Like
the mineral sector, the forestry sector is dependen t on the
international market (which PNG, as a small open ec onomy, is
87
dependent upon), foreign business expertise and ent repreneurial
capability (Unisearch 1991).
Table 5.4 COMPARATIVE EXPORT GROWTH 1985-89 AND 1990-1995 Exports Actual (mill.of Kina) Projected (mill.of ki na) 1985 1988 1989 1990 1995
Gold 318.8 405.1 317.0 366.8 745.5 Copper 164.2 446.9 344.9 389.4 256.6 Silver 6.9 9.5 14.2 17.3 16.1 Oil 640.2 Total 489.9 861.5 676.1 673.5 1658.4 Agric. 330.2 255.2 273.6 193.3 389.0 Forestry 67.3 97.5 93.9 91.0 157.8 Marine 12.1 7.5 8.0 13.5 16.4 Other 46.7 54.4 65.0 79 108.4 Total
409.6 414.6 375.5 297.8 563.2
TOTAL 946.2 1 276.1 1 116.6 1 050.3 2 330.0
Source: Adapted from Unisearch 1992:24
Table 5.5 FORESTRY GROWTH – 20 Year Period
Year Export Volumes (‘000 cubic m)
Export Values (K million)
Log Export Taxes (K million)
1978 421 11.8 n.a 1979 476 20.9 n.a 1980 618 30.0 n.a 1981 749 31.5 n.a 1982 1,063 49.6 n.a 1983 1,003 43.2 4.7 1984 1,278 69.9 12.4 1985 1,158 58.4 12.6 1986 1,299 68.0 13.7 1987 1,450 103.0 16.5 1988 1,348 90.5 15.6 1989 1,349 90.0 11.4 1990 990 65.2 12.2 1991 1,062 81.2 17.7 1992 1,601 140.0 25.0 1993 2,375 400.2 70.9 1994 2,944 483.1 131.3 1995 2,513 436.7 127.6 1996 2,607 464.8 150.9 1997 2,376 409.3 143.4 Source: Filer & Sekhran 1998:413
The commercial forest area available for extraction is
estimated to be around 7-8 million hectares (Thistl ethwaite &
Davis 1996; Nadarajah 1994). According to the DoF (1991a as
88
cited in Unisearch 1991), only one million ha has b een logged
to date. However, this figure is deemed an underest imate,
especially since White (1977 as cited in Nadarajah 1994) stated
that total allocated resource by the early 1970s wa s 997,000
ha. from seven concessions. Since the 1970s, forest ry
exploitation has drastically increased, and by 1988 there were
more than 20 logging companies operating (Nadarajah 1994;
Unisearch 1991), and by the end of 1990 there were 50 logging
companies operating in the Country (Unisearch 1991) .
While the development of cash crop agriculture was encouraged
during Hasluck’s administration and became the most important
contributor to the economy during the period of the 1950s to
the 1970s, the exploitation and impact of forestry on the
economy was only realised after the 1970s. Prior to the 1970s,
ASEAN nations were meeting the international demand for
hardwoods, not many PNG timber species were known, export
demand was not high and, consequently, no large sca le logging
concessions were granted (Unisearch 1991).
Within the period of 1985 to 1989, export growth of the
forestry sector increased from 67.3 million kina to 93.9
million kina, while a further increase was projecte d for 1995
in the vicinity of 64 million kina, to a total of 1 57.8 million
kina (Table 5.4). However, actual revenue of 436.7 million kina
earned from forest products in 1995 (Table 5.5) sh owed a
substantial increase of more than two and half time s the
projected revenue.
Compared to the mineral sector, forestry contribute d less than
20 per cent of export revenue, while mining and min eral
products contributed 67 per cent of the total expor t revenue of
2,662 million kina in 1994 (Table 5.2). By the 1980 s, the
export sector could no longer consider forestry as a minor
contributor to the Nation’s economy. The growth of forestry
89
exports, revenue and taxes over the past 20 years f rom 1978 is
provided in Table 5.5. This provides an indication of the
growth within forestry over a longer period than in Tables 5.2
and 5.4. However, while this growth provided the co untry with
much needed revenue, the increase is accompanied by increases
in social and political problems (further discussio n on some of
these problems is provided in section 5.6).
Currently, more than 50 per cent of forest products are
extracted from the lowlands rainforest formations, with
plantations contributing an insignificant amount to total
forest products export. The Bulolo/Wau plantations (Morobe
Province) contribute the only significant plantatio n product to
the domestic market, but it is hoped that Fayantina and Lapegu
(Eastern Highlands) may, in a few years time, contr ibute.
However, Kerevat (East New Britain Province), Brown River
(Central Province), Whagi (Western Highlands Provin ce) (Table
5.4), and other smaller establishments continue to grapple with
management and land ownership problems. Although th e commercial
viability of plantations, as indicated by the succe ss of the
Bulolo/Wau plantations, leaves no doubt about the r ole of
plantations as economically viable options in PNG, the issue of
active landowner participation needs to be seriousl y addressed
(Kimpton 1999 pers.comm).
More than 40 per cent of the total annual allocated harvest in
1993 was carried out on the Island of New Britain, with most
concentrated in WNB (Table 5.6). Consequently, WNB has also
been identified as the province with harvest levels well beyond
the accepted national sustainable harvest levels
(Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996).
The annual harvest in Morobe is close to that in Ea st New
Britain, followed by Madang and the Central Provinc e. The
annual harvests from the three Highlands provinces are the
90
lowest in the country. This is the result of intens ive logging
of the montane forest formations of the Highlands i n the 1960s
and the 1970s. Consequently, there are no current l arge logging
operations, and harvest volumes provided in Table 5 .6 for the
Highlands provinces are mostly from plantations (Na darajah
1994). It is worth noting, however that small block s of
extension plantings are now being harvested by port able
sawmills for localised markets in some of the Highl ands
province.
Table 5.6 Gross Area & Allocated Cut by Province in 1993 Province Total Gross
Allocated Area (ha)
Allocated Annual Harvest-1993 (cubic.m)
Total Allocated Cut 1987-2014 (cubic.m)
Western 748,681 355,000 9,800,000 Gulf 365,473 475,000 7,532,000 Central 340,029 594,300 5,846,000 Milne Bay 164,624 203,333 1,225,00 Southern Highlands
630 40,000 20,435
Eastern Highlands
2,433 3,240 30,470
Western Highlands
2,030 59,625 41,400
Oro 48,660 178,333 840,000 West Sepik 347,197 514,000 6,648,000 East Sepik 79,978 230,000 2,300,000 Madang 327,227 649,000 10,470,000 Morobe 179,914 883,000 7,390,000 West New Britain 1,362,009 2,389 000 32,460,000 East New Britain 435,181 950,800 5,648,000 New Ireland 257,590 388,750 1,962,000 North Solomons 47,934 71,666 3,335,000 Manus 51,734 126,000 1,720,000 TOTAL
4,761,324
8,111,047
97,268,575
Source: Filer & Sekhran 1998
On a time-scale of the last 50 years, the rate of h arvest was
24,000 cubic metres in 1950, more than two million cubic metres
in the 1980s (Bun 1992), to well over eight million cubic
91
meters in 1993 (Nadarajah 1994). In 1993, the total permitted
cut was 8.5 million cubic metres. In 1992 the actua l cut was
2.6 million cubic metres. However, how can the fore st industry
be sustained when the sustainable level of harvest is 3.0
million cubic metres per annum, while the actual ha rvest in
1993 far exceeds the sustainable levels? How does t he country
account for the shortfall in actual cut and actual logged
figures (Table 5.7)?
Clearly, if this trend has continued to the present , then the
forest resources of the Nation have been drasticall y over-
committed with serious environmental, social and po litical
implications. Important question includes whether t he economic
gain from the over-commitment of the nation’s fores t resource
is worth the environmental and social consequences, and how can
the economic gains be reinvested to offset some of the social
and environmental implications?
Table 5.7 Permitted Cut & Export Against Actual Cu t and Export - 1993. Forest Status Volume (cub.m)
Total Permitted Cut 1993 8.5 Total permitted log export 1993 7.0 Actual Total cut 1992 2.6 Actual total export 1992 2.0 Estimated sustainable cut (1) 6.4 Estimated sustainable cut (2) 3.0 Note: (1) RRA (AIDAB 1993) estimate of resource cut befor e allowance for conservation ares and conversion to agriculture. (2) RRA (AIDAB 1993) estimate of sustainable cut af ter allowance for conservation and conversion to agriculture. Source: Nadarajah 1994:43
5.5 IMPEDIMENTS IN SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT
Forest resource development in PNG will continue to play an
important role in the economy and contribute to soc ial
development of the nation. However, major impedimen ts, which
continue to hinder PNG’s development in a sustainab le fashion,
92
and which prevent equitable distribution of the ben efits from
forest exploitation for present and future generati ons. These
impediments are:
• the absence of proper system of checks and balances to
ensure there is progress towards the goal of qualit y
forestry and, subsequently, sustainable development (Upton &
Bass 1995; Srivastava 1992a & Srivastava 1992b);
• the continuation of an obsolete management paradigm which
precludes consideration of socio-cultural issues in forestry
research and development (Falanruw 1992; Mok 1992);
• the lack of independent assessment in NFA Annual Re ports to
provide feedback to management on the performance w ithin the
key areas of the organisation (Upton & Bass 1995)
• internal problems within NFA, including lack of mot ivation,
inefficient extension services, shortage of skilled
manpower, and frequent restructuring exercises (Un isearch
1991; Bruenig 1996; APAG 1990; Mok 1992);
• inadequate monitoring by NFS (APAG 1990; Srivastava 1992a;
Pilo 1992);
• the increasing pressure on PNG’s resources because of
decline in supply of timber from other sources (Car lic 1993
as in Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996);
• the presence of high species diversity and low dens ities of
commercial species (Bruenig 1996; Nadarajah 1994; F iler &
Sekhran 1998);
• existence of conflicting statistics on available re sources,
commercially operable forests, sustainable rate of
harvesting and actual rate of annual harvest (Nadar ajah
1994; Bun 1992);
• lack of scientific information on different forest
formations of PNG (Nadarajah 1994; Thistlethwaite & Davis
1996; Mok 1992);
• inconsistent marketing and promotion of PNG timbers
internationally (Unisearch 1991);
93
• failure to involve landowners in the utilisation of their
resources in any meaningful way (AFPNG 1999; Nadara jah 1994;
Filer & Sekhran 1998);
• lack of investor interest in establishing downstrea m
processing and a stagnant industry (Unisearch 1991) ;
• financial losses arising from transfer pricing has cost the
country up to 15 per cent of its annual revenue fro m forest
exports (World Bank 1990 as cited in Unisearch 1991 ; APAG
1990);
• susceptibility of tropical plantations to large sca le insect
and fungal attacks (Lamb 1990); and
• conflict amongst customary landowners (Hurst 1990; Lamb
1990; Filer & Sekhran 1998).
• Political instability and poor internal security.
The above impediments are interrelated and interdep endent, and
only a few have been addressed. The rest provide gr ist for
endless seminars and conferences attended by the sa me people.
The failure to address these issues in a systematic and logical
framework only compounds environmental degradation, increases
social and political unrest, and results in continu ed economic
losses to the country.
5.6 CURRENT STATUS OF FORESTRY IN PNG
Disregarding the problems that have been associated with the
development of primary legislation governing the ex traction of
forest resources since the early 1960s, the current legislative
framework is adequate to move forestry resource use into the
realm of sustainable forest management. Peter Arul, the
Minister of Forests in 1998, clearly indicated in h is keynote
address at the second biennial Association of Fores ters of PNG
conference, that the political will to move forest resource
development to sustainable forest management exists (Arul
94
1998). The realisation and the acceptance that land owners can
no longer be regarded as a major impediment to deve lopment, but
part of the process, resulted in efforts to recogni se the
traditional ownership rights within the legal frame work. This
is reflected in the current Forestry Act 1992 and the Reviewed
Forest Policy 1992.
If PNG has continued the trend that began in 1993 o f over-
exploitation and cutting two to three times more th an the
acceptable sustainable harvest levels, the social a nd
environmental consequences will be substantial, the cost of
which the country will bear in due course. The soci al benefits
have been transitory, leaving behind dissatisfactio n, confusion
and anger, usually directed at the Government for t heir failure
to deliver. There is no doubt that rural Papua New Guineans
desire the material goods of Western Societies and, therefore,
what is perceived as needs have changed. To tie up the forests
solely for conservation purposes has proven to be a failure
when logging the forest resources is seen to provid e the means
to gain material wealth, health services and educat ion (Filer &
Sekhran 1998). The questions now are whether the gr een gold
bonanza is coming to an end, and what are the resul ting social
and environmental consequences?
Writers such as Hurst (1990), Nadarajah (1994), Fil er & Sekhran
(1998), Srivastava (1992a; 1992b) point to an obvio us but often
overlooked issue of monitoring. While forest exploi tation
boomed from the period of the 1970s to the 1990s, f orestry
monitoring and logging supervisors declined to a li ttle over 20
per cent of their former number (Filer & Sekhran 19 98). This
decline will continue as the Government has request ed further
staff cuts in an effort to make savings in the 1999 budget. How
much this cut will affect monitoring and logging su pervisors is
yet to be shown. Monitoring supervisors are faced w ith a
daunting task of monitoring exports but find themse lves in a
95
compromising situation where they have to depend on the logging
company for transport, communication and health ser vices to
survive and perform their duties. Under the FMA, th e onus has
been placed on the loggers to expend resources to f ulfil their
promises of good performance, but again the instrum ents to
check compliance by companies are lacking.
Research holds the key to the many missing pieces o f
sustainable forest management, but is still perceiv ed as an
unnecessary cost. Lack of adequate ecological data on the
dynamics of unlogged and logged over forests, the s tatus of
residual stocks in the different forest formations (Nalish
1999), the optimum cutting cycle for the second har vest, site
specific sustainable harvest levels, the effects of logging on
different soils, and on the fauna and water quality , are still
lacking even after almost 20 years of research. Res earch
conducted by the Forest Research Institute is hampe red by a
misguided and unethical sense of ownership of data by national
researchers, lack of publications of any valuable r esearch, a
failure to involve landowners through education and awareness
on the value of field research conducted on customa ry land,
weak linkages with the field staff of the larger NF S network,
and lack of proper management systems and direction from within
(Bruenig 1996; Upton & Bass 1995). Furthermore, the re has been
an outflow of scientists because of low morale, lac k of
motivation and the endless reviews and restructurin g over the
past 10 years. Faced with these problems, it is que stionable
whether some of the missing pieces of the sustainab le forest
management puzzle will be found before the ITTO’s d eadline of
year 2000.
5.7 CONCLUSION
The financial contribution by the forestry sector i s positive
and shows that forest products can continue to be o ne of PNG’s
96
major exports. The technical and silvicultural know -how is
available, but to achieve sustainable forest manage ment
requires a shift in mindset to a new forestry parad igm. Stocker
(1991 as cited in Nadarajah 1994) views the social aspect of
forestry in PNG to be more difficult than any silvi cultural
aspects. The new paradigm promotes forestry as abou t people
rather than about trees, foresters and scientists a s partners
with the resource owners (involving them and learni ng from
them), and as partners with social scientists,
environmentalists and conservationists. A sense of
responsibility must prevail at all levels of forest ry
development from the government to non-government
organisations, loggers and the logging industry, fi eld
foresters and researchers, and the customary landow ners and
their representatives. The time buffer that PNG had in the
early part of this decade may have run out, and the shift must
begin now. Furthermore, there must be management in struments to
assist decision making to be balanced and within th e concept of
sustainable resource development (Thistlethwaite & Davis 1996;
Gelder & O’Keefe 1995; Upton & Bass 1995).
98
CHAPTER 6
METHODOLOGY
6.1 INTRODUCTION
Environmental auditing, as an environmental managem ent tool,
has developed from a focus on compliance to one of assessing
progress towards the goal of sustainable developmen t. Within
the forest sector, EA has not gained recognition in its own
right, but with certification gaining momentum envi ronmental
auditing has become an essential tool within the pr ocess of
certification. As environmental auditing develops a nd adapts
to forestry’s particular needs, it will command a p lace in
its own right in the development of forestry.
The methodology applied within the framework of the audit is
set out under each of the major components. This al lows for a
systematic approach and also highlights the links b etween
each component. Questionnaires and interviews were used
extensively, with data from PNGRIS providing genera l
information for the SoE. During the field study, ob servations
of village activities such as the community day, ch urch
activities and landowner meetings were undertaken t o provide
some insight into village life.
6.2 RATIONALE FOR SELECTION OF WANDUMI AS THE KEY A UDIT UNIT
Most writers who have written and presented confere nce
papers, both nationally and internationally on fore stry
resource development, have highlighted two interrel ated
issues. Firstly, the lack of landowner participatio n in
resource development and, secondly, benefits from f orestry
not getting to the owners of the resources (Nadaraj ah 1994;
Romaso 1996; Kimpton 1998; Stocker 1994). While it may be
less complicated to restrict the audit to the key g overnment
body managing the forest resources on behalf of the people,
this approach would fail to address the issues that have been
99
raised by the various writers. Furthermore, in a co untry
where more than 80 percent of forest resource owner ship is
with the customary landowners, selecting a village as the key
audit unit not only highlights issues of relevance to a large
percentage of the country, but also brings the focu s down to
the basic level of resource development. From this level, the
study addresses issues within a balanced framework that takes
into account the key stakeholders, policies and pra ctices,
and assesses benefits and/or disbenefits that have flowed to
the villagers as a result of forest resource exploi tation.
The choice of the village of Wandumi as the key aud it unit
was determined by the following factors:
• village with direct contact with NFS and a long ass ociation
with forestry development;
• logistics (housing, transport and accessibility of office
and communication support);
• past personal contact and experience of the area;
• availability and accessibility of information; and
• acceptance by both village elders and forestry mana gement
to conduct an EA.
6.3 METHODOLOGY
The aims and objectives were discussed Chapter 1. T he
methodology described below indicates how the objec tives were
achieved. The methodology is divided according to t he four
components of the EA : the SoE, PIA, RIP and the MA . Within
the context of each component, the method applied t o the
audit is discussed.
6.3.1 The SoE
100
Phase One : Scoping
In order to provide a synoptic view of Wandumi, a p rocess of
data collection was established. Firstly, a scoping exercise
was undertaken to identify the following:
1.different stock categories;
2.different stock types;
3.possible sources of data;
4.date of data source;
5.date of data collection; and
6.reference and contact persons.
Secondly, the identification of possible data sourc es
determined the study trips and determined the type of
questions for the questionnaires. Furthermore, the scoping
exercise indicated the need to seek official cleara nce from
the appropriate organisations for the use of nation al
databases.
Phase Two - Formal Clearance and Study Trips.
Phase one indicated that most of the information on the
natural stock could be accessed from PNGRIS. This d atabase is
considered the property of the PNG Government and, therefore,
official permission was requested and granted in wr iting from
DEC, the official custodians. Two study trips were made to
ANU, both for the duration of one week. The first t rip served
two purposes. Firstly, initial contact and discussi ons with
research and resource persons who have worked, or a re
currently working on PNG projects in the fields of
environment, anthropology, forestry, agriculture an d
sociology. Secondly, to solicit feedback on the aud it
framework, and to ascertain whether such a study ha d been
previously conducted in PNG. The second trip access ed the
PNGRIS database with assistance from resource perso ns at ANU.
101
Phase Three - Development of the SoE Questionnaires
Most of the information on the socio-cultural stock of the
village of Wandumi is site specific, and literature searches
indicated that no previous anthropological research had been
undertaken. The questionnaire (see Appendix I) was developed
by the researcher to take the following factors int o
consideration:
• possible cultural barriers due to gender difference ;
• language barriers.
The SoE questionnaires used structured questions to provide
information on the following issues:
• type of leadership and governance in the village;
• education status of the village;
• kinship system and the strength of kinship ties;
• economic activities of the village;
• traditional activities, including village crafts
• materialistic wealth of the village; and
• the spiritual life of the village.
The questionnaire was designed to draw out the perc eption of
the villagers to forestry in relation to customary and church
activities. It also ascertains whether forestry is seen as a
resource that is sustainable and one worth putting time and
energy into.
Phase 4 -The State of Forestry Resources in Wandumi
The general SoE provides a synopsis of Wandumi, pro viding the
background for the state of forestry resources. In order to
access detailed information on the forest resources that
contribute or will contribute to the livelihood of the
village, the following steps were taken. Firstly, p ermission
was requested from the Managing Director of NFA in writing,
and was granted to access information, and use faci lities
102
while conducting the fieldwork. Secondly, all fores t resource
information was entered into a table with the follo wing
variables:
• date of establishment;
• species;
• age;
• area planted;
• harvest date;
• lease agreements/arrangements;
• current status; and
• clan ownership.
6.3.2 The PIA
As a result of the Barnett Inquiry, there is a new Forestry
Act 1992 and the revised Forest Policy 1993. The new Forest ry
Act and the revised Forest Policy called for increa sed,
active participation and involvement of landowners in the
development of their resources. The instrument to a chieve a
higher level of participation is the ILG. Under the new
Forestry Act, it is a requirement of section 57 tha t, before
any FMA, the ownership of land must be (PNGFA 1995: 2):
• vested in a land group or groups under the Land Gro up
Incorporation Act; or
• registered under a law providing for the registrati on of
title to customary land.
These requirements are not binding in cases of
impracticality. Currently, the second option is not available
because there are no national laws for customary la nd
registration. Therefore, in order to fulfil the req uirements
of section 57, the NFA to date has utilised the opt ion of
ILGs.
103
The PIA assesses the type of agreement(s) under whi ch the
forest resources are managed, within the context of forest
policy. In the Wandumi case, this relates to whethe r ILGs
have been established, and whether this has improve d
participation by the landowners. To assess the prob lems faced
by NFS and the clans in their attempt to fulfil pol icy
requirements the following approaches were used:
1.application of the SoE questionnaire;
2.interviews with the executives of the ILGs;
3.interviews with facilitators of ILG workshops;
4.interviews with NFS staff; and
5.application of the MA questionnaires.
The MA questionnaire will be detailed under the MA component,
which will cover the rationale and the aim. Within the PIA
component, the MA questions provide some indication of the
linkages between NFS staff and the landowner groups , the
level of interaction between these groups, and also assesses
the willingness of staff to accept policy changes.
6.3.3 The RIP
The internal practices of both the Forestry Station and
Wandumi Village affect one another, with both posit ive and
negative implications. To assess the activities of both
parties, a list of forest activities and village ac tivities
was drawn up in a matrix. Forestry activities inclu de the
following:
• seedling establishment and nursery;
• planting and tending;
• pruning and thinning operations;
• road establishment and maintenance; and
• harvesting and marketing.
The activities of the village include:
104
• subsistence and market gardening;
• fishing;
• hunting;
• small scale mining;
• customary activities;
• community day activities; and
• cash cropping.
Forestry activities are substantiated with quarterl y and
annual reports of Supervisor-Wau and the current ac tivities
of the field staff. Information on village activiti es is
derived from the SoE questions. Question 10 in the SoE
questionnaire is focused on what villagers see as t he effects
of forestry on gardens, hunting grounds and hunting
activities, wildlife, roads and rivers. The differe nt impacts
from both the village and forestry activities are e ntered
into an impact matrix. From the matrix, general con clusions
are drawn in relation to the type of impacts on eac h of the
activities of the stakeholders as well as the cumul ative
impacts of those activities.
6.3.4 The MA
The management of forestry resources by government has a long
history in the Bulolo/Wau area compared to other pa rts of the
country. Towards the end of the gold rush era, when the
Bulolo Gold Dredging (BGD) Company and New Guinea G old (NGG)
turned from dredges to sawmills, the Australian gov ernment
responded by establishing a forestry office in Bulo lo and
developing the reforestation program which has been
maintained to this day. Following 50 years of gover nment
management of the resources, important issues that now must
be considered include:
1.landowner participation;
2.sustainable livelihood of Wandumi village; and
3.future forestry development
105
The key research instrument in providing informatio n about
the above issues is the MA questionnaire (see Appen dix II).
The questionnaire seeks information on the followin g:
• establishing the responsibilities of the various
respondents within the Bulolo/Wau office;
• establishing the frequency of meetings with subordi nates
and supervisors;
• establishing the instigator of meetings;
• establishing the frequency and form of reporting wi thin the
structure;
• establishing, through a ranking system, the level o f
interaction between the staff;
• establishing the interactions within the larger NFS
organisation;
• establishing the linkage and the level of interacti on with
other organisations;
• establishing whether any of the respondents have di rect
responsibility to the Wandumi village;
• establishing the linkages and interactions between
directors of the landowner companies; and
• allowing for comments on how to improve the respond ent’s
work environment.
In support of the questionnaire were open interview s with the
staff and management, and observations during the f ield study
period.
6.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The limitations of the study fall into the three fo llowing
areas:
1.untested audit framework;
2.changing political circumstances in the forestry arena; and
3.local cultural sensitivities.
106
In the absence of suitable guidelines and precedenc e in PNG,
the audit framework used for the Wandumi study was derived
from EA techniques used for non-forestry audits, in cluding
local government, company and industrial audits.
Whilst the FSC 10 principles and criteria are being promoted
in PNG by the Nature Conservancy Foundation (TNC), this
checklist is inadequate for the purpose of EA. None theless,
the TNC checklist is useful for raising awareness o n issues
of sustainable forestry.
Because of the broadbased nature of the audit frame work used,
detailed data collection and analysis of all aspect s of
forest resource use is precluded. However, the resu lts of the
audit identifies areas for further investigation.
At the time of the field research, from October 199 8 to July
1999, PNG was going through a period of political a nd
economic uncertainty and NFS was caught in the midd le of the
crisis. There was a sense of gloom and ‘could not c are less’
attitude prevailing as staff waited for changes to take
place, wondering if their jobs were on the line. Al though the
staff of Bulolo/Wau NFS was not affected by staff c uts, the
long wait did not help dissipate their fears or imp rove their
morale. The questionnaires were distributed during this
period, which may have impacted on the responses re ceived.
Where the cultural barrier of race may have been ov ercome,
the barrier of gender could not be overcome. In add ition to
gender, the status bestowed upon a university educa ted PNG
female also became a barrier during the field perio d. Efforts
to participate in gardening with the women were str ongly
discouraged. Conversely, while women discouraged su ch
participation, the men were willing to allow partic ipation in
gold mining activities. This raises the question of bias
based on the exceptions made by both the male and f emale
members of the Village.
107
6.5 RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The results of the study are treated separately in Chapters 7
to 10, each research component forming one chapter. Although
each chapter includes conclusions and recommendatio ns, and
highlights problems, Chapter 11 draws the entire st udy
together within the context of the audit framework and from
the perspective of sustainable development.
108
CHAPTER 7
STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT
"WANDUMI VILLAGE"
7.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter and the following three chapters detai l the
Wandumi Case Study. The chapter begins with a brief history
of Wau and the key players in the development of th e
township and ends with a detail SoE Report of Wandu mi
Village with reference to forestry. The case study provides
sufficient information about the changes that occur red to
shift the focus from gold to timber in the late 194 0s, and
how those changes have affected Wandumi.
The SoE data was derived from PNGRIS, the SoE inter views
(Appendix I) and forestry records. Discussions acco mpany
each data table identifying trends and comparisons, and
concluding with an overall description of the statu s of
Wandumi.
7.2 WAU
7.2.1 Bow and Arrow to Gold
Wau has a history that is as colourful as the chara cters
that influenced the development of the Morobe Gold Fields
(Figure 7.1) and the establishment and expansion of colonial
rule by both the German and the Australian Administ rations.
Governor Hahl of the German Administration was set on
bringing order and service to the locals, but with the use
of punitive expeditions when locals broke the Germa n law.
However, when it came to dealing with illegal Austr alian
prospectors, he was all kindness and hospitality. S harkeye
Park, an Australian prospector shunned contact with his own
kind for years in search of gold, but was able to command a
certain authority over the locals who claimed he wa s an
incarnate of one of their ancestors. It was Sharkey e Park’s
find in the Koranga creek that led to the gold rush in
Bulolo/Wau in the 1920s (Figure 7.1).
109
Patrol Officer C J Levien was heavily in debt in hi s home
town in Victoria, but he was a man of vision. It wa s his
vision and perseverance that developed the goldmini ng
industry from small inefficient teams to large synd icates,
monstrous dredges and an aviation industry that set and
broke aviation records worldwide. Patrol Officer Le vien
discarded his administrative post and took up minin g in
1923, but died of meningitis on 20th March 1931 bef ore he
could witness the opening of the first 1 100 ton dr edge in
Bulolo on 21st March 1931 (Idries 1964; Sinclair 19 98; Ruhen
1963). Mrs Doris Booth, better known as the ‘angel of
Bulolo’, was one of the first women to peg her own mining
claim; however her claim to fame was not in mining but in
her profession as a nurse. It was from Wau that the
launching of the famous Highlands patrols by Jim Ta ylor and
Danny and Mick Leahy was made (Sinclair 1998).
Gold prospectors, mostly miners from the goldfields of
Queensland, entered the Bulolo/Wau area from the Wa ria
River. While Germans governed New Guinea from 1884 to 1919,
attempts were made to prospect for gold by German s yndicates
and individual prospectors in the Bulolo/Wau area. However,
due to the lack of emphasis by the German administr ation on
gold prospecting, as opposed to the development of settled
and ordered communities and the signing of the Vers ailles
Peace Treaty in 1919, the Germans left without disc overing
the riches of the valley (Ruhen 1963; Sinclair 1998 ).
Australia took over German New Guinea as a Trust Te rritory
and, by 1922, the Morobe Goldfields were proclaimed . Wau
became the centre of the Morobe Goldfields, gaining in
reputation world wide and drawing gold diggers from
Australia, New Zealand and America. From the 1920s to the
outbreak of the Second World War, Wau enjoyed a boo m in
wealth and prosperity. However, after the War, it n ever
really recovered, and by 1960, Wau was on the decli ne
(Sinclair 1998).
7.2.2 From Gold to Green
110
A key player in the rise and fall of Wau was NGG, a name
that brings a variety of responses from the locals of Wau.
NGG was the major employer of both expatriates and locals.
Although there were other companies operating vario us gold
leases in and around Wau, NGG had not only operated gold
leases but had ventured into logging. The NGG sawmi ll was
opened by the Territories Minister P Hasluck on Aus tralia
Day in 1945, and was in operation for 30 years befo re its
closure in late 1976. The DoF’s forest policy was b lamed for
the closure, and this was another major blow to Wau
(Sinclair 1998).
The history of forest exploitation and subsequent
development in the Wau area is best discussed in re lation to
development in Bulolo. While NGG was the key player in Wau,
the BGD was the sole player in the development of B ulolo.
When Wau began to decline, BGD responded to the dow nturn in
gold by investing in timber. Although the company’s concern
after the War was to get the gold dredges back into
operation, timber was needed to build houses and fu rniture
for the miners and the engineers. Consequently, as early as
1946 the company had set up a large sawmill to cate r for its
immediate needs and, by mid 1949, BGD was producing 330 000
super feet per month (Sinclair 1998).
Needless to say, Australian and local timber intere sts had
been aware of the vast standing wealth in the Bulol o valley
for some time. This awareness was further accentuat ed by the
New Guinea Timber Lease Case of 1948, which gained
international attention. In 1950, the Administratio n paid
10,000 pounds for rights to 24,000 acres of timber in the
Bulolo valley, a minor amount compared to the milli ons of
pounds in profit for the Administration. Even today , the
people of Manki village, who were the recipients of the
payment, are still bitter and do not hesitate to ai r their
grievances when the opportunity arises (AFPNG 1999; Sinclair
1998).
111
Figure.7.1 -Morobe Province showing the Morobe gold fields
(Sinclair 1988)
Consequently, the Administration strengthened the D oF under
the care of J B McAdam. Although most of the operat ions of
the DoF were based in Lae, in the latter part of 19 46 McAdam
112
and plywood industry representatives made several t rips to
Bulolo to conduct investigations into the feasibili ty of
establishing a plymill. The result of these visits is the
only plymill in the country, which is now under the
management of PNG Forest Products (PNGFP). PNGFP em ploys
1,200 people, mostly nationals and Asians, and proc esses 70
per cent of their annual production of 25,000 cubic metres
from the 11 500 hectares of plantation forests. In addition,
they have continued with the development and constr uction of
pre-fabricated homes and currently have 28 differen t designs
(Sinclair 1998; Ruhen 1963).
Most of the plantations in Bulolo are tied into a l ong-term
contract between the PNGFP and the State through th eir
commercial arm, the Bulolo/Wau Plantations. Nonethe less,
plantations around Wau are exceptions. To date ther e are no
agreements between the State, PNGFP and the landown ers to
harvest, extend the current plantation or replant i f
harvesting should begin. Discussions between the la ndowners
and the DoF to enter into joint venture agreements have only
recently begun (AFPNG 1999; Kimpton 1999 pers comm. ;
Sinclair 1998).
7.2.3 Wau Today
Located 7 degrees and 23 minutes south of latitude and 146
degrees and 49 minutes longitude, Wau is one of the eight
administrative districts of the Morobe Province. It serves
as the district headquarters for the four main ethn ic
languages of Hamtai, Guhu-Samane, Weri and Biangai (Figure
7.1) (McInnes 1995).
From a town that boasted bakeries, hair salons and tailors,
doctors and dentists, several general merchant shop s, a post
office and bank, Wau today is a little town with no t more
than 10 general merchant shops servicing the locals and a
113
handful of expatriates who have remained. It is dif ficult to
envisage Wau as the town that began the development of Lae,
which became the second largest and the industrial city of
PNG. Nonetheless, locals continue mining on a small scale to
supplement their subsistence existence. At this sta ge,
large-scale mining is limited to prospecting in the Hidden
Valley by Eddie Creek Mining Company Pty Ltd (Sincl air
1998).
Although the natural timber stands of hoop and klin ki pines
and red cedar have earned more than what was dug fr om
beneath the Bulolo valley, the lure of gold seems t o far
outweigh the whispers of the pine stands. Gold feve r may not
be as catching as in the days of Shark-eye Park and C J
Levien, but it has a hold on the local community. L ike BGD
and NGG, in time the local community may turn to ti mber,
when gold can no longer be found.
7.3 WANDUMI VILLAGE
7.3.1 Background
The village of Wandumi falls within the administrat ive
boundary of the Wau District. It is located 20 minu tes drive
North East of Wau (Figure 7.1). The altitude ranges from 1
200 to 1 800 metres, with slopes ranging from 10 to 20
degrees and 20 to 30 degrees, and temperatures from a
minimum of 12 - 16 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 23 - 27
degrees Celsius. The people of Wandumi are referred to as
the Biangais. In the rest of this document, the ter m Wandumi
will refer to the village and the term Biangai will refer to
the people.
7.3.2 Natural Stock
The following information on the Natural stock of t he
Wandumi village was derived from the PNGRIS data wi th the
114
following references: Province number 12 - Morobe P rovince,
District 7-Wau and Division 21-Biangai. The Resourc e Mapping
Unit (RMU) reference number is 278. According to th e 1990
census, the total population of the whole Division is 1,519
persons, with Wandumi having a population of 393 pe rsons,
and the population density for the whole Division b eing 13
persons per square kilometre.
The predominant land form is hilly terrain with wea k or of
no structural control. The basic rock type is low g rade
metamorphic, resulting in three basic soil types. F irstly,
humitropepts, which are moderately weathered soils having
high organic carbon content, chemical fertility and inherent
fertility, but very low soil erodibility. Humitrope pts
constitute 30 to 50 per cent of soils. The second s oil type
is typical on moderate to steep slopes of wet clima tes, and
constitutes 20 to 40 per cent of the soils. It is
undifferentiated and mostly shallow, and classified as
troporthents with moderate erodibility and inherent
fertility, but high chemical fertility. Eutropepts make up
the third soil type which constitutes 20 to 40 per cent of
the soils. Eutropepts soils are slightly to moderat ely
weathered with an altered B-horizon, high chemical
fertility, very high inherent fertility, but modera te soil
erodibility. Generally, over the whole division, so il
formation of 0.3mm to 0.6mm per annum and soil eros ivity are
considered low. According to PNGRIS, there are few or no
earthquakes, so mass movement of soil is also low. (However,
during the period of the field study, there was a h igh
frequency of earthquakes during the months of March and
April, which caused landslips along the Bulolo/Wau road).
The rainy season is from December to March, with an nual
rainfall of 2,500-3,000mm. Although rainfall defici t is
infrequent to slight, the 1997/98 drought is an ind ication
of an extremely high deficit in rainfall, which aff ected the
growth of choko vines. The shoots, fruits and the s eeds of
the vine are an easy source of high nutritional veg etable
115
for the Biangais. In addition, the sale of this veg etable,
which grows in abundance with very little care, pro vides an
additional source of income for households. The dro ught
completely dried up all the vines except for those in
moisture pockets.
The vegetation of Wandumi is classified as lower mo ntane
small crown forest, forest plantation and grassland . The
lower montane rainforest is one of the classificati ons
within the mountain rainforest formation typically found on
elevations between 700m to 2,100 m (Whitmore 1975).
Plantation forest makes up a certain percentage of the
vegetation, and will be discussed in more detail in the next
section. The third vegetation type is the grassland
vegetation, consisting of kunai grass (Imperata cylindrica).
Where fire is excluded from regrowth for a long eno ugh
period, regrowth vegetation consists of both grass and small
woody plants. Although severe droughts do affect th e area,
the village is within an area that is well endowed with
waterways. The Bulolo River runs from the south to the west
of the village, while the Cedar and Beenleigh creek s flow
past the village to empty into the Bulolo. Like man y rivers
in PNG, the Bulolo River changes its course many ti mes and
often threatens the safety of the village. The smal ler
streams also contribute their share of havoc to the roads
and gardens during the rainy season (Figure 7.1).
Gold can still be found in the alluvial flats of th e Bulolo
River, the various tributaries of the Bulolo, and f rom the
hillsides. Hillsides are dug and potential gold bea ring
rocks are crushed manually to a fine dust. The crus hed dust
is washed in water with the aid of mercury to separ ate the
gold. Consequently, the Bulolo River is highly poll uted with
mercury. Even as early as the late 1940s, the water quality
wasn’t good enough for brewing (Sinclair 1998). Oth er than
gold there are no other mineral resources currently
exploited.
116
7.3.3 Forestry Resources
There are no large areas with natural stands of Araucaria
cunninghamii (Hoop) and A hunsteinii (Klinki) except those
within the McAdam National Park. Most of the natural stands
of Hoop and Klinki pine have now been replaced with kunai
grassland, gardens or plantations. There are remnan t natural
montane forests but these are restricted in area an d are,
therefore, not an economic option. The current plan tation
was established in the 1960s and the 1970s and cons ists
mainly of Klinki, Hoop, and Pinus species. The curr ent
plantation area is 947.9 ha, consisting of Klinki, Hoop, and
Pinus species. Plantations are divided into compart ments for
ease of management and details of each compartment are
provided in Table 7.1 and Figure 7.2, while table 7 .2
summarises the plantings by species. Based on a 35- 40 year
rotation for Klinki and Hoop, and a 25-30 year rota tion for
Pinus, the probable year of harvest is also include d in
Table 7.1. The inclusion of the probable harvesting year
provides an indication of the forest resource avail able to
the NTR sawmill operations (Chapter 8).
Table 7.1 Plantations by Compartments Compartment Species Yr Pl Area
(ha) Yr Harv.
Bamboo 01D Pinus 1976 38.1 2006 Bamboo 02 P.Caribbeae
honduransis (PCH) 1978 58.6
2008 Bamboo 03A A.cunninghamii
(hoop pine) 1969 7.8
2009 Bamboo 03B PCH 1979 50.3 2009
117
Bamboo 03C PCH 1979 35.9 2009 Bamboo 03D PCH 1980 50.4 2010 Bamboo 04 PCH 1978 21.7 2008 Bamboo 05 PCH 1978 16.7 2008 Bamboo 06 PCH 1978 57.5 2008 Bamboo 07A PCH 1978 34.1 2008 Bamboo 08 PCH 1978 11.8 2008 Beenleigh 01A Hoop 1961 28.9 2001 Beenleigh 01B A.hunsteinii
(klinki) 1961 7.6
2001 Beenleigh 02A klinki 1963 45.4 2003 Beenleigh 03A hoop 1962 82.2 2002 Beenleigh 04 hoop 1965 10.5 2005 Beenleigh 05B P. caribaea 1976 6.0 2006 Drome 01 hoop 1963 39.6 2003 Drome 03A hoop 1964 5.3 2004 Drome 04A PCH 1973 24.8 2003 PCC 1975 9.3 2005 Drome 04C PCC 1976 9.9 2006 Drome 04D PCH 1976 23.3 2006 Drome 04E PCH 1981 9.0 2011 Drome 05B Pinus 1984 23.0 2014 Drome 11 Pinus 1967 57.4 1997 Drome 12 PCH 1969 7.4 Izzy Dizzy 01A
hoop 1960 ? 67.9 1999
Izzy Dizzy 01B
klinki 1960 ? 8.9 1998 *
Izzy Dizzy 02A
hoop 1960 ? 62.9 1999 *
Izzy Dizzy 02B
klinki 1960 ? 26.8 1998/ 99
Izzy Dizzy 04A
PCC ? 5.5 ?
Izzy Dizzy 04B
PCH ? 3.4 ?
TOTAL
• Compartments currently harvested by NTR ? Dates not provided by inventory.
Source: Adapted from inventory measurements by NFS Officer- Simon Kolema dated 19/ 05/ 97 with 95 per cent confidence
Figure 7.2: Compartments
118
TABLE 7.2 Plantation by Species Total Area By major compartments (ha) Species (ha) Bamboo Beenleigh Drome IzzyDizzy
Pinus spp 554.1 375.1 6.0 164.1 8.9
Klinki 88.7 53.0 35.7
Hoop 305.1 7.8 121.6 44.9 130.8 Total
947.9
382.9
180.6
209.0
154.5
Source: Adapted from inventory measurements by NFS Officer- Simon Kolema dated 19/ 05/ 97 with 95 per cent confidence
7.3.4 Manmade Stock
The Village
For the purposes of this Paper, Wandumi is divided into four
groups: the old village ( olpela ples ), the main village
( bikples ), the breakaway group, and the squatters (Figure
7.4).
The researchers discussions with the village people revealed
that much of the pre-colonial and colonial history of the
Biangai is linked with the old village, which was b uilt for
tribal warfare, complete with a live stockade of cl osely
planted bamboo and strangling fig trees. Camouflage d traps
of half-buried spears lay in strategic locations ou tside the
perimeter of the village. This was the village set- up that
greeted the early prospectors, patrol officers and the
advancing Japanese army.
However, due to the high frequency of unexplained d eaths
that robbed the village of their young, the old vil lage was
abandoned. Some believe the deaths are a result of a curse
on the village, but many of the young generation at tribute
the high rate of death to the contamination of wate rways by
improper burial of the casualties of the Second Wor ld War.
119
Figure 7.3 - Profile of groups within Wandumi (not to scale)
(Gatau 1999: From Field Research conducted in Wandu mi Village, Oct. 1998
to July 1999)
120
Although the old village is no longer occupied by t he
living, the cemetery and the grassed basketball cou rt is
maintained for use regularly.
The main village (Bikples ) is semi-formal with an open
meeting area located immediately before the village (Figure
7.5). Three trade stores and the Lutheran Church s ervice
it. More than 70 per cent of the Wandumi population live in
the main village. What is termed as the ‘breakaway group’ is
the group who have recently moved away from the mai n village
to build on their clan land for various reasons (Fi gure
7.3). Some reasons that have influenced the breakaw ay are:
1.to prevent outsiders from squatting on their clan land;
2.their need to segregate for religious reasons;
3.to avoid any backlash due to the Nakokai business venture
(further discussed in Chapters 8 & 9) ; and
4.to be closer to the forestry station and its serv ices.
Finally, the fourth group is the squatters living i n the
Kunai area (Figure 7.4). This group includes labour er and
redundant forestry employees. Wandumi families with large
land areas recruit labourers from Watut. Unlike the
indentured labour policy introduced by the colonial
administration, labourers hired by the Biangais did not have
signed contracts, so many of them worked until thei r death.
Their families have remained and married into Wandu mi clans
and, subsequently, made Wandumi their home. Asked i f they
would like to return to their home village, most se e no
reason to do so when their father remains in Wandum i. After
25-30 years in the service of forestry, labourers m ade
redundant by virtue of their age have moved from th e station
to customary land and squatted, believing that the land is
state owned. This has not caused any outward fricti on,
however there are indications that it is only a mat ter of
time before it becomes a visible conflict.
121
Figure 7.4 Profile of the Main Village (Bikples)
(Gatau 1999: From Field Reseaarch Conducted in Wand umi Village from
October 1998 to July 1999)
122
Forestry Station
Established in early 1960 primarily to conduct refo restation
on logged-over land, the station has four permanent
officer’s houses, one single quarters, three semi-p ermanent
labourer’s houses, one office, one workshop, and on e fuel
and fire shed (Figure 7.5).
Figure 7.5 Profile of the Forestry Station
(Gatau 1999: From Field Research conducted in Wandu mi Village from October 1998 to July 1999)
123
Services
The village and the station are linked to Wau and B ulolo by
two roads (Figure 7.1). The main link is an all wea ther road
that leads from Wau across the Bulolo River to Wand umi. The
approaches to the bridge have often been washed awa y by
floods, leaving the bridge intact in the middle of the
river. From March until June 1999, floodwaters wash ed away
the approach on the Wau end of the bridge, cutting off
vehicle access for that period. The escape road pro vides an
alternative route, however this is restricted to fo ur-wheel
drive vehicles. Constructed primarily for forestry purposes,
it serves the Bamboo and Drome compartments, and in cases
where the main link becomes inaccessible, the escap e road is
the only vehicular access to Wandumi. Unlike the ma in route,
with only one bridge to cross, the escape road cros ses the
bridges of Kulolo, Bamboo, Sandy and Poverty Creeks . Smaller
streams are either crossed with the aid of culverts or none
at all.
Electricity is supplied to the forestry station, bu t this
service is not available to the village. Telecommun ication
is limited to 2-way radio from the forestry station . Other
communication services that reach the village are t he
National Broadcasting Commission’s (NBC) Provincial station,
Radio Morobe or "Krai blong kundu" (the voice of the kundu
drum), and the two FM services - FM 100 and Nau FM. For the
literate, the daily newspapers - the Post Courier a nd the
National - can be purchased from Bulolo on occasion s.
Although the station and the village both depend on stream
water for cooking and sanitation, houses on the sta tion have
water on tap. Village toilets are pit toilets, whil e the
officer’s houses have septic systems. A water distr ibution
pipe was installed from the station’s dam with limi ted
distribution capacity to selected houses in the bre akaway
124
sector of the village, which includes the Councillo r’s
house. Although the station has indicated their wil lingness
to share the dam more extensively, the response fro m the
local council confirms the strongly held view that forestry
should be responsible for village water reticulatio n as
well.
A basic public health service is provided to both t he
village and the station by a Health Extension Offic er (HEO).
Matters needing a doctor’s attention are referred t o the
clinic in Wau or the hospital in Bulolo. Private he alth
services are also available in both Wau and Bulolo, but are
often beyond the reach of an ordinary villager.
Educational institutions within the Wau District in clude
community schools, high schools and the Wau Ecologi cal
Institute. In relation to Wandumi, the nearest comm unity
schools are the Kaisenik and Wau community schools. Wau High
School is the nearest government secondary boarding school,
while the Kathryn Lehman School is a private boardi ng
school. The Wau Ecological Institute began as an en tomology
research facility in 1961 under the Bishop Museum o f
Honolulu. Since then, it has expanded its research into the
flora and fauna of the tropics, and draws scientist s from
all over the world.
7.3.5 Socio - Cultural Stock
Population Sampled
This section discusses the state of the social and cultural
stock of the Wandumi people. In attempting to asses s the
socio-cultural status of any village, an important question
is how a researcher ascertains the various componen ts of
socio-cultural stock that are of value and relevanc e to the
society. Will these remain important issues in the future?
If the issues can be identified, how does a researc her
125
assess the status of these issues? These questions are very
important but difficult to answer. Nonetheless, an attempt
to establish the cultural status of Wandumi formed an
important part of the case study. Issues identified as
important were: type of governance and leadership;
landownership and kinship ties; traditional activit ies;
traditional arts and crafts; spiritual life; and th e
education status of the village. The total populati on was 58
households (N) (refer to Table 7.13), whilst the po pulation
sampled was 38 households (n). Therefore, the numbe r of
households sampled equates to 65.5 per cent. An ind ication
of the population sampled by age group and by clan group is
shown in Figures 7.7 and 7.8, respectively. Intervi ews were
conducted and observations were made over a period of eight
months, from November 1998 to June 1999.
Leadership and Governance
Colonial administration introduced a system of vill age
governance based on the luluai and tultul system introduced
by Governor Hahl. Based on this system the village
councillor was the most important government repres entative
who was called upon by patrol officers. This system
disintegrated after independence when centralisatio n
occurred. However, the change did not result in imp roved
services to rural areas. Therefore, in 1996, the lo cal level
government was re-introduced, granting the village
councillor more power.
As well as bringing basic services, the councillor is
responsible for delegating tasks during community d ays.
Activities range from maintaining the village cemet ery,
building the community centre, coffee picking, road
maintenance, and any other duties as requested by a ny member
of the community. Community days are every Monday a t 7.00
am, where the church gong is sounded to gather ever y capable
adult at the meeting area in the main Village (Figu re 7.4).
126
A fine of K5.00 is imposed by the councillor on tho se who
abscond from community day activities. Although a K 5.00 fine
is minuscule considering that a good week’s earning s in the
gold fields ranges from K500.00 to K1 000.00, most men take
part in community day activities before returning t o their
gold digging site (Table 7.10).
Figure 7.6 Population sampled by age group
Figure 7.7 Population sampled by clan group
0
1
23
4
5
67
8
9
10
18-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-50 >50
age groups
127
The older generations of the village, mostly male, are
respected and hold positions of responsibility with in the
village heirarchy. Clan leadership, church leadersh ip and
spokesman’s role are performed by the men over 50, while the
church provides leadership opportunities for the yo unger men
in the age bracket below 40 and the women (Tables 7 .3 &
7.4). From the time spent in the village, it was ob vious
that the older generation were generally held in hi gh
regard. Furthermore, the councillor, who is elected under
the modern government system, consults the village elders,
thus acknowledging the status of the elderly in Wan dumi (Box
7.1).
Box 7.1 Eldership and Leadership.
Source: Personal interviews (1999)
Kawi is about 60 years old. In his lifetime he led the fight against the State to regain title to their clan land; performed the task of a land mediator; organised a coffee cooperative and was an executive of Wandumi Holdings. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Nakokai Business Group, a clan leader and a church elder of the Foursquare Gospel Church. Krimbu is about 50 years old and is an ex-school teacher. As the spokesperson on landowner is sues, he is very vocal and sometimes is a thorn in the side of Forestry st aff. He is also a clan leader as well as a spokesperson. Gesungsao Sara wa s over 70 years old. She was one of the few local female pioneer Luthera n missionaries who travelled extensively in the Biangai, Biaru and Gar aina areas and yet her story will be untold as she died on the 18 th of November.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
kobealinge koboyu Nganalei Luaini lemelinge Ewaing Morobeans Others
(clan groups)
128
Table 7.3 Comparison of Leadership role and Age in Wandumi males
Age Type of Leadership Group Clan Leader Church
Leader Village spokesperson
Others
18-25 26-30 1 31-35 1 36-40 1 41-45 1 46-50 1 Over 51 4 4 4
Table 7.4 Comparison of Leadership role and Age in Wandumi females
Age Type of Leadership Group Clan Leader Church
Leader Village spokesperson
Provincial Women’s Council
18-25 26-30 1 31-35 36-40 1 41-50 2 1 Over 51
Land ownership and Kinship
When the colonial administration failed to identify the
presence of villages on the current site of the pla ntations,
it classified the land as "waste and vacant," there by
claiming the area for an extensive plantation progr am after
NGG had completed logging. Little did they realise at that
time that the land classified as waste and vacant w as
actually the fighting zone for the Biangais and the ir tribal
enemies. The fighting zone was thickly forested wit h Pine
trees and strangling figs. One pine tree is said to hide up
to five people, while the roots of the fig trees pr ovided
shelter and protection against enemy arrows. Furthe rmore, by
keeping that zone as a fighting area, it kept the e nemies
away from the villages where the old, the very youn g and the
women remained during periods of fighting. The Bian gais led
129
by Kawi and others in 1961 took this mis-classifica tion to
court, but it was not until 1974 that the issue was settled.
Although the court decision ruled in favour of the Biangais,
it was for the ownership of land and not for the pl antation.
Landownership is usually through matrilineal descen t. Land
is passed onto a grand-daughter’s son, rather than to a
grandson’s son. If, however, there are only great-g randsons
then land is passed onto the older great-grandson u ntil a
female is born to take on the responsibility of the clan
land. Kinship ties are strengthened in two ways:
1.through marriage to second or third cousins; and
2.through allocation of children to a clan kinship group,
that neither father nor mother belong to but still have
ties with.
There are seven clans of the Wandumi. These are the
Koboalinge, Nanalai, Iwaing, Kawaige, Lemelinge, Ko beu, and
Luwaini (Note - Figure 7.6 corresponds with Table 7 .5).
Table 7.5 Wandumi Clan Membership & Others Clans Number of Respondents Percentage (%) Koboalinge 7 18.4 Nanalai 2 5.3 Iwaing 3 7.9 Kawaige 5 13.2 Lemelinge 3 7.9 Kobeu 5 13.2 Luwaini 3 7.9 Morobeans (From Morobe Province)
7 18.4
Others (From other Province)
3 7.9
The village population also consists of people from other
parts of the Province and the country (Table 7.5). In most
PNG societies, a woman marries into the man’s clan and,
therefore, she is expected to move to her husband’s home
village to live permanently. However, in Wandumi wo men are
strongly advised to return with their husbands to e nsure
that clan land is secure.
130
Languages
Although Biangai is the local language, many speak more than
two languages. Table 7.6 provides an indication of the
number of languages spoken and the language most of ten used
in the family.
A common trend in most societies in PNG is the exte nsive use
of Tok Pisin in everyday conversation compared to t he local
language. Although Wandumi is not considered an urb an
village such as Hanuabada in the Central Province, and
Malaguna in the ENB Province, 37 out of 38 househol ds
interviewed use Tok Pisin as their everyday languag e. Of the
37 households, 12 households also use Biangai, howe ver this
is determined by whom they are conversing with. For example,
where a home has older members, they tend to prefer Biangai
to Tok Pisin.
Table 7.6 Most used language Number of Languages Persons Biangai
Tok Pisin English Yabim Others
Languages known
31 38 13 6 14
Language most often used
12 37 3 Nil 1
Traditional Skills and craft
Passing on traditional skills and crafts comprises an
important aspect of non-formal education in traditi onal PNG
societies. Skills are passed on from father to son and from
mothers to their daughters. In assessing the skills that
parents have, against the skills that children have , it is
possible to make general comments on the status of the
various traditional skills and crafts as shown in T able 7.7.
Firstly, there are skills which are gender specific such as
hunting, building and the making of bows and arrows for the
131
men and the boys. Bilum making is exclusively the
responsibility of the mothers and their daughters. Secondly,
there are non-specific gender skills such as garden ing, the
art of story telling and fishing. However, the art of story
telling is fast dying out as less than a quarter of children
take part in storytelling, compared to around 70 pe r cent of
adults who practise this art. A similar trend is ev ident in
the skill of making bows and arrows where 30 per ce nt of
male children have learnt the skill, compared to 70 per cent
of the adult male population who are skilled. Conve rsely,
100 per cent of female children are taught the craf t of
bilum making.
Table 7.7 Traditional skills and crafts Skills/ Craft
Father Mother Sons Daughters
Weaving (basket)
2
Bilum (string bag)
32 30
Bows/ arrows 22 9 Garden skills
32 31 30 25
Hunting skills
21 1 16 4
Fishing skills
19 12 27 19
Story telling
24 19 3 4
Building skills
29 2 20
Others 3 Note:
The SoE questionnaires allow actual figures to be d erived for the number of mothers,
fathers, male and female children.
Total number of fathers - 32
Total number of mothers - 32
Total number of sons-30
Total number of daughters –30
Education status
Two types of formal education, the ‘tok ples skul’ and the
Australian curriculum schools are available to the Wandumi.
The tok ples skuls were run by the Lutheran Mission and
132
taught in Yabim, a language used extensively in the Morobe
Province by the Mission. The Australian curriculum schools
are taught in the English language, and although to kples
skuls are becoming an important interface between t he formal
and informal education in other parts of the Countr y, it is
not so in Wandumi. Because the Seventh Day Adventis t (SDA)
Church conducts most of these schools through their literacy
programs, the absence of tokples skuls may be direc tly
related to the absence of an established SDA church in the
Village.
Table 7.8 Type of School Completed by Age Group of Respondents Age Group
Tok Ples
H/Sc Voc/ Tech. Seminary
colleges (T Col, Nurse col)
Uni No schooling
18-25 1 3 26-30 3 31-35 1 1 1 36-40 1 2 41-50 1 1 50 + 5 1 Note: 1. Children who only reach grade 7, 8 or 9 are conside red as completing the primary level
of education and not secondary.
Although formal education has become more available , 16 per
cent of the population within the younger age brack et have
no formal education. Corresponding with the influen ce of the
early missionaries, most of the older age bracket o f 41 and
over has attended tok ples skuls. A similar percent age has
had no formal education in either the tok ples skul s or the
English schools (Table 7.8).
Although the same number of females and males compl eted
secondary school, more females have completed colle ge and
university levels. Conversely, the number of male c hildren
that have completed primary level is higher than th e number
of female children (Table 7.9).
133
Table 7.9 Type of School by Gender Age Type of School completed by children of respon dents
(%) Group
Tok Ples Comm H/Sc Voc/ Tech
coll Uni
Male 31 9 2 Female 22 9 2 6
Religion
Traditionally, most Papua New Guinean societies wer e
animists. However, since the introduction of Christ ianity,
most have embraced the Christian faith. Most of the Wandumi
population belong to the Lutheran Mission, but a sm all
number have been converted to the SDA religion, and another
group has formed the Foursquare Pentecostal church. Although
Christianity has been accepted, sorcery still plays an
important part in the lives of the people. One reas on given
by several members of the village to explain why ma ny
business ventures have failed is because their trad itional
enemies placed a curse on them. Church and involvem ent in
church activities play an important part in the liv es of the
people, as do traditional beliefs in the life of an average
Biangai. Table 7.10 indicates the type of activitie s that
respondents are involved in.
Table 7.10 Non Income Activities Activities
No. Of Respondents % of Population
Community day 37 97 Liaison/mediation duties 16 42 Social education 17 45 Gardening 22 58 Customary 22 58 Church 35 92
More than 90 per cent of the village are involved i n
community and church related activities, followed b y
gardening and customary activities. However, when a sked to
134
choose between church activities and customary acti vities,
more than 68 per cent choose church over customary and
customary activities over forestry activities. Only 23 per
cent choose forestry over customary activities (Tab le 7.11).
Therefore, from these tables it is obvious that, wh en faced
with choices, church and customary activities take
precedence over forestry activities.
Table 7.11 Choice of Activities Choices Custom Church Forestry Not Sure
Custom Vs Church
12 26 1
Custom Vs Forestry
26 9 4
Standard of Living
In order to make an assessment on the standard of l iving of
the village, the indicators selected are the dietar y
component of each family and the number of houses b uilt with
roofing iron (Tables 7.12 and 7.13 provide a summar y).
Table 7.12 Weekly Menu Meal Frequency Component
Daily 3-4x 1-2 x
bread & butter 1 27 Rice & protein (either tinned or freezer )
22 10 5
Tea/ coffee 28 5 5 Garden crops 36 2 Note: 1. Fresh chicken was not included in the questionnaire . From Table 7.12, 34 percent of
those sampled have a chicken project. Therefore, a market for live chicken exists within the Village and this may contribute substantially t o a household’s weekly meal. On the other hand, the market for live chicken may be dire ctly correlated with special occasions such as church, customary or school activ ities.
It has become well accepted that rice has become a staple
diet for most PNG households in both rural and urba n areas.
The figures in Table 7.12 confirm the nationwide tr end. More
than 50 per cent of households consume rice on a da ily
135
basis, while 26 per cent have rice at least 3 or 4 times a
week. Garden crops such as sweet potato, yam, taro and
banana are consumed on a daily basis by 97 per cent of the
households. Although rice is becoming an important inclusion
in the diet of an average household, garden crops c onstitute
a significant component of a family’s daily meal. T his may
indicate that:
• the level of income is not sufficient to sustain a total
rice diet;
• although rice tastes good and is more convenient, i t does
not substitute local crops; and,
• people have more time to cultivate gardens.
Table 7.13 Housing Types of Houses
Number of Houses
Fully bush material 25 Semi permanent 21 Fully permanent 12 Note: 1. Fully bush material houses are built totally of bus h materials. The roofing material is
kunai thatch, the walls and flooring from woven bam boo or split palms. 2. Semi-permanent houses are ones with corrugated iron for roofing, while the walls and
flooring are bush material. 3. Fully permanent houses are made from iron roofing, the walls and flooring are of sawn
timber.
Building a bush material house is a major undertaki ng
requiring manpower, building materials and time. Wh ilst in
traditional societies neither of these were scarce today,
building a semi-permanent or permanent house requir es
capital to purchase building materials and time to build. In
Wandumi, more than 43 per cent of houses are still
constructed from bush materials compared with 20 pe rcent
fully permanent houses. Semi-permanent houses make up 36 per
cent. Although the percentage of permanent and semi -
permanent houses was expected to be higher, given t he
economic status of a resource rich village such as Wandumi,
it is surprising that more houses are not of perman ent
material.
Perceptions of Forestry
136
Forestry officers are allocated tasks that are defi ned by
their positions and duty statements. Without such d ocuments
to guide their expectations, a villager’s perceptio n of the
duties of a forestry officer and forestry in genera l is
based on perceptions developed from past contact an d
expectations. As indicated by the responses in Tabl e 7.14,
more than a quarter of the households expect forest ry to
provide basic services such as electricity, water
reticulation and transportation.
Table 7.14 Householders Expectations of Forestry Expectations/ Perceptions Number of
Households % of Households
Provider of basic services (electricity, water & transport)
10 26.3
Forestry to further children’s education
1 2.6
Provide income between harvests 1 2.6 Forestry for children’s future 1 2.6 Forestry business may cause jealousy
1 2.6
Forestry has replaced natural bush
1 2.6
7.3.6 Economic Stock
Household economic activities, based on PNGRIS, are outlined
in Table 7.15. Whilst this covers the whole Biangai
division, and includes Wandumi, Table 7.16 is speci fic to
Wandumi. The household data derived from the SoE in terviews
(Table 7.16) are similar to the PNGRIS data for the Biangai
division (Table 7.15).
More than 90 per cent of households grow garden cro ps
indicating the average household is still subsisten ce
centred. Coffee contributes 86 per cent to a Wandum i
household and 70 per cent in the division. However,
observation of small holder coffee plots around the village
of Wandumi indicates neglect. Furthermore, this obs ervation
calls to question the PNGRIS and the SoE data as to whether
this is an indication of number of households that actually
137
derive benefit from coffee blocks or an indication of
families that own coffee plots, irrespective.
Table 7.15 Small Holder Economic Activity - Divisi on 7: Biangai Total households 274 Activity Household Activity Household No % No % cocoa 0 0 spices 67 26 coffee 191 70 fish 6 2 rubber 0 0 grow others 1 0 oil palm 1 0 pigs 71 42 c’nut/copra 74 45 poultry 48 38 betelnut 87 44 goats 0 0 fruit 227 88 cattle 5 2 banana 241 95 sheep 3 1 veg crop 243 95 raise others 4 11 Adapted from PNGRIS data (1996) Table 7.16 Small Holder Economic Activity - Wandu mi Village
Total households 38 Activity Household No % coffee 33 86.84 garden crops * 34 89.47 chicken 13 34.21 ducks 5 13.15 pigs 3 7.89 goats 0 0 fish 0 0 Village trade store 3 7.89 small scale Gold mining 29 76.31 Note: *garden crops includes banana, sweet potato, yam an d green leafy vegetables such as kru sako (Choko tips), kru pamkin (Pumpkin tips) aibika and various types of beans and cabbages. Source: From Household interviews conducted in Wand umi village from March 1999 -April 1999.
Although the PNGRIS data included more specific liv estock
and agricultural crops, it overlooked the contribut ion of
small-scale mining to household income within the d ivision.
Gold mining plays a significant role in this area, with the
SoE interviews indicating that more than 75 per cen t of
households benefit from small-scale mining. The vil lagers
are aware that large-scale mining may put an end to their
mining activities but, in the meantime, young boys and men
camp from Tuesday to Saturday on the mountains digg ing for
gold. Weekly incomes from gold range from K500.00 t o
K1,000.00, but individuals have been known to make up to
K10,000.00 in a month.
138
Chicken farming contributes more than 30 per cent i n both
the division and in Wandumi. As most villagers do n ot have
trucks to transport their chickens to the market in Wau, the
selling and the consumption of chicken meat is most ly
restricted to the village.
Less than eight per cent are involved in direct for estry
activities such as plantation establishment and ten ding,
compared to more than 39 per cent involved at some stage in
road work, and more than 40 per cent in fire protec tion
(Table 7.17). Consequently, the low percentage in
establishment and tending is directly the result of the
absence of new planting within the past 10 years (R efer to
Table 7.1). However, more than 63 per cent of house holds
have benefited from royalty payments made in 1975, 1976 and
1977 by the PNGFP, and from payment by the NFS for land on
which the Station is currently sited.
Table 7.17 Forestry Income Activities Forestry Activities
No. of Respondents Percentage (%)
Plantation establishment
1 2.63
Tending 2 5.26 Roading & Maintenance 15 39.47 Fire protection 18 47.36 Royalty payment 24 63.16
The reason for the lack of new plantings is the abs ence of
any agreement between the landowners and the State after the
court decision granting ownership of the land to th e
Biangai. Although the court decision defined land o wnership
and plantation ownership, there was no management i nstrument
in place to manage the plantations for the benefit of both
parties.
The drought of 1997/98 forced the issue of the lack of
agreement to the fore when parts of the plantation were
burnt. Consequently, an arrangement was made betwee n NFS and
the landowners of the affected areas to enter into a joint
venture arrangement, resulting in the formation of the NTR.
139
The details, and the instruments of this agreement, are
discussed in the PIA component in chapter 8.
7.4 Conclusion
Wandumi consists of seven clans: the Koboalinge, Na nalai,
Iwaing, Kawaige, Lemelinge, Kobeu and Luwaini. Soci ally,
these clan groups have very stable kinship ties, wh ich are
strengthened through marriage and adoption of clan ties in
which neither parent belongs. Their success in recl aiming
ownership of all their land through the courts ensu red that
the most valuable clan asset remains with them to b e
developed and passed on to the next generation.
Like so many societies in PNG, churches have impose d many
changes on the village and individuals, resulting i n shifts
in values, change in traditional roles and demands on time
that may be used for traditional activities. On the other
hand, churches were instrumental in introducing the first
formal education system. Although aimed at equippin g the
students for missionary work, it also taught them c arpentry,
medical and teaching skills. Furthermore, churches also
created possibilities for women to take on leadersh ip roles
where, traditionally, this has been restricted to m en.
Church run schools have now been replaced with gove rnment
run community and secondary schools, which are acce ssible to
the Biangai. However, 16 per cent of those between 18 and 35
have never attended school. In addition, more femal es have
progressed to college and university compared with males,
although the same number of females and males compl eted
secondary school.
Most Biangais can speak more than two languages.
Unfortunately, Tok Pisin has become the everyday la nguage
for more than 95 per cent of households, indicating a trend
that may result in the loss of an important cultura l element
in Wandumi society. The craft of bilum-making is co mmon in
140
many PNG societies, each with their own specific co lours and
designs, and the Biangais are no exception. Traditi onal
bilums were made from the bark of the tulip tree ( Gnetum
gnemon) and dyed with a natural blue dye. Although more t han
95 per cent of women practise the craft of bilum-ma king,
most use synthetic coloured nylon in place of the t ulip
bark. The elimination of tribal warfare in this par t of the
country, and the availability of pre-packed and can ned
protein has resulted in only 30 per cent of the mal e
children learning to make bows, and arrows, and lea rning to
hunt for game. Furthermore, although story-telling is not
gender specific, it is a dying art, while skills ne eded for
basic everyday living such as gardening and buildin g are
taught to more than 95 per cent of the young genera tion.
Most of the natural montane forests have been repla ced with
grassland and plantations. Although there are remna nts of
natural forests, these are not easily accessible. A nimal
life in plantation areas is limited to wild pigs,
cassowaries (muruks) and bandicoots ( mumut). Most birds are
found in the natural forests and, although birds ar e
noticeable in mature plantations, they are displace d by
logging for a longer period than other animals. Whi le birds
are able to move with the receding natural forests, forest
products derived from leaves, barks, roots and frui ts of
plants are replaced by either grassland or a monocu ltural
crop of trees. Nonetheless, a major benefit of fore stry
development, acknowledged by more than 90 per cent of the
respondents, is the construction of feeder roads. A lthough
the construction of these roads has been primarily for the
management of the plantations, it has linked Wandum i with
the Kaiwa, whom the Wandumi refer to as the mountai n people,
and allowed access to gardening areas further away from the
village. Most are aware that the Bulolo River is hi ghly
polluted, but many understand the benefits of fores ted land
and clean water.
141
The Biangais have three major sources of income: go ld,
coffee and timber, in addition to subsistence crops . Gold is
currently the most important source of income for m ore than
76 per cent of households. Although more than 86 pe r cent of
households have coffee plots, income from coffee is
seasonal, while gold is available all year. Almost half of
the village houses are still constructed entirely o f natural
materials; electricity is not available to a single house in
the village; water has to be fetched; no Public Mot or
Vehicle (PMV) is available from the village and the nearest
community school is one hours walking distance away .
Although most households include rice as a staple f ood,
garden crops remain an important dietary component for more
than 95 per cent of households.
Attempts have been made in the past to bring econom ic
development through the establishment of a cooperat ive,
which lasted for five years, and through Wandumi Ho ldings,
which has also ceased operation. This has raised qu estions
as to why undertakings such as the cooperative and Wandumi
Holdings were not able to operate for a long period . Some
locals blame the curse and others see it as a lack of proper
management. The latter group has set out to prove t hat, with
good management, a company can be successful.
Forestry and forestry related activities are rated last on a
list of choices between church and customary activi ties.
Nonetheless, more than 30 per cent of respondents p erceive
forestry as a service provider and, therefore, cons ider that
forestry has failed to perform to their expectation s.
General remarks during the period of the study also confirm
this perception. Only five per cent perceive forest ry as a
long-term activity, while two per cent feel that fo restry
activity, such as the NTR sawmill business, will cr eate dis-
harmony within the clans. A further two per cent se e
forestry as replacing the natural forests. These
142
expectations raise questions about the interest in, and
commitment to forestry in the study area.
144
CHAPTER 8
POLICY IMPACT ASSESSMENT
"SECTION 57"
8.1 INTRODUCTION
The Policy Impact Assessment (PIA) component of the
Environmental Audit framework allows the assessment of the
success or failure of Section 57 of the Forestry Act (1992). It
relates to landowner participation, which is furthe r detailed
in the Forest Policy (1992). The assessment is twofold.
Firstly, it ascertains whether Nakokai Timber Resou rces (NTR)
has complied with Section 57 and, secondly, whether compliance
has contributed to the sustainable livelihood of Wa ndumi.
However, to establish an understanding of how polic y
development in PNG has evolved to address the issue of
landowner participation, a brief historical discuss ion begins
from the colonial to the post Barnett era. In addit ion, the
rest of this chapter discusses the process, problem s
encountered and benefits derived from the NTR ventu re,
concluding with statements on the likelihood of ach ieving
sustainability.
8.2 INCREASING LANDOWNER PARTICIPATION
Policies are dynamic courses of action usually inst igated by
government in response to internal and external fac tors. The
development of forest policy in PNG has gone throug h its share
of metamorphosis, from the colonial period to the p resent time.
However, one factor causing change in policy remain s to this
day - participation of landowners in the developmen t and
equitable distribution of benefits from the use of forest
resources.
145
Without the appropriate policy or policy instrument s to provide
the means for landowners to meaningfully participat e, they will
continue to be rent collectors and bystanders waiti ng for the
delivery of essential services to their area (Meg T aylor -
cited in Filer & Sekhran 1998). Furthermore, landow ner problems
will continue to plague the forest industry, causin g losses to
both the government and developers. Although some o f the
actions instigated by landowners in their bid to co mmunicate
their dis-satisfaction may seem extreme, such actio ns are not
unique to PNG landowners. For example, villagers in Thailand
protested and caused an indefinite suspension of lo gs from
their area when intervention by their government wa s not
forthcoming. Villagers in Sarawak blockaded roads t o prevent
any more logging damage to their environment, and i n the
Solomon Islands, sabotage of equipment owned by a l ogging
company resulted in the company leaving the country (Lamb 1990;
Filer & Sekhran 1998).
8.2.1 Colonial Forest Policy
Prior to WWII, economic development was relatively slow for the
whole Territory. However, this was not the case wit h the Wau/
Bulolo, although how much of this development benef ited the
landowners is a contentious issue. For various reas ons the pace
of development increased after the Second World War . In 1951,
the Territories Minister PC Spender made the first official
statement on forest policy, which was:
1.to locate, assess, and regulate the availabilitie s of the
natural forest resources of the Territory so as to bring them
within reach of development;
2.afford a reasonable encouragement for the investm ent of
private capital in the development of these resourc es; and to
3.ensure that the indigenes of PNG were able to par ticipate to
an ever increasing extent in the fruits of this dev elopment
146
By the time the first policy statement was made, BG D and NGG
had both established sawmill operations in Bulolo a nd Wau,
respectively. Consequently, the importance of timbe r as an
export commodity was established before the stateme nt was
released in the Australian parliament. When Hasluck became the
Territories Minister, his attitude was one of cauti ousness.
Although Hasluck was instrumental in announcing the first
Forest Policy in 1957 (refer to Chapter 5.4.3), he believed
that if exploitation should take place, economic de velopment
should go hand in hand with social development. His cautious
approach was evident when, even after two years of detailed
studies to locate, assess and regulate the resource s, he was
not prepared to allow exploitation of resources whe re very
little technical information was available (Porter 1993; Lamb
1993; Waiko 1993).
On the other hand, when Hasluck commissioned the 19 64 World
Bank Report, little did he realise that his views o f gradualism
and uniformism would be considered no longer approp riate by the
recommendations in the report. The recommendations of the
report were accepted by Hasluck’s successor, C E Ba rnes.
Consequently, resource and ecological surveys were conducted,
and the pace of development increased, leaving some areas
behind. TRP agreements ensured that the resource ow ners were
not party to planning and decision-making processes concerning
the exploitation of their resources. Consequently, landowner
participation was limited to granting the State the resource
rights, which was subsequently transferred to a log ging
company.
8.2.2 Current Legislation
147
At independence in 1975, the legislation governing forest
resource use was the Forestry Private Dealings Act (1971) and
the Forestry Act of (1973). As a result of the recommendations
of the Barnett Commission of Inquiry, and recommend ations by
the World Bank Review (1990), a new Forestry Act wa s tabled in
1991 and gazetted in 1992, and superseded the Private Dealings
Act , the Forestry Act 1973 and the Forest Industry Act 1979 .
The ten parts and the 142 sections of the new Act c orrespond
with the specific policies and strategies in the Revised Forest
Policy (1992). The Revised Forest Policy is divided into five
main parts - Forest Management; Forest Industry; Fo rest
Research; Forest Training and Education, and Forest
Organisation and Administration. The two key object ives of the
Policy are:
1.the management and protection of the nation’s for est
resources as a renewable natural asset; and
2.the harvesting of forest resources to bring about economic
growth, job creation, increased participation of Pa pua New
Guineans in the forest industry and further domesti c
processing.
8.3 INCORPORATED LAND GROUPS (ILGs)
The need to actively involve landowners in the deve lopment of
forest resources is now accepted as an important pr e-requisite
to ensure some level of success. Where landowners a nd
landownership problems were regarded as major imped iments to
forestry by government and developers alike, it is now accepted
that the current ownership system is here to stay. Therefore,
what is needed is policy and policy instruments to encourage
partnership and equitable distribution of the benef its.
LANCOs were encouraged under the TRP agreements as a possible
means to increase participation and dialogue betwee n the
148
landowners, developers and the government. Furtherm ore, LANCOs
were set up as representatives of the landowners to make
decisions on the financial as well as social develo pment of the
landowners in order to improve the livelihood of th e customary
resource owners. However, in reality this was rarel y achieved.
Over the period of 1996 to 1998, a case study of fo ur LANCOs
revealed similar findings as in the Barnett inquiry , but on a
smaller scale in three of the LANCOs studied. Facto rs
identified in the Romaso (1999) case study identifi ed some of
the contributing factors to LANCO failure as:
• shareholding in LANCOs failed to reflect actual res ource
ownership;
• landowner’s lack of vision and, therefore, failure to
transmit direction to LANCO’s executives;
• high level of corruption practiced by loggers on LA NCOs;
• lack of management and business skills within the L ANCOs;
• lack of definition of roles and responsibilities of the
Board of Directors of LANCOs;
• lack of support from government organisations, espe cially
the NFS and support organisations such as the Depar tment of
Commerce and the Department of Agriculture and Live stock
(DAL); and
• conflicting perceptions of the role of the differen t
stakeholders.
Generally, LANCOs have not been successful in achie ving the
objectives hoped for. Therefore with the changes in troduced by
the current Act and Policy, ILGs are seen an improv ement on
LANCOs. Nonetheless, they do not replace LANCOs but address
some of their shortcomings, increasing and improvin g
participation by the rightful resource owners.
149
Under section 57 of the new Forestry Act, it is a r equirement
that, before a FMA is made, the title of the landow ners must
be:
• vested in a land group or groups under the Land Gro ups
Incorporation Act; or
• registered under a law providing for the registrati on of
title to customary land, except where it is impract ical to do
so; or
• at least 75 per cent of customary resource owners i n each
clan owning timber affected by the agreement must g ive their
written consent to the Agreement.
Of the three options, ILGs are the option currently available
and extensively encouraged by NFS. ILGs have two ma in aims:
1.to enable customary landowning groups to be recog nised as
legal corporate entities (similar to recognition of companies
as legal persons); and
2.to provide for the manner in which the groups dea l with their
customary land and resources, so that the dealings will be
recognised by law.
Where ILGs have formed, the group, rather than indi vidual
landowners, become party to any FMA thereby, removi ng the need
for agents to be representatives of the landowners.
The establishment of ILGs fulfils the requirements of section
57 of the Act and subsequent sections in the Forest Policy.
However, the legislative framework for ILGs is The Land Groups
Incorporation Act (1974) . The Act provides a simple process for
ILGs, which involves the preparation of a group con stitution,
application for incorporation, and sets out the pow ers of the
group after incorporation. In addition, it deals wi th
settlement of disputes within land groups therefore , providing
a legal structure for landowning group to;
150
• manage its own internal affairs and make binding de cisions;
and
• to enter into legally binding agreements with the o utside
world.
Any internal disputes are handled by custom, while the group’s
relations with the outside are governed by the Act. The Act is
flexible enough to allow part only of a customary g roup or more
than one customary group to form an ILG. Basically, the group
is the group according to the local custom, owns th e land and
can make decisions over the use of land without hav ing to
consult another group, provided the boundaries have been agreed
to by all parties. In effect, the ILG Act is the in terface
between the traditional laws governing ownership an d the modern
law governing resource use.
ILGs involve members of a land group, different lan d groups,
village communities and facilitators. Where possibl e,
facilitators and data collectors are drawn from the land owning
groups and provided with sufficient training to fac ilitate and
collect genealogical data. The process of incorpora tion
involves the following basic steps;
1.preparation of a constitution;
2.application to the registrar of companies;
3.notification and publicity;
4.consideration of any comments; and
5.incorporation.
(These steps are clearly set out in the manual on l and group
incorporation in English, Tok Pisin and Motu - by N FA under the
Resource owner Involvement component of the World B ank
administered Forest Management and Planning Project (FMPP)).
151
During the course of establishing boundaries and ge nealogies,
neighbouring customary groups are consulted to reso lve the
boundaries of their respective areas of land. This ensures that
landownership issues are resolved before a project commences,
thereby reducing the risk of disruptions, and allow ing
identification of groups who wish to keep their for ests intact.
An area under dispute can either be, excluded from operations
until the dispute is resolved or proceed on the und erstanding
that the royalties are kept in trust.
ILG is an instrument developed to operationalise a key
objective of the forest policy. Compared to previou s LANCOs,
ILGs have direct rights and powers over the group’s customary
land and, therefore, the safest and strongest form of landowner
companies are those whose shares are held by ILGs. Because ILGs
are clear controllers of the group’s land, landowne r companies
that evolve from ILGs are truly a landowner company in the
strict sense of resource ownership. However, underl ying LANCOs,
ILGs or any other future instruments, there must pr evail,
amongst all stakeholders, an ethical responsibility and moral
obligation to ensure the principles of sustainabili ty and
sustainable livelihoods remain the driving principl es.
8.4 NAKOKAI TIMBER RESOURCES LTD (NTR)
8.4.1 The Beginning
The setting up of NTR is not the first attempt by t he Biangais
to establish business ventures. Under Wandumi Holdi ngs Pty Ltd,
trade stores, coffee plantations, cattle and agricu ltural
businesses were established in the early 1980s. By the mid
1990s, the Bank had forfeited all assets belonging to the
company, including agricultural land. The seven cla ns that
constitute Wandumi Village owned Wandumi Holdings.
152
Consequently, its downfall raised questions for the
shareholders, and possibly destroyed any business c onfidence
they had. It was vital for the Biangais to discuss the reasons
for the failure before moving into new ventures. So me of the
reasons identified were:
• many clans were represented in the company resultin g in
conflicting and competitive views;
• the Board of Directors (BOD) consisted of people wi th nil or
very little education and business experience;
• undue pressure placed on management by members to f ulfil
social obligations of the village; and
• purported curse placed on the village by traditiona l enemies
(Chapt.7).
Having established some of the reasons for failure, the
landowners arrived at the following decisions. Any new business
venture should:
• be restricted to some clans;
• no pressure should be placed on management to fulfi l social
obligations of the village;
• that the business should seek professional business help;
• that the BOD should include business expertise;
• that the NFS should be called upon for technical ex pertise;
• that the BOD should remain small; and
• that proper bookkeeping records should be kept and annual
returns lodged with the Investment Promotion Author ity
(IPA).
Although the Biangais lost confidence after the col lapse of
Wandumi Holdings, they saw the opportunity to enter another
venture with the added advantage of lessons learnt from the
past.
153
In early 1997, representatives of the four clans of Nanalai,
Koboalinge, Kawaige and Iwaing sought help from the Bulolo/Wau
NFS office. Since their land had been returned to t hem, but not
the trees, in what ways could they benefit from thi s
arrangement?
Upon the request of the Manager of the plantations, the AusAID
funded PNG Forestry HRD project responded to the re quest to
assist the landowners. Initially, visits conducted by Kum-Gie
Consults (KGC) (as the service provider) to Wandumi was aimed
to:
1.establish contact with the elders and members of the four
clans;
2.confirm leadership of the clans;
3.confirm the status of the landownership;
4.assess the status of NFS in relation to the lando wners;
5.assess the needs of the landowners;
6.facilitate in the assessment of the Wandumi Holdi ngs failure
and identify the pitfalls to be avoided; and
7.begin the process of ILG.
In October 1997, a business-planning workshop was c onducted by
KGC at the request of the four clans. The workshop resulted in
a business plan, which was presented to the NFS hea dquarters
for approval. During the same period, KGC assisted the four
clans to register NTR. Nakokai constitutes the firs t two
letters of the three clans, Nanalai (Na), Koboaling e (Ko),
Kawaige (Ka), and the first letter of Iwaing (I). A ccording to
Kawi (refer to chapter 7), Nakokai also means one v oice or one
person.
NTR was established through the process of ILG and is a
recognised business entity by the IPA. It is 100 pe r cent owned
154
by the four clans, with each clan holding 10,000 sh ares. The
BOD consists of a Director, 1 representative from e ach of the
four clans, and 2 outsiders to provide independent input to the
Board. The objectives of the NTR are:
1.to participate in business activities resulting f rom the
harvesting of the pine plantation, planting of new
plantations etc;
2.as a vehicle for implementing development work fo r its
members, improve water supply system, improve educa tional and
health facilities etc; and
3.as a vehicle to facilitate other business opportu nities in
Wau for its members.
During the process of establishing NTR, an importan t change was
the realisation and the gradual acceptance that, fo r the long-
term survivability of any forestry business, NTR an d NFS have
to be partners. In addition, NTR must be prepared t o source and
pay expertise to ensure any success in business. Th erefore, a
joint venture agreement that is currently being dra fted would
be the culmination of this acceptance of partnershi p.
Furthermore, such a change in mind-set not only pav es the way
for other similar arrangements in other parts of th e country,
but also ensures a greater degree of sustainability .
Based on the business plan drafted during the first workshop,
production of sawn timber would form the core activ ity of NTR’s
business. An advance enabled the purchase of one Lu cas mill,
two chainsaws, and K2000.00 working capital on a le ase purchase
basis at the end of 1997. The condition of the adva nce was
clearly stipulated by a written agreement between N TR and NFS.
8.4.2 Sawmill Operations
155
The sawmill employs nine people, an operations mana ger and two
foremen, each with a crew of three. One crew works at the mill
site and the other is the logging crew. Initially, in an effort
to involve as many young people as possible, young men formed
groups and worked monthly shifts, but after four mo nths the
system of monthly rotation stabilised to a permanen t full time
crew of nine on wages. All the employees, except th e sawmill
operator are from Wandumi. The selection criteria a dopted for
employment resulted in:
1. increased consistency in production;
2. better quality sawn timber products;
3. development of management and technical expertise i n those
who wanted to be employed; and
4. allowed the selection to be internally driven, rath er than
externally.
According to the figures provided by the KGC, the s awmill has
been averaging monthly income of PNG K10,000.00 (Ta ble 8.1),
since it began production in 1997. The compartment currently
being logged is IzyDizzy 1B (refer to chapter 7) wh ich consists
of both Hoop and Klinki pines.
TABLE 8.1 MONTHLY INCOME & EXPENDITURE 1998 OUTPUT (cub.m sawn timber)
INCOME (PNGK)
EXPENDITURE (PNGK)
SAVINGS (PNGK)
30 10,000.00 Repay mill 2,000.00
2,000.00
Operational cost 3,000.00
*Payment to NFS for trees. 3,000.00
* payment is made at the rate of K60.00 per cubic. m of sawn timber. Source: Figures provided by KGC 1999.
156
In accepting that one of the contributing factors t o the
downfall of Wandumi Holdings was the lack of busine ss and
management skills, NTR pays for the services of KGC , a local
consultancy firm specialising in small business dev elopment.
All matters of a technical nature are referred to t he NFS
officer on site or to the management at the Bulolo/ Wau Office.
Training conducted has been either identified by th e landowners
themselves or identified through their interaction with KGC and
NFS. For example, the business training workshop co nducted in
late 1997 was requested by the NTR, whilst the chai nsaw and
tree felling training was identified by NFS but con ducted by
the Harvesting and Training Unit (HTU) of the PNG F orestry HRD
project.
8.4.3 Benefits
The small-scale sawmill business of NTR is a new ve nture, yet
the benefits derived from this venture have been ma ny fold.
Firstly, the benefits to the landowners are:
• employment of landowners in logging and timber proc essing;
• benefits from the payment of stumpage fees;
• further employment opportunities in plantation
establishment, maintenance and contract arrangement s;
• future business opportunities developing from Joint Venture
Agreements between NFS and landowners; and
• rebuilding of business and management confidence of both the
old and the young members of the village.
As for NFS, this venture with the NTR enables the e mergence of
a new forestry paradigm - of partnership, dialogue and mutual
trust - between all parties (including service prov iders). It
sets the scene for foresters to realise that forest ry in PNG
goes hand in hand with people, and time is needed t o cultivate
an understanding partnership. As for the AusAID PNG Forestry
157
HRD Project, a positive response to identify and en able a
service provider to fulfil the request of the lando wners was
what the landowners needed to build their confidenc e in
attempting another business venture. Although time scales for
aid projects and for landowner projects are differe nt, the NTR
venture may sustain itself when the HRD project fol ds up after
year 2000 as a result of landowners taking initiati ves.
8.4.4 Problems
The NTR venture has its share of problems, ranging from
operational to managerial, social and financial. A financial
discrepancy during the first 12 months of operation led to the
dismissal of the operations manager by the BOD. A s ituation,
which has led to strained relations between the Dir ectors and
the former manager.
The after-sales service and maintenance of the mill and
chainsaws is lacking, resulting in down time in pro duction.
During the period of field research, the mill was o ut of
production for a period of two weeks waiting for pa rts for both
chainsaws. In addition to technical constraints, th e bridge was
unusable for up to three months, limiting vehicle a ccess to
smaller capacity trucks.
There is also the problem of sawdust piles. Althoug h many
Wandumi households have chicken projects and use sa wdust, the
amount of sawdust far outweighs the needs of the ch icken
projects in the village. It is not only a fire haza rd but the
mill is currently situated next to a stream where s awdust can
contaminate the water ways. The management of the s awmill is
discussed further in Chapter 9.
158
Socially, some sections of the village community fe el left out
of the venture, especially those from the other thr ee clans.
However, that is not to say that family members of those
represented in NTR are happy with the arrangement e ither. There
was an outburst of anger and abuse directed at both the NFS
officer and the management of the NTR by a younger member of
the clan because he felt left out of the NTR deal. However, his
outburst came after his return from the goldfields, and was
alcohol related. From the response by the NFS offic er at the
Station, and other villagers, this is not the first time that
such outbursts have occurred.
On a more subtle level, a further area of concern i s the
dependency of NTR on key individuals within the NFS , KGC and
the Forestry HRD Project. The implications of this dependency
was highlighted when Dick McCarthy (HRD Project) wa s relocated
from Lae to Port Moresby causing delays in business training
and discontinuity in communications between NFS-Bul olo/Wau and
HRD. The issue of dependency raises the question of NTR’s
ability to stand alone if other key supports are un able to
continue their involvement with the NTR venture.
8.5 CONCLUSION
NTR is a landowner company established through ILGs , so
ownership of both the business and the land on whic h the
plantation resources are located has been establish ed beyond
doubt. Although the actual time from the business w orkshop to
the purchase of the mill was approximately nine mon ths, the
process of establishing the ILGs only took up one t enth of this
time. This is excellent, considering ILGs can be a long drawn
out process, and this achievement can be attributed to the
strong and secure kinship ties in Wandumi society ( refer to
7.3.5 & 7.4). Furthermore, ILGs establish NTR as a legal
159
business entity, thereby complying with the require ments of
section 57 of the Forestry Act (1992), and Industry strategies
on participation part a (I) and part b (I) of the Forest Policy
(1992).
NTR has a long road ahead, and one that will not be problem
free. Filer and Sekhran (1998) identified some prob lems
associated with governance at national level, and o ne of the
problems they identified is the intense rivalry tha t exists
within the public service. Unfortunately, this is e vident in
the Bulolo/Wau office. This rivalry has been contai ned more or
less by the previous management of NFS, but since t he change as
a result of a major restructuring in early 1999, qu estions
arise on how the current management can contain suc h internal
rivalries. It is also of concern that such ventures as NTR may
end up the losers in the long term. (Further discus sion on the
management and staff of the Bulolo/Wau office is de tailed in
Chapter 10)
It is too early in NTR’s progress to categorically state that
NTR is a successful case of converting Section 57. However, the
indications for success at this stage are positive, provided
circumstances do not change too much. Financially, NTR has
fully paid for the first Lucas portable mill (in Ju ly 1999),
and are considering a second mill. Output will incr ease and
additional crews will be employed. Landownership ha s been
defined, the resources are available, and although resource
ownership is grudgingly accepted, it has been estab lished.
Technical and business expertise is available and, there is a
willingness by the landowners to learn from the pas t in order
to make NTR work. Therefore, when NTR and NFS final ly sign the
joint venture agreement, this will formalise a new partnership,
and hopefully set the stage for a change in the typ e of
relationship between the two key stakeholders in fo restry
160
development. Furthermore, this agreement enables a practical
and workable solution to operationalising Section 5 7, and
making this a policy that works, thereby contributi ng to the
sustainable livelihoods of the people of Wandumi.
161
CHAPTER 9
REVIEW OF INTERNAL PRACTISE (RIP)
"WANDUMI, NTR & NFS"
9.1 INTRODUCTION
Apart from a favourite abbreviation on headstones, RIP or
Review of Internal Practises is the third component of the EA
framework that allows for the review of practices o f the three
stakeholders - Wandumi Village, NTR and NFS - Wau. Table 9.1
forms the core of the review, highlighting the acti vities of
the three stakeholders, how these activities impact on each
other, and whether the impacts are a direct or indi rect
consequence of the activity under review. Supplemen tary to
Table 9.1 is Table 9.2 and related tables and secti ons in
Chapters 7 and 8. The review concludes by drawing a ttention to
potential problems resulting from certain activitie s and their
impacts. Attention is also drawn to the positive co ntribution
of forestry from the perspective of the village.
9.2 STAKEHOLDER ACTIVITIES
Within the context of the EA of Wandumi, there are three key
stakeholders whose activities impact on the Wandumi
environment. Firstly, the Wandumi village; secondly , NTR and
the third stakeholder is the NFS - Wau (which will be referred
to as NFS for the rest of this Chapter). The major activities
of the three stakeholders are listed in Table 9.1, which
illustrates both positive and negative impacts, act ivities of
decreasing importance and, where possible, whether the impact
is a direct result of a certain stakeholder activit y. The
orientation of the arrow indicates the direction of the impact
towards positive or negative.
TABLE 9.1 ACTIVITIES OF WANDUMI, NAKOKAI & NFS
162
ACTIVITY IMPACTS UPON
WANDUMI NTR NFS
Gardening W � � W�� �⌦ W�� ��
Hunting W��� W� �⌦ W���
Fishing W��� W� � W���
Housebuilding W�� W�� � � W��⌦�
Bilum-making W�� W��⌦ W��
Bows & Arrows W� � W��⌦ W��⌦
Comm. day W�� W���� W����
Church
Activities
W�� W���� W����
Gold mining W�� W���� W����
Plantation
establishment
NFS��� NFS�� NFS��
Tending NFS��� NFS�� NFS��
Weed Control NFS�� NFS�� NFS��
Fertilising NFS��⌦ NFS�� NFS��
Road NFS�� NFS�� NFS���
Felling N��� N �� N ���
Skidding N�� N �� N ���
Stack/ Pile Ø N�� N ���
Sawmilling N��� N��� N ����
Training N�� N �� N ��� Note: W - Wandumi NTR - Nakokai NFS - National Forest Service-Wau W� -An activity undertaken by W impacts on other stak eholders � positive impacts W �an activity by another stakeholder impacts on the W andumi activity W�� a Wandumi activity is impacted upon and vice-versa � negative impacts ⌦ indirect impacts Ø nil or minimum impacts � decreasing significance Source: From Household interviews, NFS Reports & Ob servations from March 1998-July 1999.
9.3 INTERNAL PRACTICES OF WANDUMI
9.3.1 Gardening, Fishing, Hunting and House-buildin g
Gardening, fishing, hunting and house-building are livelihood
or subsistence activities. However, whilst gardenin g is an
important activity in 58 per cent of a households ( Table 7.10)
163
and provides for more than 94 per cent of household ’s weekly
meals (Table 7.12), fishing and hunting are less si gnificant.
This may be attributed to:
• greater dependency on tinned and frozen protein sub stitutes;
• fishing is seen as an activity for children (Table 7.7); and
• more time spent on activities such as church, gold mining
and community activities (Tables 7.10 & 7.16).
If this trend continues, fishing and hunting will b ecome less
and less significant for Wandumi households, while mining and
forestry business activities, such as the NTR sawmi ll venture,
increase income per household.
On the other hand, the process of establishing new gardens can
have a direct impact on plantations. Slash and burn is a method
commonly utilised by traditional PNG societies, and the
Biangais are no exception. Most gardens are establi shed
adjacent to plantations, and careless burning has l ed to
plantation losses in the past. Although there are f ire
protection laws, without manpower and active awaren ess by NFS,
enforcement and prosecution
is difficult. The loss of trees, due to garden fire s, further
affects the future plantation resources available t o Nakokai.
TABLE 9.2 NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF FORESTRY
ACTIVITY HOUSEHOLDS PERCENTAGE
Gardening
Uses land close to village 16 42.1
Land not suitable for gardening
after logging
1 2.6
Restricted burning near plantations 4 10.5
Replaced valuable food trees 2 5.2
164
Wildlife
Cause birdlife to move further away 11 2.9
Cause temporary movement of other
animals
1 2.6
Limit available animal life in
plantations to cassowaries, wild
pigs and bandicoots.
9 27.7
Roads
Increase criminal activities 4 10.5
Roads constructed without perm ission
from landowners
1 2.6
Rivers
Increase flooding 1 2.6
Affects fish and eels 8
Introduce chemicals from weedicide
into water system.
1 2.6
Hunting
Limited variety of animal life
available for hunting
5 13.9
Have to travel further to hunt
animals of the natural rainforest
5 13.9
Source: SoE Interview 1999
TABLE 9.3 POSITIVE IMPACTS OF FORESTRY
ACTIVITY HOUSEHOLDS PERCENTAGE
Gardening
No problems with availability of
land
4 10.5
Wildlife
Plantations help maintain wildlife
compared to grassland
9 23.7
Roads
Increase access to clan land 22 57.9
Provides contract work 1 2.6
Provided road link with the Kaiwa 1 2.6
Rivers
No sign of change in quality 1 2.6
Forests improves quality of rivers
and streams
3 7.9
165
Hunting
Okay within plantations 5 13.9
Source: SoE interview 1999
Certain activities of NFS also impact on gardening, and the
single most important activity is the actual establ ishment of
plantations. More than 42 per cent of households st ate that
plantations occupy land that could otherwise be uti lised for
gardening (Table 9.2). Although currently there is sufficient
land for gardening purposes, this land is located a fair
distance from the village, sometimes requiring up t o two hours
walking time. Furthermore, plantation establishment also
affects hunting by limiting the variety of animals to
cassowaries, wild pigs and bandicoots, causing the movement of
birds to natural forest areas, and temporary displa cement of
other animals (Table 9.2). For fishing, although m ore than 25
per cent of respondents correlate flooding and decr easing fish
and eel stocks to forestry (Table 9.2), more than 1 0 per cent
(Table 9.3) see plantations as improving or having no
significant negative impact on the water system.
The low percentage of permanent houses in the villa ge was
previously shown in Table 7.13, but this is likely to change as
a result of the following:
• availability of sawn timber on site;
• peer pressure (at the time of the study, four new buildings
using sawn timber and corrugated roofing were under
construction, three of them as homes and one was th e
Community Centre); and
• increasing income from gold and forestry ventures ( this is
closely linked with peer pressure as more villagers witness
the possibilities of building better homes and resp ond by
channelling available financial household income to building
more permanent homes).
166
As more homes use sawn timber, the need for traditi onal house-
building materials such as poles, twines and thatch will
decrease, thereby offsetting to some extent, the ne gative
impacts of plantations.
9.3.2 Bilums & Bows
Gnetum gnemon, better know as tulip, is a secondary rainforest
plant that grows to more than three metres. The you ng leaves
and seeds are eaten, and the Biangai women use the bark for
bilum twine. The preparation of the bark, and manua lly rolling
the fibre into bilum twine is time consuming. A mon oculture
forest plantation is no substitute for tulip trees but a range
of other factors contribute to the decreasing use o f tulip bark
in bilum-making. Some of these factors include:
• availability of synthetic substitutes;
• time committed to community and church activities;
• accessibility to shops;
• increase in available disposable income; and
• low prices of substitutes.
If all factors remain constant, especially the pric e of
substitute twines, then the impact of plantations o n tulip
trees will be minimised, but if the price of substi tutes
increases without a corresponding increase in dispo sable
income, women will return to greater use of tulip b ark.
Biangais depended on their ability to protect thems elves and
their land from tribal enemies before, and during t he early
part of the colonial administration (ref. Section 7 .3.4). Bows,
arrows and spears formed the most important weapons of warfare
and, consequently, a significant male activity was the
preparation of weapons. However, through the effort s of
colonial administrations and missionaries, Biangai society
today no longer participates in tribal warfare with their
167
traditional enemies, so bow and arrow construction is no longer
an important activity, nor is it a skill that is pa ssed on to
the younger generation (Table 7.7). Because the sta mping out of
tribal warfare is a direct result of colonial and m issionary
contact, the displacement of trees, palms and vines by
plantations cannot be considered as having a direct impact on
the decreasing importance of bows and arrows.
9.3.3 Community, Church and Gold
More than 90 per cent of households are involved in community
and church activities (Table 7.10). This is a posit ive factor
indicating community cohesion and the relative impo rtance of
church in Biangai society. While this is positive f or the
Biangai, forestry related activities are not seen a s important
(Table 7.11). In addition, forestry competes with g oldmining
activities, and this was highlighted in the choices made during
the initial arrangements by NTR regarding working c rews. Where
each crew was to work on a monthly rotation to ensu re broader
participation from the community, these arrangement s fell by
the wayside as more young men chose the goldfields over
sawmilling. On the other hand, having these other a ctivities
has been beneficial to NTR because it provided a sc reening
process, whereby those who are committed to working at the
sawmill have remained, resulting in increased produ ction and
training (section 8.4.2).
9.4 FORESTRY ACTIVITIES
Forestry activities are limited to activities condu cted by the
Wau staff (further discussion on staff and managem ent is
provided in Chapter 10). All activities by NFS, as listed in
Table 9.1, impact positively on Nakokai except for weed
control. Roundup is used extensively as a weed-cont rol measure
around the Station and within the plantations. More than two
168
per cent of the respondents (Table 9.2) raised conc erns
regarding residual chemicals from Roundup in the wa ter system.
However, considering the impact of long term mercur y pollution
from mining activities since the 1930s (Chapt. 7.3. 1) to the
present time, pollution from Roundup residue is tho ught to be
relatively minimal in comparison. On the other han d, if a
greater percentage of households perceive the activ ity of
weedicide spraying as a concern, and although mercu ry pollution
is currently cause for grave concern, NFS may need to take note
and instigate other weed control measures.
Of all the forestry-related activities, more than 5 0 per cent
of respondents identified roads as the most importa nt positive
contribution by forestry (Table 9.3). Although road s are
identified as positive, greater than 10 per cent of respondents
attribute the availability of roads into plantation s as one of
the contributing factors to increased criminal acti vities
(Table 9.2). Furthermore, while gardening and hunti ng
activities have been displaced by plantations, the road network
provides access to gardens and hunting sites thereb y offsetting
to some extent the negative impacts highlighted by more than 42
per cent of households (refer to 9.21 & Table 9.2).
9.5 INTERNAL PRACTICES OF NTR SAWMILL
The core activity of NTR, as outlined in their busi ness plan,
is sawmilling and this includes the following: fell ing,
skidding, milling, stacking and training (Table 9.1 ). Although
NTR is recognised as a business entity in its own r ight
(section 8.4), it is perceived as an extension of N FS. Because
of the close working partnership and the need to ma intain this
closeness, this perception will prevail for some ti me. As NTR
fulfils its objectives, and provides the means to b ring
development to the community, this perception will be replaced
with increasing acceptance of NTR as an entity in i ts own
169
right. While this perception of NTR persists within the general
community, NFS is more likely to be associated with , and held
accountable for negative impacts from milling opera tions. For
example, although sawdust is produced by sawmilling activity,
Wandumi will perceive any sawdust fires or contamin ation of
waterways as an NFS problem. Conversely, if NTR pro ves
successful in bringing benefits to the community, N FS stands to
gain collateral kudos, thus improving the image of NFS.
Although skidding is referred to as an activity und ertaken by
NTR, no large machinery is utilised in the movement of logs
from felling to the milling site. Instead, the logg ing crew
uses the natural slope of the Izzy Dizzy compartmen t to move
logs to the sawmill, which is located down-slope fr om the
current logging area. This form of log movement min imises many
of the destructive impacts of conventional logging and keeps
the overhead costs of harvesting to a minimum. Furt hermore, by
minimising harvesting impacts, future development b y any of the
three stakeholders should not be impaired by poor s oil quality.
9.6 CONCLUSION
Almost all the activities of the three stakeholders impact on
one another, and although the review does not analy se the
intensity, or the extent of these impacts, it highl ights
certain issues that affect forest resource use and development.
As discussed in Chapter 8, a change in paradigm is occurring
between Nakokai and NFS as they develop a partnersh ip. However,
because of this relationship and the general percep tion of the
community, NFS should be aware of potential impacts which may
lead to serious health and environmental problems a nd, where
possible, instigate measures to abate such impacts. Two
activities that need attention are the by-product o f milling -
sawdust, and residue from Roundup weed spray. Apart from
raising general awareness in the community about ho w saw dust
can be disposed of or utilised, where, how and what should be
170
done so the dangers are minimised should also be ad dressed. In
the case of the weedicide residue, is there a cause for concern
for the community, and if it is or isn’t, what is t he best plan
of action to prevent further mis-perceptions, or fu ture
concerns?
Biangais still enjoy a subsistence existence as ind icated by
their involvement in subsistence activities of gard ening,
hunting, fishing and house building. However, chang es have
occurred and will occur as the Village of Wandumi s trives for
better houses, and use more convenient canned food and frozen
goods. The impact of forest plantations on these ac tivities
will be less significant as NTR makes a success of the
sawmilling venture and fulfils its obligations to t he
community. Activities such as bows and arrows will disappear or
become a tourist activity. However, while bilum mak ing as a
craft form is still very much alive amongst the Bia ngai women,
more convenient substitutes have replaced the natur al tulip
fibre and, therefore, although plantation forests h ave
displaced the tulip tree, this is offset by synthet ic
substitutes.
Although more than two per cent of the respondents identified
associated social costs such as increased criminal activities
and potential environmental costs due to weedicide usage, more
than 50 per cent of the respondents identified road s as the
most important development by forestry. Furthermore ,
construction and maintenance of roads offsets some of the
negative impacts of forestry on village activities such as
gardening, hunting and fishing. It also provides an alternative
link with Wau on occasions when the main access is affected by
flooding.
172
CHAPTER 10
MANAGEMENT AUDIT (MA)
"PEOPLE LINK"
10.1 INTRODUCTION
The MA concerns the ‘people links’: establishing th e links
within the key management unit of the Bulolo/Wau Pl antations
and links with other organisations and agencies. Th e
organisational structures of the National Forest Au thority
before and after the major restructuring exercise i n May 1999
are briefly discussed in relation to the Bulolo/Wau Section,
and the move to commercialise the operations. Furth er
discussion focuses on matrixes derived from questio nnaires
used in this Chapter (see Appendix II). Each matrix is
followed by a discussion highlighting strong and we ak
linkages within and outside the key audit unit. The audit
ends with a discussion on issues of management sign ificance
and the possible implications for NFS.
10.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE MA
The MA conducted in this case study does not aim to provide
answers to any weaknesses the audit may uncover. Ra ther, it
attempts to pursue three objectives. Firstly, to es tablish
the intra-links between the management, supervisors and
officers of the Bulolo/Wau Office, and the inter-li nks
between Bulolo/Wau Office and divisions of NFS, oth er
agencies and LANCOs, especially from Wandumi. Secon dly, the
MA highlights areas of strong and weak linkage and thirdly,
raising issues of management significance, especial ly in
relation to the future of joint venture agreements with NTR.
Although official clearance was granted from the Ma naging
Director, the General Manager of NFS, and the Manag er of
Plantations, followed by subsequent discussion duri ng a staff
173
meeting prior to the field study, the response from staff was
below initial expectations. Some reasons for the lo w response
include:
• major restructuring of the NFS in response to the 1 999
budget constraints, which led to increased uncertai nty and
decreasing staff morale. While the Bulolo/Wau staff
continued with their duties, there was a marked sen se of
uncertainty prevailing up until the final restructu ring
was announced in May 1999;
• animosity directed at the Manager of Plantations; a nd
• gender bias.
Consequently, only seven out of 15 questionnaires w ere
returned, and one of the seven was incomplete. The returned
questionnaires were supplemented with open intervie ws with
several of the senior staff, along with observation s during
the field study and previous contact.
10.3 NATIONAL FOREST SERVICE (NFS)
One result of the Barnett inquiry and, subsequently , the
Forestry Act (1992) was the establishment of the NFS from the
Department of Forests (DoF). Two key changes were t he
establishment of the National Forest Board and the position
of the Managing Director. It was hoped that by esta blishing a
Board, decision-making would be vested in a collect ion of
people rather than an individual. However, the appo intment of
the Managing Director is still a political appointm ent.
Nonetheless, this change has allowed a wider involv ement of
key stakeholders. The corporate structure of the NF S at the
time of the audit is provided in Figure 10.1. The n ew
structure as a result of the re-structuring in May 1999 is
provided in Figure 10.2.
174
Figure 10.1 Structure of National Forest Authority - Before May 1999
175
Figure 10.2 Structure of the National Forest Author ity – After May 1999
10.4 BULOLO/WAU PLANTATION
176
The Bulolo/Wau Plantations was one of the three sec tions
within the Reforestation and Extension Division (Fi g.10.1),
and the only successful money making venture within the NFS.
Under the R&E division the total staff of 77 compri ses of an
assistant manager, six supervisors, five officers, and the
remaining are wageworkers and trainees (Fig.10.3). In the
absence of the Assistant Manager, the Silviculture and
Inventory supervisor acts on the Assistant Manager’ s
position. More than 90 per cent of the officers are graduates
of the Bulolo University College (BUC) (formerly Bu lolo
Forestry College). Although the plantations had bee n
operating as a commercial venture for three years, at the
time of the audit, it was officially recognised und er the new
structure as a commercial venture within NFS (Fig 1 0.2).
While there is cautiousness (Box 10.1) for others l ike Togo,
there is a willingness to embrace the changes (Box 10.2),
Box 10.1 Changes from Nick’s Perspective. Nick has worked as a Forester for 10 years in the v arious fields of forestry. When asked about the changes taking place with Bulolo/Wau, he says.."Naturally, we all resist change for fear of losing our jobs and security but as we move along with change, we find that it is not that bad". Box 10.2 Changes from Togo’s perspective. Togo is one of the longest serving staff of Bulolo/ Wau with 27 years of forestry experience. When asked how has forestry de veloped during this period, he responds..’During the colonial period, o ur training from the Bulolo Forestry School (now BUC) equipped us for al l aspects of forestry work from plantation establishment, roads and inven tories to fire protection. Resources were sufficient to ensure tha t all aspects of forestry were developed however, when the responsib ility was passed to Provincial Governments after independence, plantati ons such as Bulolo/Wau were neglected. The change to a statutory body has seen an improvement in the management of plantations. Now, there are more changes due to the commercialisation of the Bulolo/Wau plantations whi ch is creating insecurity amongst the staff but we must be willing to give this change a chance. Give more confidence to landowners, and for esters within the new structure must all be willing to do their job prope rly to bring positive change in forestry development’.
Source: From open Interviews – June 1999
177
Figure 10.3 Structure of Bulolo/ Wau Section - Befo re May 1999
10.4.1 Intra and Inter links
Table 10.1 Links between Bulolo/Wau and various Di visions of NFS NFS DIVISIONS BULOLO/ WAU PLANTATIONS MANAGER/ SUPERVISORS OFFICERS A/Man S&I Est. F&R Wau F&R Wau
178
For. Ministry AN MD AN Policy Sec AN GM AN AN Finance & Ad AN AN AN O & D AN AN AN AN Operations-HQ AN AN Southern Momase AN Highlands
AN AN AN
NGI AN Planning AN AN Res. Man. R & E AN AN AN AN AN AN AN FRI AN AN AN AN ITTO Proj. AN JICA Proj AN AN AusAID HRD AN AN AN M KEY Never AN As Needed M Monthly Note: The three projects-ITTO, JICA and AusAid HRD projec ts are not divisions or sections of NFS, but they conduct collaborative research and trainin g in conjunction with NFS. From Management Audit Questionnaires- October 1998 to July 1999
Generally, there is good contact with the Division of
Reforestation and Extension (R&E) by the Management , the
Supervisors and officers. Contact is also maintaine d with
certain other divisions by some supervisors (Table 10.1). For
example, while the Establishment (Est) supervisor d oes not
have contact with other divisions except the R & E, the Fire
& Roading (F&R) supervisor has contact with the Ope rations
division and the Highlands division, and Supervisor Wau has
contact with Organisation and Development (O&D), an d the
Planning division. The question is whether this is an
indication of one or a combination of the following :
• staff not satisfied with responses from Divisional
Management on matters relating to their duties and,
therefore, going beyond their immediate supervisors ;
• point of contact with headquarters;
• a key link to other divisions;
179
• the establishment supervisor is satisfied with his working
environment and management’s response to work relat ed
matters and, therefore, has no need to contact othe r
divisions; or
• supervisor establishment too busy with actual plant ation
establishment to pursue contact with other division s even
if there is an underlying dissatisfaction.
Of the three donor funded projects, the Forestry Au sAID HRD
Project has more contact with Management and Superv isors of
Bulolo/Wau, compared with the ITTO Growth and Yield Project
and the Japan Inter Cooperation Agency (JICA). This is a
result of the different spheres of involvement each agency is
involved with in Forestry. While the ITTO project is focused
on collecting data from logged over natural forests , JICA’s
research is closely aligned with the Forest Researc h
Institute (FRI). Therefore, their research and invo lvement
with Bulolo/Wau is similar to FRI where contact is limited to
the Manager and the F&R Supervisor. A final observa tion from
Table 10.1 is the contact by both the A/Manager and the
Supervisor S&R with the Highlands Region, which is expected.
However, while the Manager does not have any contac t with the
New Guinea Islands (NGI), supervisor S&I has contac t on an
‘as needed basis’.
Table10.2 Bulolo/Wau and other Agencies OTHER AGENCIES
RESPONDENTS: BULOLO/ WAU PLANTATIONS
MANAGER/ SUPERVISORS OFFICERS A/Man S&I Est. F&R Wau F&R Wau PNGFP AN AN AN AN AN LANCOs AN Commerce/ Ind AN N AN BUC AN AN AN AN AN DEC DPI AN AN Comm.Dev AN Others AN M KEY
180
Daily Weekly Never AN As Needed Abbreviations PNGFP PNG Forest Products A/Man Assistant Manager LANCOs Landowner Companies S&I Silviculture & In BUC Bulolo University College Est Establishment DEC Department of Environment and
Conservation F&R Fire & Roading
Comm.Dev Community Development DPI Department of Primary Industry From Management Audit Questionnaires –October 1998 to July 1999
The following observations are made from Table 10.2 in
relation to contact with other agencies. The lack o f contact
with the DEC by the A/Manager, supervisors or offic ers may be
due to:
• the absence of a district DEC officer; and
• the primary function of plantations for wood produc tion,
and not conservation.
In addition, contact with Department of Primary Ind ustry
(DPI) and Community Development (Comm.Dev) is limit ed to an
‘as needed’ basis with the A/Manager and Supervisor -Wau.
The A/Manager maintains daily contact with the PNGF P, while
the all supervisors have contact on an ‘as needed’ basis.
This high level of contact is expected because the PNGFP is
the only contractor with long-term contracts with N FS to log
the Bulolo plantations.
Table10.3 Bulolo/Wau and Wandumi Landowners/ Village reps
Bulolo/ Wau Staff
Manager/ Supervisors Officers A/Man S&I Est. F &R Wau F&R Wau LANCO-D LANCO-DD LANCO-Sec. LANCO-Mem. Vill.Elder Ch. Elder Women’s Rep. Wandumi Emp
181
KEY Contact Non
Contact ABBREVIATIONS: LANCO-D Landowner Company
Director LANCO-mem. Member
LANCO-DD Deputy Director Vill.elder Village elder LANCO-Sec Secretary Ch.elder Church elder From Management Audit Questionnaires – October 1998 -July 1999
While it is not surprising to note the weekly conta ct
maintained by the A/Manager and Supervisor-Wau with
landowners, the lack of contact between Supervisor- S&I and
landowners raises the following questions:
• in the absence of the A/Manager, who maintains cont act
with landowners and attends to landowner issues;
• do landowners refuse to discuss issues of concern w ith the
Supervisor S&I in the absence of the Manager; and
• do the duties of the A/Manager differ from those of the
Manager?
Contact with Wandumi is limited to Supervisor-Wau a nd the
A/Manager (Table 10.3).
Table10.4 Intra-Link: Management & Supervisors
MANAGER &
SUPERVISOR
MANAGER & SUPERVISOR
A/Man S&I Est. Wau F&R Harv. Nurs. S&I
Manager
A/Manager
Establishment
Wau
Fire &
Roading
Harvesting
Nursery
S&I
182
Key
High Level of contact
Intermediate
low Low level of Contact
No Response
From Management Audit Questionnaires-October 1998 t o July 1999
Table 10.4 establishes the interaction within the B ulolo/Wau
office and the interaction between the Manager and
Supervisors. The observations from Table 10.4 indic ate the
following:
• A/Manager has daily to intermediate contact with al l
supervisors;
• of all the supervisors, Supervisor-Wau and Supervis or-
establishment maintain a high level of contact wi th the
Manager;
• Supervisor-Wau has very little contact with establi shment,
harvesting and nursery. This is due to the lack of any
agreement with the landowners in Wau (ref. to Chapt . 7 &
8).
10.5 CONCLUSION
The MA was conducted during a period of uncertainty within
NFS. The implication of the 1999 National Budget cu t was a
source of speculation within the NFS from late 1998 to May
1999. The Division most affected is the R & E Divis ion and,
although the changes affecting the Bulolo/ Wau offi ce were
concerned more with the change of status to a comme rcial
venture, the uncertainty and decreasing staff moral e as a
result, were reflected in the response to the quest ionnaires.
Although sufficient time was allowed to complete th e
questionnaires, coaxing the return of all questionn aires was
difficult. However, it is understandable that while an
183
uncertain future loomed before the officers, the la st thing
on their mind was completing a questionnaire that i s of no
significance to them.
Although some supervisors maintain contact with oth er
divisions for one reason or another, it would be sa fe to
state that interaction between NFS and Bulolo/Wau i s healthy.
Conversely, interaction with other Agencies is lack ing. There
is also a healthy level of contact with the executi ves of NTR
and village elders. What is of concern is the lack of contact
by the Supervisor-S&I with landowners (Table 10.2 & 10.3). It
is understood that the current A/Manager is an expa triate
contract officer and the most likely person to fill the
position is the Supervisor-S&I. Therefore, the ques tion
arises as to the future and continuity of ventures such as
NTR when there is no current contact between Wandum i and the
most likely candidate for the A/Manager’s position. The lack
of contact is an issue of management significance r equiring
further investigation.
Although the level of interaction between the Manag er and
Supervisors is mostly intermediate from both perspe ctives,
Supervisors-Wau and Establishment perceive their le vel of
interaction with management to be high. The high le vel of
interaction may be attributed to the following:
• heavy reliance on the A/Management for direction;
• high level of communication between A/Management an d the
supervisors;
• high level of activity within the two sections duri ng the
period of study;
• related to the point above, the two sections may be
experiencing increasing change, therefore requirin g a
greater level of contact; and
• lack of initiative and confidence by both Superviso rs in
decision-making.
184
This trend points to the need for further assessmen t to
establish the actual cause and respond with appropr iate
measures within the organisation.
As expected, the level of interaction between Super visor-Wau
and other supervisors is low. The low level of inte raction is
primarily due to the responsibilities of Supervisor -Wau,
which includes harvesting, nursery and establishmen t.
However, NTR (Chapter 8) has commenced harvesting i n Wandumi.
Therefore, with an increase in harvesting activity the
question arises as to whether the Supervisor-Harves ting
should be charged with the responsibility of harves ting or
should this remain unchanged.
While the MA has pointed to some issues for further
deliberation, it is not a conclusive statement on t he state
of the management unit and its interactions within the unit,
with other divisions of NFS, other agencies and wit h groups
and individuals from Wandumi. It serves as an indic ation of
the internal and external interactions and how this may
impact on Wandumi and ventures such as NTR.
185
Figure:10.1 Structure of the National Forest Servic e before May 1999
Finance
Services
Finance &Admin
Marketing Monitoring
New GuineaIslands
WestNew Britain
SouthernRegion
Momase
Operations
Planning
Acquisition
Mapping
ForestPlanning
Reforestation
HighlandsRegion
Bulolo/ WauPlantations
Reforestation &Extension
Projects
Allocations
ResourceManagement
GeneralManager
FieldServices
HRD
Training
Organisation& Development
Administration
TechnicalSupport
ForestManagement
Plantations
Biology
ForestResearchInstitute
ManagingDirector
Forest Board
Forest Minister
Figure 10.2: Structure of the National Forest Servi ce as of May 1999
BoardServices
AdministrativeSupport
LegalServices
PolicyCordination &
Monitoring
PolicySecretariate
Expenditure
Commercial Ventures
Revenue
FinanceDirectorate
Audit
Finance& Administration
NaturalForest
Management
ForestBiology
ForestProducts
HighlandsRegion
Plantation Forestry
Division ofForest Management
Acquisition
Planning
Mapping
Division ofPlanning
Allocation
Projects
Marketing
SouthernRegion
Momase/Highlands
Islands WestNew Britain
Field Services
Division ofResource
Development
HRD Training
Services MIS
Division ofCorporate Services
Admin.Support
TechnicalSupport
GeneralManager
ManagingDirector
Figure 10.3: Structure of Bulolo/ Wau Before May 19 99
Officer x 1
Labourers
OIC Wau
Officers
Labourers &Trainees
Establishment
Officers
Labourers &Trainess
Harvesting
Officers
Labourers &Trainees
Fire &Roading
Labourers &Trainees
Nursery
Supervisors
Supervisors
Silviculture& Inventory
Supervisors Admin &Accounts
ManagerPlantation
Divisional ManagerReforestation &
Extension
186
CHAPTER 11
CONCLUSION
11.1 INTRODUCTION
EA, as a structured management system in forestry, is still
developing. Nonetheless, the framework developed fo r this
dissertation, and field tested in PNG from October 1998 to
July 1999, serves to highlight several points. Firs tly,
despite some information gaps, it is possible to co nduct an
audit based on data and information currently avail able in
PNG. Secondly, the audit indicated that both the be nefits and
the responsibilities of joint venture management of forest
resources can be realised given acceptance of the p artnership
arrangement by all stakeholders. Finally, given tha t good
environmental auditing is guided by the principles of
sustainable development, it is seen to have clear b enefits
for forestry management in PNG and should, therefor e, be
further developed and applied within the nation’s f orestry
sector.
11.2 WHY ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITS IN FORESTRY?
Since the global launching and acceptance of the id ea of
sustainable development in 1992, nations have grapp led with
ways to operationalise the concept. In its broadest sense, it
is a development process that considers the interac tions and
trade-offs between three broad systems of biologica l, social
and economic considerations. These occur within a p olitical
framework to bring about growth that is conducive t o improved
livelihoods for this generation and those that foll ow. In the
forestry context, it is a question of how forestry, as an
important source of foreign revenue for countries s uch as
PNG, can progress towards the goal of sustainable
development. Furthermore, it is a question of wheth er current
187
forest management contributes to improved livelihoo ds as a
result of policy driven initiatives.
While it is easy and less complicated to issue stat ements on
one aspect of forest management, and treat the stat ement as
indicative of sustainable development, such an appr oach fails
to capture the essence of the concept as holistic,
pluralistic and pragmatic. In addition, this approa ch fails
to provide a balanced view of the actual status of forestry
on the ground. For example, while EIA, SIA and cert ification
are instruments of good environmental management, t hese do
not provide the means to assess the sustainability, nor the
benefits of forestry in the village context. Althou gh the
process of certification does include auditing to e stablish
whether timber is harvested from sustainably manage d forests,
questions arise as to whether the audit process use d by
certification bodies such as the FSC is appropriate for PNG,
and whether the audit process is comprehensive. Fur thermore,
while a list such as the FSC’s ten principles of su stainable
forest management may help to set the goals, this d oes not
allow an integrated assessment that captures the es sence of
sustainable development.
Forestry as a profession is changing, and new fores ters are
emerging who are at the cutting edge of the new par adigm. Yet
there seems to be an underlying resistance to chang e within
all stakeholder groups. Whatever the reasons for su ch
resistance, change will occur and foresters at all levels
will either be agents for or impediments to change. However,
the question remains as to whether NFS is in any po sition to
prepare officers to accommodate change. Without a s ystematic
assessment of the management units in relation to t he overall
concept of sustainable development, training and co rrective
measures will continue to be ad-hoc , and landowners will
continue to lose faith in foresters.
188
The legislative framework governing the use of fore stry
resources in PNG is sufficient, but uncertainties s urround
whether the existing policies have been successful and how
well the specific sections of these policies are im plemented.
Furthermore, because the impact of any legislation is also
lateral, it is impacted on by other factors and act ivities of
all stakeholders. Consequently, it is essential to identify
the practises of the key stakeholders within the au dit unit,
and assess the impact of these on each other and on policy.
While policy-makers and managers continue to depend on less
holistic information, policy-making and management will
continue to be biased and unbalanced.
As well as addressing questions raised in the previ ous
paragraphs, the environmental audit can be a launch ing point
for addressing environmental, socio-cultural and ec onomic
concerns. In addition, because the audit is forestr y
orientated, it allows further considerations of spe cific
forestry problems within the broader concept of sus tainable
development.
11.3 WANDUMI VILLAGE AUDIT
11.3.1 Status of the Village
Wandumi is a village blessed with gold, coffee and forests,
as well as being an inland area with the longest co ntact with
Western civilisation. Although the influence of chu rch is
prominent, traditional kinship ties, leadership, cu stomary
and community obligations are still important eleme nts of
Wandumi Village life. While most traditional skills were
developed and passed on in response to the struggle for
survival before and immediately after colonial
administration, today skills such as making spears, bows and
arrows are no longer needed. They are, therefore, n ot taught
to the younger generation. On the other hand, skill s in
189
gardening, bilum-making and house building are main tained and
passed to the younger generation, although new mate rials and
implements have replaced traditional ones. As a con sequence
of gold mining and early forest exploitation, natur al montane
forests have receded to sheltered gullies and inacc essible
areas further from the village. Nonetheless, unlike the
majority of grassland and logged over areas in PNG, forest
plantations of Klinki, Hoop and tropical Pines cons titute a
prominent part of the landscape, and many of these plantings
are ready for harvest.
In spite of the natural wealth, however, more than half of
the houses in the village are constructed totally o f bush
material and no household or business group owns a PMV.
Although electricity and water reticulation are ava ilable to
the Forestry Station, no village homes have access to
electricity, while very few of the homes within the breakaway
group have piped water. While discussions between N FS and the
Village Council on the possibilities of the village accessing
existing services have been positive, the majority of the
households, including the Council, perceive village
electrification and water supply to be the responsi bility of
NFS. The continued presence of the NFS, through the Station,
perpetuates the strongly held perceptions and expec tations of
forestry based largely on a misconception of the ro le of
forestry. According to these perceptions, forestry has failed
to provide electricity, water reticulation and dail y
transport for children. Furthermore, while forestry will
eventually provide income from harvesting the matur e
plantation, it has failed to provide income between harvests.
However, when less than a quarter of the village do not
regard forestry activities as worthy of their time, choosing
church and community, and goldmining activities abo ve
forestry, the villager’s expectations of NFS are, a t best,
questionable.
190
11.3.2 Status of Forestry
When the general perception of NFS by the village i s not
positive and expectations persist, where does this leave
forestry development in Wandumi? Although the owner ship of
land on which the plantations are standing was sett led
through a court decision, granting ownership back t o the
landowners of Wandumi, NFS owns the 947.9 ha of for est
plantation. It has established and maintained a roa d network
linking Wandumi with the Kaiwa, and has made access ible
hunting and gardening sites further from the villag e. In
addition, the escape route constructed to service t he
plantation provides an alternative route to Wau and Bulolo in
the event that the main link becomes unusable. Alth ough no
village household has electricity, the establishmen t of the
forest station has brought electricity within reach of the
village, and provides piped water, which can be ava ilable to
more households provided the local Council takes ap propriate
action. Accepting that most households in Wandumi p erceive
NFS as a government service provider, some options are
available to NFS as forestry progresses into the ne xt
millennium. Basically, NFS can:
• continue as it has since independence;
• succumb to the general perception and provide the s ervices
required by the village;
• return the station and the trees to the landowners to do
as they wish; or
• develop a system of open communication between NFS and
Wandumi in order for both parties to benefit throug h a
joint venture.
Although the first option is an easy option, the la ck of any
agreement between NFS and Wandumi confines NFS to t he role of
an external observer. The second option will fulfil the
expectations of the village but, in the long term,
191
perpetuates cargo cultism. The third option is the option
many Wandumi landowners would prefer but this would result in
a total loss to NFS. The village may have a potenti al income,
but the lack of technical, business and management skills
will ensure a repeat of the Wandumi Holdings saga, as well as
throwing the door open for unsustainable logging.
Consequently, NFS will lose out in the short term b ut Wandumi
is likely to ultimately pay with its livelihood. Al though the
fourth solution is time consuming and may require c ertain
compromises from both parties, it is the only optio n that
enables landowners and technocrats to work together in order
to achieve sustainable forest management. The possi bility of
the fourth option being successful was shown by the audit,
reported in the foregoing chapters.
11.3.3 Increasing Landowner Participation through S ection 57
Although the lack of agreement between NFS and Wand umi
landowners was a known fact, it was the 1997 planta tion fires
that prompted serious consideration of the implicat ions of
such a lack of agreement. Initial discussions betwe en NFS and
Wandumi centred on how best to salvage trees from f ire-
affected compartments, which later led to negotiati ng a
written agreement between the two parties. The agre ement set
out the terms and conditions of the purchase of the first
Lucas mill, two chainsaws and working capital of K2 ,000.00.
It also led to the establishment of the LANCO, NTR. However,
some issues needed addressing by both parties to en sure
progress towards sustainability and success, and th ese were
discussed in Chapter 8. Firstly, in addition to the general
lack of interest in forestry, the failure of Wandum i Holdings
raised fears based on the belief that the tradition al curse
on Wandumi contributed to the downfall of the busin ess.
Secondly, forestry lacks comparative advantage over small-
scale gold mining and, therefore, as long as gold m ining
remains a viable activity, forestry will remain a l ess
192
important activity in Wandumi households. The third issue
will remain an ongoing issue for NTR and it lies in the
ability of the Executives to make tough decisions a nd follow
them through.
While a sawmill is a positive development for the l andowners
in Wandumi, it adds an extra dimension to the socia l and
environmental aspects of the village. Although the audit
clearly indicates that the Biangais are a subsisten ce based
society, changes are taking place and the establish ment and
subsequent success of NTR will have implications fo r these
changes. Although rice has become a staple food in most
households, traditional root crops are still import ant.
Conversely, protein sources are no longer from the river or
the forests but from tin cans and iceboxes. As NTR brings in
more income to the landowning groups, this increase s the
buying ability of households, subsequently increasi ng the
dependency on canned and freezer protein. While mos t existing
houses are from bush materials, new houses under co nstruction
during the period of the study were built using saw n timber
and corrugated roofing iron. The availability of sa wn timber
on site, coupled with increased household income, w ill
contribute to an increase in the number of permanen t houses.
This will improve the quality of houses and, in tur n, fulfil
the PNG Electricity Commission’s (PNGELCom) criteri a for
rural electrification.
Conversely, the by-product of sawmilling poses an
environmental concern, which has the potential to b ecome a
problem for the Village. Accumulation of sawdust is a
potential fire hazard as well as a stream pollutant , although
it is an accepted fact that all major streams and t he Bulolo
River are highly polluted by mining activities. It is in the
interest of NFS and NTR to instigate effective meas ures to
address this concern before it becomes a costly pro blem for
both parties. While the benefits of an NFS/NTR vent ure
193
impacts on living standards, the probable success h as led to
confrontational instances between members of the fo ur clans,
and between clan members and the NFS officer in Wan dumi. Such
outbursts, often under the influence of liquor, do not carry
much weight, but are indicative of potential social
undercurrents that must be noted by NTR and NFS.
NFS instigated the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA), t hereby
setting in motion the development of a new paradigm in PNG
forestry. Although JVAs are not a new concept, and are used
extensively in mining agreements, forestry agreemen ts under
the TRP and FMA were based principally on NFS negot iating on
behalf of the landowners. In most TRP and FMAs the land and
the trees belong to the landowners but, in Wandumi, land is
clan-owned while the resources are state owned. Thi s
situation indicated the need for a different approa ch. This
approach established the framework for a partnershi p based on
mutual understanding of the situation pertaining to ownership
of land and the plantation. Furthermore, it created the
necessity for changes within NFS, resulting in NFS no longer
being the negotiating agent for Wandumi landowners, but NFS
becoming a facilitator in the NTR venture.
Underlying the partnership is willingness by both N TR and NFS
to allow communications and negotiations to occur o ver a
significant period of time. Actual discussions and
preparations for the JVA took about nine months bef ore the
purchase of the first sawmill under a written arran gement. It
took a further 12 months for NTR to sort out its ow n internal
management and operational problems. As of July 199 9, the
repayment of the first sawmill is complete, and dis cussions
are underway to purchase a second mill. As well as the
availability of technical, business and management expertise,
NTR has been willing to pay for some of these servi ces, which
indicates their desire to make the joint venture a success.
194
11.3.4 Management Links
Overall, the MA indicated that the inter-links betw een NFS-
Bulolo/Wau and other agencies, and with other divis ions of
the NFS are reasonably secure. Similarly, the intra -links
within the Bulolo/Wau office are quite stable. Alth ough the
link between Supervisor Wau and Wandumi, and the li nk between
Manager Bulolo/Wau and Wandumi landowners are both strong,
this is in stark contrast to the non-existent link between
the Assistant Manager and Wandumi. Another issue of concern
is the dependency of initiatives such as the JVA on the
rapport between key individuals from each stakehold er group.
Although such initiatives are instigated and follow ed through
by the key individuals, the continuity of these ini tiatives
is, as discussed in Chapter 10, limited by reliance on
individual rather than organisational relationships . A
further issue of concern is the lack of foresight b y NFS,
when conducting institutional restructuring exercis es, about
the implications of such exercises on landowner ini tiatives.
It is likely that landowners venturing into new arr angements
will lose momentum while waiting for NFS to get org anised.
Accepting the possible implications of these impedi ments for
the management of plantation resources on Wandumi C lan land,
the question arises as to whether the NFS/NTR joint venture
is a possible model for future sustainable forest m anagement
in PNG. Lessons from the Wandumi Holdings saga have provided
the basis for a different approach and instilled a
willingness to accept NFS as a partner in the JVA. In
addition to providing a situation signalling change s within
the traditional forestry paradigm, and directing th e focus
from trees to people, the NFS/NTR joint venture suc cessfully
fulfils the requirements of Section 57 of the Fores try Act
(1991). Although it is too early to ascertain the s uccess or
failure of the JVA, the indications are positive.
195
11.4 CONCLUDING COMMENTS
The environmental audit framework developed in this
dissertation for auditing forestry resource use at the
village level is based on the realities of land and resource
ownership in PNG, and on the principles of sustaina ble
development. It allows an integrated, documented ap proach
that is systematic, hierarchal and objective, and p laces
forestry development within the overall context of village
livelihoods. It also allows policy to be viewed and assessed
for success or failure from the village perspective .
Furthermore, because it is an integrated approach, it
highlights the views of the key stakeholder groups, including
conflicting perceptions and expectations, and poten tial
problems.
EA as a comprehensive environmental management syst em is
still developing. While it is a common practise in the mining
industry in PNG, it is a new concept in forestry an d,
therefore, confronted by a degree of scepticism and
resistance by many foresters. Nonetheless, the envi ronmental
audit framework developed in 1998 and field tested over a
period of eight months has proven the usefulness of audits in
forestry management and development. However, while the
framework was tested and found to be useful, some i ssues
worth noting are:
• where possible, it is better for an audit to be con ducted
by an independent auditor to avoid subjectivity;
• because EAs require information from other line age ncies
such as DEC, DPI and so on, proper protocol and pro cedures
must be adhered to before, during and after informa tion
collection;
• establishing the socio-cultural status in any audit unit
requires time. As well as time to conduct interview s, time
196
to mingle and interact with the village populace an d to
get a ‘feel’ for important issues and, thereby, est ablish
as close as possible the actual cultural status of the
audit unit; and
• while it is not possible to get approval from all l evels
of any organisation, it is essential to have manage ment’s
approval to undertake an audit.
Environmental auditing is a practical and systemati c route in
which to undertake an holistic assessment in forest ry. If
sustainable forest management has been accepted as the
desired type of management for the next millennium, then
there is no question that environmental auditing is a tool
essential to this type of management, and one which will
contribute to achieving the goal of sustainable dev elopment.
197
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APPENDIX I
STATE OF ENVIRONMENT - (CULTURE) QUESTIONNAIRE
APPENDIX II
MANAGEMENT AUDIT - QUESTIONNAIRE
INTQ-SoE/CULTURAL 1
CODE: INTQ-SoE/CULTURAL
DATE INTERVIEWER
NOTE:
The aim of this interview is
To conduct a houshold survey within the village of Wandumi..
The objectives of the interview are
To assess the cultural status of the sudy area as part of the SoE;
To assess the impact of the two important stakeholders within the study area
To a certain degree, assess the different perceptions of villagers to forestry
resource development ; and
To assess whether forestry benefits impact on the family unit .
SEX: Male / Female MARITAL STATUS . M/ S/ W/ D
AGE: (18-25), (26-30), (31-35), (36-40 ), (41-50), over 51
VILLAGE: (Bikpela ples) CLAN:(Liklik ples)
1. Position within the village (Yu gat namba insait long ples olsem.......)
Landowner (Papa graun)
Resource owner (papa long risos)
Clan/ Village elder (Bigman blong ples)
Church elder (Bigman blong lotu)
Clan spokesperson/ liason (Maus man)
Others (Narapela namba)
2. How many languages do you speak ? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, More
Yu save long amaspela tokples ? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or moa yet.
Identify all the languages (Kolim nem blong tokples yu save)
1
2
3
4
INTQ-SoE/CULTURAL 2
5
3. Which language (s) is spoken most in your home ?
Wanem tokples yu na famili i save toktok insait long sindaun blong yupela ?
4. In your family, who went to school or are at school now ? Up to what grade ?
Insait long famili, usait,i go long skul, o istap long skul nau? Long ol dispela ol i no moa stap
long skul, ol ibin winim amas pela yia long skul ?
Father Mother Child
1(m/f)
Child
2(m/f)
Child
3(m/f)
Child
4(m/f)
Child
5(m/f)
Y / N Y / N Y / N Y / N Y / N Y / N Y / N
Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade
5. Did you learn other skills and crafts from your extended family ?
Insait long famili, yupela save lainim ol pasin bilong yumi long wokim ol samting olsem........
SKILLS FATHER MOTHER CHILD1 CHILD2 CHILD3 CHILD4 CHILD5
Weaving
Bilum
Bows/Arrow
Gardening
Hunting
Fishing
Storytelling
Building
Others
6. In your household how many times in one week do you have the following as your family
meal ?
Insait long famili, yu nap long tingim amas pela taim yupela save igat dispela ol kaikai insait
long wanwan
INTQ-SoE/CULTURAL 3
wik ?
MENU 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Bread/ Buttter
Rice/ Tinned fish
Rice/ fresh meat
Coffee/Tea
Kaukau, banana,
taro/ kumu
7. In your household what are some of the activities you are involved in ?
Insait long famili, yupela save wok long foresti long........
INCOME ACTIVITIES Forest Authority Forestry Company Subsistence Others
Plantation establishment
Tending
Harvesting
Road maintenance
Fire fighting
Market gardening
Livestock
Office employment
Other
NON-INCOME
Liason person
Community awareness
Revenue collection
family gardening
Customary activities
Church activities
Other
INTQ-SoE/CULTURAL 4
8. If a cultural/ traditional activitiy was to take place at the same time as a church activity,
which activity will your household choose to attend ?
Sapos igat wok kastom na wok lotu i kamap wantaim wanem wok bai famili blong yu na go
long em?
8. If a forestry activity was to take place at the same time as a traditional/ cultural activity,
which activity will your household choose to attend ?
Sapos igat wok forestri na wok kastom i kamap wantaim wanem wok bai yu na famili igo
long em ?
9. Do you invest in any of these bussinesses ?
Insait long famili, yupela igat smpela business olsem.......
Tradestore
Trucking/ PMV
Market Garden
Cash cropping
Education
Others
10. In your own words what do you think of the effects of forestry on the following in
your area ?
Long tinting blong yu ,yu gat sampela toktok long wok forestri insait long ples blong yu ? Mi
laikim sapos Mama blong famili ken wokim sampela toktok tu long dispela.
gardens (gaten)
INTQ-SoE/CULTURAL 5
wildlife (ol animol, pisin bilong bus)
roads (rot bilong kar)
rivers/ streams ( ol raun wara na bikpela wara)
hunting (painim abus)
11. Any other comments
Igat ol sampela arapela tok yu laik wokim long tinting bilong yu long forestri yu ken wokim.
(Remember to thank the family for their time)
QST/MA 1
MANAGEMENT AUDIT - QUESTIONNAIRE
CODE: QST/ MA DATE:
1. What do you see as your main function within the organisation ?
2. Who is your immediate supervisor ? (State position only)
3. How often do you meet with your immediate supervisor ?
daily when needed
daily at designated times
weekly meetings
monthly meetings
4. As a supervisor, how often do you meet with your subordinates daily when needed daily at designated times weekly meetings monthly meetings
QST/MA 2
5. Are your meetings called by your supervisor ?
most of the time (80 %)
sometime (50%)
not at all
6. Do you provide written reports of your activities in the form of ......
quarterly reports
half yearly reports
Annual reports
As required
7. Within your daily schedule of duties, which other officers do you most often interact with ?
Position/ Officer Section Scale (from 1-5)
Manager Plantation
Supervisor Establishment
Establishment
Establishment
Supervisor Fire & Roading
Supervisor Silviculture & Inventory
Supervisor Harvesting
Supervisor Nursery
Nursery
Nursery
Trainees
(from a scale of 0-5, indicate the intensity of your interactions. 5 being the most and 1 being the least and 0
being no contact.t). A scale of 5 would indicate a daily level of direct interaction. Interaction means to
converse with on work related matters or matters which may have some bearing on your duties. A scale of 3
would indicate an intermediate level of interaction.
QST/MA 3
8. What other section within the NFS do you deal with directly ? (Tick the most appropriate boxes)
DIVISION/ SECTION Daily Weekly Monthly Annually As needed Never
Forest Ministry
Managing Director
Policy Secretariat
General Manager
Finance & Admin
Admin
Finance
Services
Organisation & Devel.
Directorate
Human Resources
Training & Devel.
Operations
Management
Southern Regional Office
National Capital District
Alotau
Kerema
Daru
Momase Regional Office
Lae
Vanimo
Madang
Wewak
Highlands Regional Office
QST/MA 4
DIVISION/ SECTION Daily Weekly Monthly Annually As needed Never
Mt Hagen
Goroka
Kundiawa
Mendi
Wabag
New Guinea Islands
Kerevat
Kavieng
Kimbe
Manus
Forest Planning
Management
Planning
Acquisitions
Statistics
Registration
Mapping
Resource Management
Management
Allocation
Projects
Reforestation and Exten.
Management
Reforestation
Extension
Plantations
QST/MA 5
DIVISION/ SECTION Daily Weekly Monthly Annually As needed Never
Forest Research Institute
Directorate
Forest Biology
Sustainable For. Managm.
Plantation Forestry
Technical Services
ITTO Project
JICA Project
Aus Aid HRD Project
9. From the list of other Agencies, which ones do you have contact with during the course of your duties? (Tick
the most appropriate boxes)
Agency Daily Weekly Monthly Annually As needed Never
PNG Forest Products
Landowner Companies
Commerce/ Industry Bulolo University College
DEC
DPI
Community Development
Others
10. Does your duties require contact with the following villages ? (Please circle answer)
Kuembu Yes / No
Wandumi Yes / No
QST/MA 6
11. If Yes to any or both, which individual or groups do you deal with directly ?
GROUPS/ INDIVIDUALS KUEMBU WANDUMI
Landowner Company
Director
Deputy Director
Co.Secretary
Ordinary Members
Village Elders
Church Elders
Women's Representative
Employees with NFS from these
villages
12. Do you have any comments or suggestions on how to improve communication and working relations
within your immediate section, and with other sections of the National Forest Authority .
Other Agencies
QST/MA 7
Villages