VICTORY
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PAPUA NEW GUINEA RAINFOREST CAMPAIGN NEWS
PNG Government Declares Collingwood Bay Off Limits to Large Scale Development
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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
10/10/96
OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE:
The Papua New Guinea government has decided to exclude Maisin customary
lands, located in Collingwood Bay, Oro Province, from plans for timber or
large scale agricultural development. Greenpeace and others have been
active in the area in developing small scale alternative community
development schemes. Despite numerous community attempts to have their
land removed from large scale industrial development consideration, a
number of schemes were proposed. This action should give the community
the room they need to actualize their own development potential in a
sustainable, community owned manner. This item was posted in econet's
gp.press conference. g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
** Written 5:38 PM Sep 30, 1996 by nobody@xs2.greenpeace.org in gp.press *
Subject: Government Congratulated for "Doing the Right Thing"
Date: Mon, 30 SEP 96 16:54:20 GMT
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Original-TO: World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
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GOVERNMENT CONGRATULATED FOR "DOING THE RIGHT THING" IN COLLINGWOOD BAY
Press Release
Port Moresby, September 30, 1996 (GP) -- Non-Governmental Organizations
have joined Collingwood Bay's Maisin community in applauding a PNG
Government decision to exclude Maisin customary lands from plans for
timber or large scale agricultural development.
The government's decision was conveyed in a letter from the PNG Forest
Authority to the Individual and Community Rights Advocacy Forum (ICRAF),
which has been acting on instruction from Maisin customary landholders.
It comes after months of work by the Maisin community to convince the
government of their opposition to large scale logging on their customary
lands.
Maisin lands in Collingwood Bay, in PNG's Oro Province, have been under
threat of logging and agricultural conversion to a Coconut Sap plantation
by Ukedeco Corporation of the Philippines and by the PNG government's
plans to create an Forest Management Agreement (FMA) area in Collingwood
Bay that includes Maisin lands.
"We are very encouraged that the government has heeded the Maisin
Community's wishes to preserve our forest and land" said Sylvester Moi,
Chairman of the Maisin Integrated Conservation and Development
Association (MICAD). "We are hopeful that this is a first step in the
government actively supporting Maisin community plans to conserve our
land and develop small scale, community based enterprises that will not
destroy our forests and that we can manage ourselves" Moi said.
Over the past three years, the Maisin community has been successfully
working with Greenpeace Pacific and Conservation Melanesia to exhibit
and market tapa cloth paintings internationally and to build community
capacity to manage the tapa enterprise and other conservation and
development activities.
"We see this decision by the government as a milestone" said Lafcadio
Cortesi of Greenpeace Pacific "We hope it signals a turning point in the
government's willingness to look beyond large scale logging and support
sustainable, community-based development "
A note of caution has, however, been sounded by Carroll Poyep of
Conservation Melanesia.
"It is indeed good news, but this decision is not yet reflected in the
draft Provincial and National Forest Plans. The government must be true to
its words and take immediate action to exclude Maisin customary lands from
the areas proposed for timber and agricultural development in these
plans."
For more information contact:
Lester Seri, MICAD Spokesperson: 675-327-1788
Carroll Poyep, Conservation Melanesia Director: 675-323-2758
Brian Brunton, Greenpeace Pacific: 675-326-2469
Lafcadio Cortesi, Greenpeace Pacific: 1-510-527-2858
###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###
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