Papua New Guinea - Fern

elieved only a small proportion of this is primary forest. Another 25,000 hectares of natural
forest are deforested for agricultural, clearcutting and infrastructure construction.
The Questionnaire and Overview of Status of CBD Commitments
Given the importance of Papua New Guinea’s rainforests and biodiversity, it was important to
include an analysis of the country’s progress in implementing commitments under the CBD in
the broader analysis of progress worldwide. Identifying a suitable country monitor delayed the
process somewhat. But once the ideal candidate was contracted, the questionnaire process began
– albeit a bit later than the other countries surveyed. The questionnaire was given to the
government and eight civil society organizations and individuals in mid-February.
Three different approaches were made to the government; as questionnaires were sent to the
country’s GEF focal point (the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Conservation),
the Ambassador of the PNG embassy in the United States, and a representative of the Prime
Minister’s office. No responses were received from the government. One non-governmental
organization and two academics responded substantially to the questionnaire, a few others
indicated that they did not have enough knowledge to answer the questions. Their responses,
along with the considerable knowledge of the country monitor who has worked extensively in
forest and biodiversity conservation policy in PNG, form the basis for this analysis. The lack of
a governmental response is troubling; and is indicative of lack of capacity, and perhaps an
unwillingness to comment on their lack of progress. We now turn to synopsizing the status of
implementation of the Convention of Biodiversity in Papua New Guinea.
PNG signed the Convention on Biological Diversity on June 13, 1992 and ratified it on March
16, 1993. Shortly thereafter, given its history of involvement in forest management and
environmental issues in PNG, the World Bank successfully lobbied to be named the GEF
implementing agency with regard to conducting the Biodiversity Enabling Activities to
formulate a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, and provide the conduit for
financing from the GEF to carry out this work. From 1994 to 1998 essentially no progress was
made by the government or the World Bank to implement the convention. Inexplicably, the
World Bank simply forgot about its obligations, despite repeated attempts to remind them by the
Department of Environment and Conservation and NGOs. The senior staff person responsible
for the matter moved to a new position, and Bank management lost track of their obligation in
this regard. In 1998, as the Bank was preparing a major new forestry operation, a Bank
consultant (who happens to be the country monitor) became aware that the enabling activities
had lagged. It was brought to the attention of senior Bank management that they were obliged to
assist the PNG government, and formal enabling activities slowly began. This four year lag
represents a critical missed opportunity to capitalize on other local initiatives in biodiversity
conservation.
During the hiatus civil society, with the help of other international organizations, conducted
many of the stocktaking activities required under the convention. The Papua New Guinea
Country Study on Biological Diversity (Sekhran and Miller eds., 1994) was carried out with
support from the United Nations Environment Program. The Papua New Guinea Conservation
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