Forest Certification in Developing and Transitioning ... - UTas ePrints

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forest certification in developing and transitioning countries
Forest certification combined with small-scale sawmilling is environmentally
sound, but there are problems linking forest areas to the markets and maintaining supply.
Such activities are labour intensive and there are significant transport problems
due to the rugged terrain and lack of transport infrastructure including roads and
bridges. In order for forest certification to make a real impact, the national standards
need to be accepted willingly by the different stakeholders, including the government,
without fear of national sovereignty being compromised by international certification
schemes. Only then can certification be included in the national forest policy and be
able to address the problems faced.
Policy Responses
The Papua New Guinea Forest Authority (PNGFA) has initiated a resource development
and allocation process as outlined below and forest development must comply
with the National Forest Plan of 1996. The process involved in resource allocation is as
follows:
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Forest Land to be developed for Long Term Production Forestry
Landowner Awareness Programme
Development Options Study
Forest Management Agreement
Call for Project Proposal
Selection of Preferred Developer
Developer Feasibility Study
Project Agreement
Approval of Project Agreement under Environment Planning Act
Timber Permit
Performance Bond and Operational Planning Approvals
Harvest Authorisation
There are three basic arrangements for obtaining rights to harvest timber: timber
permits, timber authorities and timber licences. There used to be Local Forest Areas
(LFA) arrangements, where landowners dealt directly with logging companies, but
these were eliminated in the 1991 amendments to the Forestry Act. However, some
LFAs that have not expired remain.
Timber Permits are issued by the National Forest Minister to logging companies
and constitute Forest Management Agreements (FMA) with big volumes for periods
of over 10 years. Timber Permits are the major avenues for forest development in the
country. The projects take place after necessary documents are signed between the
government, the landowners and the company. According to PNG National Forest
Policy 1991, the following steps are to be followed when issuing a Timber Permit:
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PNGFA enters into a FMA with landowners that sets out who is to carry
out the forestry operations, what is required of them under the timber permit
conditions, and how the benefits to be received by landowners for the
rights granted are to be distributed.
yale school of forestry & environmental studies