A Papua New Guinea-based environmental group has warned the government to control logging companies or run the risk of seeing the same disastrous mudslides as in the Philippines.
The Eco-Forestry Forum said the government is too supportive of the nation’s logging industry, which it accuses of operating outside the law. It said forests are vital water reservoirs during wet weather but commercial logging had now left communities open to natural disasters.
However, the Forest Industries Association said it does not see a link between the two countries as local timber companies in Papua New Guinea operate through timber authorities and selectively log by species and size, not by clear felling.
It believes a disaster could only happen if landowners and business partners exploited the 500m3 exemption and operated quasi-commercial operations outside of the requirements of the Forest Act.
