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Papua New Guinea

Publications

This Is Our Land cover

This Is Our Land: Why Reject the Privatization of Customary Land

This Is Our Land: Why Reject the Privatization of Customary Land , is an educational resource that debunks myths used for privatizing land around the world, while providing facts on how customary tenure systems are critical to protecting livelihoods and ensuring sustainable development for the people and the planet. The privatization of land consistently serves the interests of private investors and multinational corporations at the expense of...

Additional Languages:
Esta es nuestra tierra: por qué rechazar la privatización de la tierra consuetudinaria, C’est notre terre, Pourquoi rejeter la privatisation des terres coutumières
From Extraction to Inclusion report cover

From Extraction to Inclusion

From Extraction to Inclusion, analyses Papua New Guinea's economic and development performance since its independence in 1975. While the economy has relied on the large-scale extraction of abundant minerals and other natural resources, on most indicators PNG is faring worse than its Pacific neighbors and any progress that has been achieved does not reflect the huge value of the resources extracted.

Driving Dispossession report cover

Driving Dispossession

Driving Dispossession: The Global Push to “Unlock the Economic Potential of Land,” sounds the alarm on the unprecedented wave of privatization of natural resources that is underway around the world. Through six case studies — Ukraine, Zambia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, and Brazil — the report details the myriad ways by which governments — willingly or under the pressure of financial institutions and...

Gilford Ltd. clearing land in West Pomio © Paul Hilton / Greenpeace

Land Summit or Land Grab?

Jubilee Australia and the Oakland Institute denounce the National Land Summit, organized by the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government, as a dangerous attack on the country’s unique customary land tenure system. Land Summit or Land Grab? details how the summit organized from May 1-3, 2019 is an attempt by the PNG government to ‘mobilize’ customary land to allow greater access to multinational companies and commercial banks for logging, mining, and...

Factsheet cover

Losing Forests, Losing Tax Money: Illegal Logging and Tax Evasion in PNG

New research reveals a considerable increase of illegal logging in Papua New Guinea while also pointing to massive tax evasion by logging companies. Download the factsheet for an overview. The full report is available at https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/great-timber-heist-continued-papua-new-guinea

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Blog

Verdant green forest with a tree in the foreground

Bankrolling the Carbon Cowboys: The World Bank's Carbon Insurance Plans

Friday, July 28, 2023 Eve Devillers

If the plans move forward, MIGA would not only be insuring a false climate solution that has spectacularly failed to reduce emissions over the past 20 years, but it would also provide insurance against host countries attempting to regulate the carbon trade.

Paul Palosualrea Pavol speaking at an October 2017 Oakland Institute event. Credit: The Oakland Instittue.

Money Will Not Buy My Heart to Give My Land Away

Thursday, January 18, 2018

The day we met Paul Palosualrea Pavol, he was evidently tired. It took him four days to travel from his home village in West Pomio, Papua New Guinea (PNG) to our offices in Oakland, California. Weary eyed, he was still eager to share with us his struggle against logging and palm oil companies that have stolen over 5.5 million hectares of land in his country.

Round logs ready for loading on a cargo ship bound for China. Local Pomio landowners are protesting against the biggest land grab in PNG history. Under a lease system called SABLs (special agricultural and business leases) forests are being destroyed and customary land is being stolen. Credit: Paul Hilton / Greenpeace

Rainforest or the Illegal Logger – Who is Really Under Threat in Papua New Guinea?

Tuesday, November 28, 2017 Frederic Mousseau

“The forestry industry is on the brink of disaster” warned Bob Tate, the head of the Papua New Guinea Forest Industries Association (PNGFIA) on November 22, 2017. According to Tate, a spokesperson for the logging companies clear cutting the forests of Papua New Guinea (PNG), increase in log export taxes put in place by the government this year, combined with low international prices for tropical timber, are putting the industry at...

Logging camp in Fergusson Island, Milne Bay. Credit: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace.

Laundering Illegal Timber: How Tropical Wood Stolen Through Land Grab Makes its Way to the Furniture Store

Thursday, June 8, 2017 Frederic Mousseau

With 3.1 million cubic meters of tropical wood exported, primarily to China, Papua New Guinea (PNG) became in recent years the world’s largest exporter of tropical wood, surpassing Malaysia, which had held the top spot for the past decades. PNG reached the coveted first place after expanding the exploitation of its forest resources through a legal mechanism called Special Agriculture and Business Leases (SABLs). According to a government...

Papua New Guinea: The Land at the Core

Friday, November 15, 2013 Alice Martin-Prével

“In a sense, Wola belong to land as much as it belongs to them.” Paul Sillitoe’s [1] consideration about the Wola farmers of the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) brings us to the heart of a critical question: what is the value of land in a country like PNG? In the current context of land grabbing, why is it important to preserve traditional systems of tenure? In the West, people understand land as a private piece of...

Press Releases and Public Statements

The Government of Papua New Guinea Imposes a Historic Fine on a Logging Company for Tax Evasion

The Government of Papua New Guinea Cracks Down on Logging Companies

New Report Calls for a Dramatic Change from Extraction to Inclusion for Real Development in Papua New Guinea

Land Summit in Papua New Guinea: a dangerous attack on the country’s unique customary land tenure system

OECD to Send Auditors to Assist Papua New Guinea’s Crack Down on Tax Evasion by Loggers

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Videos & Audio

On Our Land (Français)

On Our Land (Français)

On Our Land (Français)

On Our Land

On Our Land

On Our Land

Media

The Decline Of Nature In Papua New Guinea: An Analysis Of Land Reforms In PNG

Eurasia Review

Major Logging Operator Charged K140M For Tax Evasion

Internal Revenue Commission of Papua New Guinea

Lush Forests Laid to Waste: How Pacific Islands Got Hooked on Logging

The Guardian

Is Rimbunan Hijau Ending Its Plunder of PNG Forests?

PNGi

PNG Leaders Called on to Foster Economy Driven by the Locals

Radio New Zealand

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Documentation and Contracts

US Senate Letter to Prime Minister Peter O'Neill

Petitions from Landowners

Leaked Transcripts from the Commission of Inquiry into Special Agricultural and Business Leases (SABLs)