A think tank and activists from several countries have voiced objection against the alleged land-grabbing activities of Malaysian timber companies operating in the resource-rich Papua New Guinea.
They claimed that PNG’s rainforests are under threat from unsustainable logging and large-scale forest clearing activities carried out by the companies.
Their protest follows the release of a 56-page report, titled Malaysia’s Timber Colony: Exposing Malaysia’s Grip Over Papua New Guinea’s Forests, last week.
The report was published by environmental think tank RimbaWatch Malaysia in collaboration with the Bruno Manser Fonds, Switzerland (BMF), and the Papua New Guinea Environmental Alliance (PNGEA).
The report claims Malaysian companies hold 97% of the Forest Clearing Authority (FCA) licences – permits that allow large-scale forest conversion for agricultural development.
It further alleges that 44 of the 79 Malaysians connected to these licences are affiliated with major Sarawak-based logging firms.
Among the protesters at a press conference today were PNGEA’s Pamela Avusi, RimbaWatch director Adam Farhan, BMF’s Johanna Michel, Komeok Joe of the indigenous peoples organisation Keruan in Sarawak, and Samuel Kime, a land rights activist from PNG
Avusi said the companies’ activities could endanger at least 1.68 million hectares of primary rainforest in PNG, an area roughly the size of Johor.
“FCAs represent an extremely unsustainable logging practice and are often associated with violations of indigenous peoples’ rights.
“We call on the Malaysian timber companies behind these licences to relinquish them,” she said at a press conference held at C4’s headquarters.
Samuel claimed that most FCA licence holders had failed to deliver on their promises of agricultural development, with the majority of profits flowing directly to logging companies.
“The companies earned about RM842 million up to 2021, but only a small portion reached the indigenous communities,” he said.
Papua New Guinea is home to part of the world’s third-largest tropical rainforest ecosystem and is one of the largest exporters of tropical roundwood.
