Wil Maheia from PG wears many hats, including politician, conservationist, border activist, and ultra-nationalist (to name a few). And yesterday, he raised concerns about what he calls "hashtag unsustainable logging."
In a Facebook post, Maheia pointed out that during his hikes in the rainforest of Toledo, he often comes across worrisome instances of logging where trees are being extracted at an alarming rate.
He said, quote, "Recently, when I'm deep in the forest my heart is broken because I keep seeing thousands of old-growth trees that are cut down and hauled away, with no sustainable plan in place. No one is replanting to keep Mother Earth healthy, no one has a plan to keep the people healthy or the kids in school when the roads get destroyed by these logging trucks. It is a 24-7 raping of our forests, a rape against nature and against the communities. Over a million dollars worth of logs have been cut down in the last two months but can the communities show what they have received from these resources that they have protected for generations?! The logs leave raw materials and the villagers can only stand and look. Not a single donation from the logging companies who just rape and rape.. not a single tree nursery not one if I am wrong please correct me." End quote.
We asked Orlando Habet, the Minister responsible for the Environment, for comment, and an hour ago he sent us an extended response via WhatsApp.
Habet said, quote, "
1. Logging unsustainably. Indeed he has a point here as the yearly logging concessions are the major cause of unsustainable logging and clearing of forests, which can also be added to deforestation for agricultural use.
2. The non-replenishing of trees because short-term logging concessions do not require it, as it does for long-term sustainable forest licenses.
3. The issue with the roads being damaged by logging trucks during the rainy season is indeed a serious problem. [It] needs to be addressed. It is stated in the licenses but some people do not adhere.
4. Communities not benefiting is something more of the community's responsibility to ensure there is some return to them.
5. The issue of Forest officers being on the take can only occur if the loggers are also participating in bribery. This accusation is against Public Officers and perhaps the Public Service and the PSU can help to address this situation.
He says the Forestry department has " reduced the number of short-term licenses in 2021 and 2022.reduced the longevity of the licenses by several months by doing a proper Harvest suitability Assessment of all areas applied.
He adds that during this coming season many fewer licenses will be issued as a policy, but also because there are not many more areas that can be given out for logging as they have been overused.
He ends by saying "Our compliance unit/team has been increased to improve monitoring of illegal logging." End quote.
