11 August
2006 - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea — The debate
on illegal logging in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is
heating up. Rimbunan Hijau (RH), the largest logging
company in PNG, commissioned an Australian consultancy
company, ITS-Global, to write a report attacking
Greenpeace in an attempt to discredit our work
in PNG and shore up its deteriorating reputation.
Read our response to the ITS-Global
report
The ITS-Global report, "Whatever
it takes: Greenpeace's anti-forestry campaign
in Papua New Guinea", relies on misinformation
and statistics provided by RH. The authors of
the report didn't take the time to talk to landowners
or NGOs working on forest issues in PNG. It appears
the report is merely an exercise in mudslinging
by RH against Greenpeace and numerous other NGOs
working to find positive solutions to the mess
that is the PNG forest sector.
The body of evidence against
RH and the forestry sector in PNG flies in the
face of the fiction RH is now trying to peddle
with this report. Over the last 15 years the problems
surrounding the PNG timber industry have been
documented time and time again by numerous authoritative
commentators. These have included the PNG Ombudsman
Commission, the PNG Department of Labour, Independent
Review Teams, acting on behalf on the Government
of PNG and the World Bank, the PNG National Intelligence
Organisation, former Australian Supreme Court
Judge Tos Barnett, and the High Court of New Zealand.
Most recently (August 2006)
the Australian Conservation Foundation and the
Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights
(CELCOR) released a report that highlights human
rights abuses and corruption in PNG's large scale
forestry sector.
Greenpeace has prepared a response
to the allegations against us and others in order
to set the record straight. RH, it appears, can't
handle the truth that large scale industrial operations,
like those it runs in PNG are having a disastrous
affect on PNG's forests and people.
