Monograph Abstracts

Loggers, Donors and Resource Owners (in Papua New Guinea)

Abstract

Papua New Guinea is well endowed with tropical forest, almost all of which is held by local people under customary title. But the forest sector is in a mess. Over the last ten years a major national process of policy and institutional reform has sought to sort out the sector, but some key features of PNG society continue to frustrate this process. The 'ideology of resource ownership' is the core of national identity, yet it undermines the potential for diversified economic development based on the use or value of land and forests. Also, a widespread obsession with the pursuit of personal political power grows alongside an equally widespread loss of faith in the ability of government to deliver social and economic development. These contradictions help to explain why the national policy process centres on a struggle between the logging industry and donor agencies for the hearts and minds of the resource owners. Whilst this struggle throws up many problems, it also presents opportunities for establishing a new approach to policy for forests and people. This would establish the common ground upon which a wider coalition of interests - a new 'policy community' - could be built. Opportunities include: developing mechanisms for testing and publicising claims to productive innovation; combining different scales of enterprise; generating a vision of the public interest through dialogue; and installing a brokering mechanism to connect needs with existing capacities.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Forests and People
3. Development and Dependency
4. The PNG Forestry Sector
5. Melanesian Politics and Society
6. Stakes and Stakeholders: Who Wants What With Forests?
7. Policy Influences from Outside the Forest Sector
8. The Castle in the Forest: Reforming Industrial Forest Policy
9. No Room at the Inn: Reforming Forest Conservation Policy
10. Mushrooms in the Dark: Community Participation Strategies
11. Lessons Which Might Have Been Learnt
12. Powers Over Policy
13. The Next Act in the Play
14. Common Ground: A Stake in the Heart