Lau Village in Papua New Guinea

Children outside their school in Lau Village. This village is at the frontline of a massive land grab that sees 5.2 million hectares of PNG's forests slated for destruction. The communities in Pomio rely on the forests for food security, building materials and their future livelihoods. Logging companies promise development and much needed services but all they deliver are dirty rivers and destroyed forests.

Restrictions

NO FUNDRAISING

Unique identifier: GP02KJ8

Type: Image

Shoot date: 25/10/2011

Locations: East New Britain Province (PNG), Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Pomio District

Credit line: © Paul Hilton / Greenpeace

Ranking: ★★★★★★ (B)

Containers

Shoot:

Land Grabs Threaten PNG's Forests

Papua New Guinea‘s forests are the third largest, and some of the most diverse, on Earth. They support many cultures as well as a rich diversity of plant and animal species. Yet 60% of PNG's ancient forests have already been lost to industrial and illegal logging. The World Bank estimates 70% of logging in PNG is illegal. Now there is a new threat to the remaining forests. The United Nations has questioned Papua New Guinea on the recent rollout of over 5 million hectares of agricultural leases. These agricultural leases (known as Special Agriculture and Business Leases - SABLs) cover about 20% of the country’s forests and represent one of the worst contemporary cases of cultural land grabs. They will decimate PNG’s remaining forests and biodiversity unless they are overturned. Greenpeace is in PNG at the request of customary landowners who are fighting to hold on to their land and forests.

Related Collections:

Biggest Land Grab in PNG History (Photo + Video)

Conceptually similar