Tavolo Villagers Perform Ritual in Papua New Guinea

The forest provides food, medicine, craft and building materials for the people of Papua New Guinea. Community ecoforestry enterprises have been in place across PNG for many years with varying degrees of success. With the support of local NGO partners such as FORCERT and Foundation for People and Community Development (FPCD), communities have been able to put in place an alternative to industrial logging and SABLs (Special Agriculture Business Leases) and protect their forest for future generations. Pictures include Tavolo FSC certiifed community forest management area in New Britain, Papua New Guinea. It is a collective community effort and with only 2 or 3 trees felled per hectare and with no roads, the environmental impact is very low. Also, all access is by foot or by boat within the Tavolo community forest management area. This is a key distinguishing feature from industrial logging where roads and tracks cause a huge amount of damage to soils and waterways.