Papua New Guinea (PNG) has one of the most significant areas of tropical forest in the world. These forests are, however, under threat from commercial logging, clearing of land for agricultural commodities, mining or the expansion of small-scale agriculture to meet the livelihood needs of the country's largely rural population.
The total area in PNG gazetted under Conservation for both marine and terrestrial environments only represents about 3.8% of the country's land area.
Comparisons of the countries with the largest forest areas (representing 90% of the global primary forest area reported to FRA, 2015
Link to the PNG Mineral Resources Authority portal.
Available layers:
* 30 Day Reserved Areas
* Mining Lease
* Special Mining Lease
* Alluvial Mining Lease
* Lease for Mining Purpose
* Mining Easement
* Exploration License
* Country
* ThirtyDayReservedAreas
* ActiveLicenses
The Island of New Guinea is the largest tropical island in the world and contains the third largest tropical rainforest after Amazon Basin and Congo basin. Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a well-known centre for biological endemism and diversification. Most forests in PNG are under customary ownership and play an important role in sustaining the traditional subsistence livelihoods of most of the population. Currently PNG’s forests are relatively intact. PNG’s forest covers 80% of the country’s land area and 60% of the forest are undisturbed.
FAO has been monitoring the world's forests at 5 to 10 year intervals since 1946.
The Global Forest Resources Assessments (FRA) are now produced every five years in an attempt to provide a consistent approach to describing the world's forests and how they are changing. The Assessment is based on two primary sources of data: Country Reports prepared by National Correspondents and remote sensing that is conducted by FAO together with national focal points and regional partners.
PNG has a total of about 46.9 million hectare of which 77.8% is forested with 13 natural forest
types and forest plantations with various species planted. The second major land
use in PNG is cropland, which covers 11.0% of the total land area. Grassland covers 5.3% and
wetland comprised 4.8% of the total land mass. Other Land including bare soil and rock covers
0.2% of the total land area. Settlements including villages and cities cover 0.9% of the land area.
Source: Papua New Guinea’s National REDD+ Forest Reference Level 2017
Web-Portal by Climate Change and Development Authority and Forest Authority
Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) has been one of the fastest growing economies globally this century with average growth rates above 6%. This rapid growth has been driven primarily by the expansion of foreign investment within the natural gas sector and high prices for PNG’s central exports many of which are transported to rapidly growing Asian economies. This growth has built on a long history of natural resources being at the centre of the PNG economy with exports and employment dominated by mining, natural gas, logging and agriculture.
The island of New Guinea harbours one of the world’s largest tracts of intact tropical forest, with 41% of its land
A list of datasets identified in the training workshop
In urban areas, responsibility for providing piped water and sewerage services in the nation’s capital, Port Moresby, lies with Eda Ranu, and for the remaining provincial and district towns with Water PNG (formerly the PNG Water Board). Service provision to these areas are estimated to be 89% access to safe water (little change from 87% in 1990), and 57% access to safe sanitation (down from 89% in 1990)1. Access to services in urban areas struggle to keep up in the face of rapid urban population expansion.
The New Guinea region evolved within the obliquely and rapidly converging Australian and Pacific plate boundary zone. It is arguably one of the most tectonically complex regions of the world, and its geodynamic evolution involved microplate formation and rotation, lithospheric rupture to form ocean basins, arc-continent collision, subduction polarity reversal, collisional orogenesis, ophiolite obduction, and exhumation of (ultra)high-pressure metamorphic rocks.
Official website of the PNG Forest Industry Association (Inc)
In September 2001, the National Executive Council (NEC) directed the National Department of Agriculture and Livestock (NDAL) to develop a medium term National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP). Accordingly, NDAL, having consulted all stakeholders and the wider community within the agriculture sector, formulated the plan
with technical and financial assistance from the GoPNG and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations under the Technical Cooperation Program (TCP No. 3003A).
An unprecedented increase in oil palm developments may be underway in Papua New Guinea (PNG) through controversial ‘Special Agricultural and Business Leases’ (SABLs) covering over two million ha. Oil palm development can create societal benefits, but doubt has been raised about whether the SABL developers intend establishing plantations. Here we examine the development objectives of these proposals through an assessment of their land suitability, developer experience and capacity, and socio-legal constraints.
With 3.8 million cubic meters of tropical wood exported in 2014, primarily to China, Papua New Guinea (PNG)has become the world’s largest exporter of tropical wood, surpassing Malaysia, which had held the top spot for the
past several decades.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a country emblematic of the challenges facing developing rainforest nations in the Global South. Despite its rich natural resources (recent surveys indicate that between 50% and 70% of the
The Papua New Guinea National Interpretation 2014 is based on the generic document of the Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Palm Oil 2013 (P&C 2013), which will be used as a standard for palm oil mills and plantations attaining certification under RSPO. The new Criteria, with associated Indicators, that have been added into the P&C 2013 are:
Criteria 1.3 – Ethical Conduct
Criteria 6.12 – Forced and Trafficked Labour
Criteria 6.13 – Respecting Human Rights; and
Criteria 7.8 – Minimizing GHG Emissions from New Plantings