Papua New Guinea is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential government revenue through tax evasion by the logging industry. ACT NOW! is calling on the government to take action - but we need your help! 

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The government needs to urgently take action on the SABL land grab and increase scrutiny of the logging industry. This was one of the messages from the international community during a review of human rights in PNG by the United Nations in Geneva on Friday.

Countries from Central and South America, Asia and Europe all spoke of the need for the PNG government to do more to protect the rights of customary landowners.

Photo: Ronny Hansen, Rainforest Foundation Norway

A group of civil society organisations, including ACT NOW!, Global Witness and Rainforest Foundation Norway, held a panel discussion inside the Palace of Nations in Geneva on Friday to review the outcomes from Papua New Guinea’s Universal Periodic Review.

Source: United Nations

Papua New Guinea’s human rights record will be examined by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group for the second time on Friday, 6 May 2016 in a meeting that will be webcast live.

The youths of Karkar Island have expressed their frustrations over experimental seabed mining after awareness was organised by Act Now! and conducted by Tropical Gems.

The young people said they also share the Bismarck sea and they don’t want to be used as a science lab by Canadian mining company Nautilus Minerals whose experimental seabed mine will be the first of its kind in the world.

Youth Leader, Smith Tunn, said:

Source: 4-Traders, Fiji

A new World Bank report recommends that Pacific Island countries supporting or considering deep sea mining activities proceed with a high degree of caution to avoid irreversible damage to the ecosystem, and ensure that appropriate social and environmental safeguards are in place as part of strong governance arrangements for this emerging industry.

The people of Biliau and Galil from the Raikos area of Madang province are standing together and saying No to Experimental Seabed Mining as this would affect their livelihoods and environment. They depend entirely on the sea for their daily subsistence.

The villagers and locals were attending an awareness on experimental sea bed mining organised by Act Now! and Tropical Gem to learn about the proosed Solwara 1 seabed mine. 

Source: Scott Waide – EMTV News

Another low point came yesterday when another Papua New Guinean journalist was threatened by senior members of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary for maintaining contact with the suspended head of the Police Fraud Squad, Matthew Damaru.

Source: Post Courier

The drop in commodity prices is a great lesson for Papua New Guinea which has relied too much on the extractive industries, says Northern Governor Gary Juffa.

The Forest Minister has taken out full page adverts in the media this month [see below] trying to refute allegations of illegal logging and financial misreporting by the logging industry. But his lengthy explanations fail to answer the central allegations and many of his admissions actually add weight to the arguments he is trying to dispute!