UMUDA ISLAND (Greenpeace) — Greenpeace on Sunday stopped the export of illegally and destructively logged timber from the Kiunga Aiambak logging project to China by preventing the loading of logs here on Umuda Island.
Climbers from the Greenpeace vessel, the MV Arctic Sunrise, are blocking the crane of the log shop, the Hua Yang. Volunteers are also occupying the log barge and have hung a banner reading “Ancient Forest Crime.”
“We are taking this action at the request of landowners in the Kiunga-Aiambak area. There has been a lot of talk about the need to close this project down from politicians, academics and others, most recently at a roundtable discussion aboard the Arctic Sunrise. Now it is time for action,” says Greenpeace campaigner Bianca Havas.
Last month, Lake Murray Resource Owners Association President Sep Galeva visited Port Moresby to ask the government to stop all logging operations in the area. Most of the logs are exported to China, Japan and Korea, where they are used to make furniture, flooring and cheap plywood.
Landowners say this logging is causing them social and economic hardship. A series of politicians and bureaucrats have helped the logging company, Concord Pacific, to operate illegally. The road Concord Pacific is claiming to build in the name of “development” is already impassable in many places.
“The government should seize the assets of Concord Pacific in order to reimburse landowners for their losses; reject any application to extend the project; investigate and prosecute those involved in the scandal, and permanently revoke Concord Pacific’s status as a Forest Industries Participant, said Greenpeace forests specialist, Brian Brunton.
“Our action is also an appeal to governments to commit to stopping this type of destructive logging in the lead-up to the Johannesburg Earth Summit in August,” Brunton said.
