Search

PNG is deeply committed to the sustainable management of its fisheries resources, both to maximize their commercial value and to preserve their biodiversity for generations to come. (...). The Government is fully committed to the eradication of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, though traditional ('kastom') community systems of stock management and protection are every bit as valid and effective as those within the formal legal system. The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA, eight Pacific islands including PNG that cooperate to manage tuna stocks) now require all purse-seiners to carry observers, as part of renewed efforts to tackle IUU fishing. (...)The Government sees the achievement of SDG 14.6 as critical for the health of the world's fisheries, and consequently the successful achievement of a fisheries subsidies agreement is currently its highest priority at the WTO.

The Government supports a range of additional sustainability measures, such as the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation's (ISSF) partnership with industry to reduce the negative effects of lost fish aggregating devices (FADs) by improving their biodegradability. In 2014, the Conservation and Environmental Protection Authority (CEPA) introduced a new policy on protected areas, including the creation of marine sanctuaries and locally managed marine areas. Enabling legislation is currently in draft form.

The Medium-term Development Plan 2016-17 indicated that, in the preceding years, forests had been degraded and depleted due to excessive logging, and called for this practice to be stopped. The Government decided to ban all round-log exports by 2020. In addition, a moratorium on the issuance of new logging permits is in place.

PNG aims to achieve a forestry sector that is both sustainable and profitable for current and future generations through the following measures: establish a forest resource inventory to ensure policy decisions are well-informed; promote sustainable forest management through reforestation and afforestation programmes; prevent the felling of virgin forests unless the land is developed to provide sustainable jobs and income, whether through agriculture, plantation or other profitable land uses; (...)and enhance the research and extension services of the forest industry to make it profitable and sustainable.

Table 4.3 Key forestry targets for 2030
Key indicators Baseline information Issues 2030 targets/objectives
(…)
Share of log harvest coming from virgin forest .. A sustainable approach to forestry will ensure that the benefits of investment in the forestry sector continue into the future, and will help realize environmental benefits. Logs will be provided by plantations and managed forests

Fisheries management consists of several Fisheries Management Plans, designed to manage the main fisheries sustainably, based on estimates of total allowable catch (TAC). The regulatory instrument is vessel licences issued by the NFA. Fish exports must be licensed and quality inspected (PNG Standards of Fish and Fishery Products Regulation, 2009).

(...) According to the authorities, to achieve these targets, maritime surveillance capacities need to be enhanced to oversee the sector; notably, the lack of policy enforcement is resulting in the loss of millions of Kina in illegal or under-reported fishing activities. (...)

Key fisheries targets for 2030
Key indicators Baseline information Issues 2030 targets/objectives
(…)
Licence fees generated from tuna fisheries PGK 60 million in 2008 Licence fees are low, and create an incentive to overfish. Raising fees will benefit PNG. Taxing catch or profit will help sustain the fishery by reducing the incentive to overfish. PGK 600 million in 2008 prices through the introduction of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) Vessel Day Scheme
(...)

(...)The statutory Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) aims to promote sustainable mining, and to regulate the industry to maximize opportunities (Mineral Resources Authority Act, 2005).(...)
Tenements are issued by the Mining Minister on recommendations from the Mining Advisory Council (MAC) (Mining Act, 1992), except for special mining licences, which are issued by the Head of State based on advice from the NEC. The types of tenements are:
(...) •lease for mining purposes – granted to mining operations for constructing buildings and other improvements, or for buying operating plant, machinery, and equipment; installing mineral-treatment plants; the deposit of tailings or waste; (...)

PNG's key policy objective for the sector is "to double mineral exports, while minimizing the adverse impact on the environment". (...)