Forest Industry of Papua New Guinea
The forest industry in PNG comprises mainly of log production from natural growth and plantation forests both for processing and for exports. Log export is the major sector of the forest industry comprising almost 90% of the total log production per annum. The Government of PNG encourages increased downstream processing of wood and thereby limiting the log exports. This presents an opportunity for further investments.
Furthermore, there are certified forest plantations in the country that are showing great potential for expansion given a shorter rotation tree crop with existing export markets.
There are also other Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) including sandalwood, eaglewood, massoy bark oil, rattan and medicinal plants that could be examined for development.
In recent times carbon trading under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol has gained momentum and PNG has the potential to benefit from this trade.
Forest Registration System of PNG
An individual or corporate body that wishes to venture into forest industry activities in Papua New Guinea must be certified as a forest industry participant (FIP) or consultant (FIC) as required under Section 111 of the Forestry Act because any person (s) or companies engaging in forest industry activities without being certified is deemed to be in breach of the Act, therefore, they will be under Section 114 of the Act.
Applications for FIP or FIC shall be lodged with the Managing Director as prescribed in Section 107 and using the relevant Forest Regulations Forms ranging from 208 -213.
Click here to find out how to get started.
Regulation Form 210: Application for Registration as a Forest Industry Participant
Regulation Form 212: Application for Registration as a Consultant
Log Scaling
Log scaling is an important aspect of logging and all log scalers operating in the PNG forest industry must be licensed. Read More on Log Scaling to participate.