Forestry Minister: 75pc of country’s forests intact

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FORESTRY Minister Douglas Tomuriesa says almost 75 per cent of forests in Papua New Guinea are still intact with very little, or no human disturbance.
The minister highlighted this during the launch of the National REDD+ (Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) Strategy in Port Moresby last Friday.
“Of the 46 million hectares of land that constitutes the total land mass of PNG, some 36 million hectares or 78 per cent of the land is under forest cover,” he said.
“And I am pleased to inform this gathering that about 75 per cent (or 30 million hectares) of our forests are still intact with very little or no human disturbance.”
Tomuriesa said the launching of the National REDD+ Strategy was the second of two out of the four elements required under the United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for REDD+ readiness to implement REDD+ projects in the country.
“The other is the National Forest Monitoring System.
“The Safeguards Information System is being finalised while the Forest Reference Level has been submitted to the UNFCCC in January 2017 for its review.
“As minister, I urge our international development partners to continue to work with PNG’s institutions including the PNG Forest Authority to ensure that PNG has ready access to adequate resources to enable implementation of the National REDD+ Strategy through the REDD+ Finance and Investment Plan.
“The Government, through its institutions such as the PNGFA, is committed to working with our international development partners to achieve these goals as part of our contribution to achieving the sustainable development goals.”