Papua New Guinea’s Disappearing Forests
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008Papua New Guinea’s forests are going fast. A new satellite analysis reveals that in 2001 accessible forests in the country were being cleared or degraded by 362,000 hectares a year. A new report on The State of the Forests of Papua New Guinea from researchers at the University of Papua New Guinea Remote Sensing Centre and the Australian National University warns that by 2021, 83% of accessible forests and 53% of total forests will be gone or badly damaged. The unfortunate reality is that forests in Papua New Guinea are being logged repeatedly and wastefully with little regard for the environmental consequences and with at least the passive complicity of government authorities.