Launch of National Forest Inventory short film and report
Climate Action and Energy Mr Miguel Arias Cañete together with Minister of Forest for Papua New Guinea, Hon. Douglas Tomuriesa and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO) Subregional Coordinator for the Pacific, Mr Gavin Wall, will launch a short film and a report of the National Forest Inventory.
The launch of the short film 'PNG's First National Forest Inventory' and a report 'Forest and land use in Papua New Guinea' represents a milestone of the ongoing EU-FAO Project “Technical support to
the PNG Forest Authority to implement a multipurpose National Forest Inventory” and UN-REDD
PNG National Programme. The overall objective is to build up accurate data in order to strengthen
sustainable forestry management as well as to mitigate the serious risk that climate change poses in
the Pacific region.
In his opening address Commissioner Cañete stressed the importance of supporting a national
forestry inventory by acknowledging the Papua New Guinea Forest Authority's commitment in
leading its implementation. Commissioner Arias Cañete said "The project constitutes a great
opportunity to revive and enhance the forestry debate for the benefit of not only Papua New Guinea
but also of the whole world". He also stressed that it is crucial to ensure a multi-stakeholder
approach and have encouraged reinforcement of the institutional coordination across relevant
ministries of the Government of Papua New Guinea as well as with other relevant actors, including
the private sector and civil society.
Minister of Forest of Papua New Guinea, Hon Douglas Tomuriesa highlighted that the National
Forest Inventory will not only ascertain the type and quantity of forest resources; it will also
ascertain carbon content in our forest as well as the fauna and areas of biodiversity significance. The
results of the National Forest Inventory will trigger policy interventions to enable formulation of
appropriate forest plans for sustainable forest management to contribute towards sustainable
development for the next 40 years.
Minister Tomuriesa also expressed his government’s gratitude to the European Union and its partner
the FAO through the UN-REDD Program for funding the National Forest Inventory which is the first
to be under taken in Papua New Guinea.
For his part, the FAO Subregional Coordinator for the Pacific, Mr Gavin Wall commented that the
assistance of the European Union to PNG for the establishment of the National Forest Monitoring
System is a critical initiative within the rubric of sustainable forest management. He congratulated
the Government of PNG for significantly improving their capacity on forest monitoring and the use of
remote sensing technology, and also expressed appreciation to the European Union and to Norway
for their generous financial support. He also highlighted the fact that the technical team in FAO HQs
consider the National Forest Monitoring System being established in PNG as one of the most
advanced and appropriate systems amongst REDD+ participating countries, which is an important
accolade to all of the partners working in PNG on sustainable forest management.
The National Forest Inventory is strongly linked with the current efforts of the EU and its partners to
secure a fair, ambitious and legally binding international agreement under the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the 2015 Conference of Parties in Paris
(COP21) to make sure that the world remains on track to keep global warming below 2° C increase
limit.
Commissioner Cañete was accompanied by members of his Cabinet from Brussels, Ambassadors from
European Union Delegations across the Pacific region and Ambassadors from European Member
States accredited to PNG.
The total budget of the Project is K22.8 million (7.8 million Euro), which is funded by European Union
(5.8 million Euro) and UN-REDD (2 million Euro). The Project is implemented by Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the PNG Forest Authority as the main PNG
government executing agency.
Photo credit: European Union
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