For us in India, as in most other Asian societies, the country is interesting for the communal nature of land ownership. Even the forests are owned by the people. The state has the right to only the minerals below the ground. The communal nature of land ownership implies total control and rights, for instance to convert forests to other uses or sell it to logging companies. Contrast this with India where the state is the absolute owner of forests with the people enjoying minor concessions. And even then, there are frequent conflicts and clashes between the forest department and the people.

Interestingly, however, in PNG ownership rights to forest also mean that local people can sell these rights. And they often do so.

As a result, the forest area in PNG has been declining due to conversion to gardens and plantations of coconut, coffee and palm, and logging and mining. One of the biggest threats is the large scale logging of timber, estimated at more than 2 million cubic metres annually. Such logging is said to be environmentally destructive. Further, most of the economic gains have been captured by the logging companies and, of late, by the government in the form of an export tax. Due to lack of expertise, skills and experience the people have usually got a bad deal (estimates suggest communities get $ 5 of the export price of $150-200 per cubic metre).

Hence, secure tenure has neither led to conservation nor have the local people got many benefits. Some have even found themselves in debt and the little money they received has been frittered away. The government’s attempt to intervene to regulate the logging concessions, ostensibly to protect the environment and to generate more revenue are a source of tension as local groups strive to retain control over their resources.

It is against this background that the Biodiversity Conservation Network (BCN) works with local partners to establish and evaluate an enterprise-based approach to conservation. BCN funds have been used to support scientific research stations and eco-tourism businesses in PNG. Both involve the establishment of lodges and support services as guides and porters. Units for the manufacture and marketing of artifacts, have also been set up.

The most interesting of these enterprises is the seemingly incongruous logging project. This BCN supported business is an attempt at giving communities the capacity to undertake small scale logging. Local groups are provided with the means to acquire portable saw mills. Seven to eight people typically work to cut, transport and saw wood. The wood is usually supplied to the local market, unlike the larger companies, which export the wood.

The enterprises have achieved mixed success. One particularly successful unit has, over the past few years, accumulated enough surplus to purchase a plantation (valued at $10,000) which had been sold nearly half a century ago to some outsiders. It is also starting to pay back the loan it took to acquire the saw mill. At some sites, spin-off enterprises like a bakery and sewing businesses have been started. Other units are, however, struggling to establish their businesses.

Information on the environmental impact of the portable saw mills is scanty. Casual evidence suggests that the impact is minimal, if for no other reason than the limited scale of operation of the mills. A portable mill can cut a tree or two per week, generating between 0.8 to 1.2 cubic metres of finished timber. Allowing for down time for repairs and maintenance and other interruptions, the average is considerably lower. With the limited density of population (small communities of a few hundred people control literally thousands of hectares of forests), there is unlikely to be a marked adverse impact on the forests for a long time.

Apart from generating cash income, the projects also work to upgrade the technical and business skills of the local communities. Perhaps, the most significant advantage is the demonstration of an alternative to large scale logging, even though they are as yet not in a position to satisfy international demand for sawn wood.

Although it is too early to say whether these community-based timber production enterprises will lead to long-term sustainable harvests, they are, at a minimum, contributing to conservation by: