Pacific Storms brew in Australia

Captions: 1. Joycelin Leahy and Tema,a Tongan community leader 2. Joycelin Leahy with artists Micah Furseta, Lingikoni Vakauta and Lambert Ho 3. Crowd at the opening night 4. PNG talent...Jeffry Feeger, University of Queensland Prof Amareswah Galla, Daniel Waswas and Mairi Feeger at Pacific Storms Opening

Pacific Storms, a contemporary art exhibition of significant Pacific island issues curated by Papua New Guinea woman Joycelin Leahy, opened to a record crowd of 425 people at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery last Wednesday night.
It was opened by the Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Affairs, Duncan Kerr.
The turn out included audiences from around Australia, Pacific islanders, residents of Bundaberg Region and 27 of 33 artists – Papua New Guineans included - who exhibited in the show.
In his speech, Mr Kerr said the artworks challenged the traditional perceptions of Pacific cultures and their arts.
He called Pacific Storms a “superb example of contemporary Pacific Island culture”.
“I am sure that those who visit the exhibition will be surprised and perhaps startled by what they see,” Mr Kerr said.
“The works on display present a contemporary perspective of Pacific societies and cultures.
“It is a perspective that many Australians, including those in the art world, may not be prepared for.”
He said the exhibition brought an important understanding of Australia to its closest neighbors and the fact that Pacific islands’ concerns and their worlds were not so different to Australia’s.
Australia has committed $150 Million over three years under the Climate Change Adaptation Initiative to help meet high priority adaptation needs of vulnerable countries in the region, which focuses on Pacific Islands and East Timor.
Responding to other major social issues highlighted in Pacific Storms, Mr Kerr said development assistance alone could not improve long-term economic outlook or Pacific Islands, therefore, Australia had placed a greater priority on trade and economic cooperation with its Pacific partners.
“Since its opening, there have been a number of public programmes organised by curating partner, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery,” Ms Leahy told The National.
“These included leis making and weaving which drew another crowd of 378 people last Saturday at the gallery.
“During the week, PNG artists, Daniel Waswas and Peter Leo Ella engaged with Bundaberg School children to discuss their style of artwork and talk about Pacific people and the culture.”
Pacific Storms will remain on show at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery until July 12.

Rekindling memories of the great sea voyages of Morobe

The kasali beaches at Malalo with Salamaua Point in the background

Sailing the kasali into Salamaua

Laukanu villagers with their kasali at picturesque Malolo in Salamaua, Morobe province

Laukanu villagers land their kasali at Malalo in Salamaua, Morobe province

In October 2007, the people from my mother’s beautiful Laukanu village in Salamaua, Morobe province, rekindled memories of yore when they launched a kasali (ocean going canoe).
For many people, especially the young ones, it was a rare opportunity to see a traditional canoe used by these seafarers of the Huon Gulf, as they may never again be able to do so again.
The people of Laukanu were among the greatest mariners of the Huon Gulf, making long ocean trips throughout the Huon Gulf to exchange goods, long before the arrival of the white man.
Researchers know that around the Huon Gulf, a complex and extensive trading system – dependent on canoe voyages – had existed long before contact with Europeans, and the Laukanu people, using the kasali, were among the best.
When the first Lutheran missionaries arrived in Finschhafen in the late 1880s, the Laukanu made the long sea voyage to Finschhafen, and helped to bring the Miti (Word of God) to the villages south of Lae.
The launch of the kasali celebrated not only the great seamanship of the Laukanu, but more importantly, coincided with the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Malolo Mission Station - overlooking idyllic and historic Salamaua – on October 12, 1907.
The people of Salamaua and surrounding villages, who make up the Malalo Circuit, converged on Malalo for that momentous occasion.
It was a time for all to celebrate the important role the church had played in their lives, as well as remember the many expatriate missionaries and local evangelists, who worked through the dark days of World War 1 and World War 11 to bring the Miti (Word of God) to the people.
These legendary missionaries include Reverend Karl Mailainder and Rev Herman Boettger (who started actual work on the Malalo station), Rev Hans Raun, Rev Friedrich Bayer, Rev Mathias Lechner, and Rev Karl Holzknecht.
Apart from the centenary celebrations, it was also a time for the Laukanu people to showcase their ocean-going and canoe-building skills, which have now been safely passed on to the next generation.

Our cucumbers are growing again!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a real life experience about 'tis little things that can hurt a lot.
It goes something like this: "I’m just a simple, working-class Papua New Guinean, struggling to make ends meet as well as get over the death of my wife last year.
"I live with my four young children in a one-bedroom unit at Gerehu, a suburb of Port Moresby.
"We have this tiny little backyard stretch which we use to grow vegetables.
"Some weeks ago, I bought cucumber and tomato seeds, which I sowed.
"It became a daily ritual for my four young children to get up early in the morning and water and weed their vegetable patch.
"The cucumbers grew up and started flowering, and every day, the little ones would tell me of how much they were looking forward to eating their cucumbers.
"Last Friday, after work, I went home and wondered why they were looking so sad and sullen.
“Dad,” they chorused, 'those big boys next door have pulled out our cucumbers'.
"It broke my heart!
"Tis little things like this that can hurt a lot."

PS: I'm happy to report that we have dug out a new vegetable patch, complete with cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, and other vegetables, and after the recent downpour over the long weekend, they're growing very well. Picture above are my daughter Moasing pointing out the garden, a close-up, and that's me with the big beard (which I really have to get rid of, as it makes me look so much older).

 

Montevideo Maru tragedy remembered 67 years on

The ill-fated Montevideo Maru. Picture supplied by KEITH JACKSON

Artist's impression of the Montevideo Maru. Picture supplied by KEITH JACKSON

USS Sturgeon, the US sumbmarine which torpedoed the Montevideo Maru. Picture supplied by KEITH JACKSON

Members of the Rabaul-based Lark Force, many of whom perished on the Montevideo Maru. Picture supplied by KEITH JACKSON

Australia’s worst maritime tragedy, which intimately involves Papua New Guinea, is the sinking of the Montevideo Maru off the Philippines coast on July 1, 1942.
Japanese hospital ship Montevideo Maru was carrying 845 troops from Australia’s Lark force and 208 civilians – 1,053 men – taken prisoner of war after Japan invaded the beautiful town of Rabaul, East New Britain province, in Jan 1942.
These civilians included men who may have helped build pre-war Rabaul, capital of then New Guinea until the volcanic eruption of 1937, and included administration workers and missionaries.
There were even members of an Australian Salvation Army band.
The unmarked Japanese ship left occupied Rabaul on June 22, 1942, but nine days later on July 1, American submarine USS Sturgeon torpedoed it off Luzon in the Philippines.
The saddest thing is that the wreck has never been found to this day, and both Australia and PNG do not know the names of those killed, as the official nominal (katakana) roll – which might give a clue to the identities of those on board – has not been located
Now, 67 years later, Australian families who lost loved ones in Australia’s worst maritime tragedy, want the shipwreck to be found and made a war grave by the federal government.
Relatives of men onboard the ill-fated ship have set up the Montevideo Maru Memorial Committee to mark the tragedy they say has been overlooked by officials.
Former Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Kim Beazley has accepted the role of patron of the committee.
A plaque to commemorate the sinking of the Montevideo Maru will be unveiled at Subic Bay in the Phillipines on Wednesday, July 1.
A powerful new documentary film, ‘The Tragedy of the Montevideo Maru’, produced by Australian filmmaker John Schindler, is due to be released in November and promises to shed more light on this calamity of Australian and PNG WW11 history.
Committee member and former PNG kiap Keith Jackson provided documents and pictures of the Montevideo Maru tragedy as the anniversary of its leaving Rabaul and tragic sinking near.
After the Japanese invasion of Rabaul in Jan 1942, an early decision was by the Australian government to evacuate women and children from Rabaul and the islands, but to leave behind the male (and Chinese and mixed-race civilians), and a small garrison of Australian troops, known as Lark Force.
"Lark Force was the bastion against the Japanese advance,” Mr Jackson says.
“The bulk of these troops comprised the 2/22nd Battalion of the Australian Army.
“Amongst their number was the Brunswick Salvation Army band from Melbourne.
“In January 1942, Rabaul was overwhelmed by a far superior Japanese force.
“Disaster ensued.
“Precious few of the troops and but one bandsman, Fred Kollmorgen, escaped alive.
“The Japanese executed many more.
“Of the many men taken prisoner – 1,053 troops, civilians and the bulk of the Brunswick Band – died when the Montevideo Maru was torpedoed off the Philippines on July 1, 1942.”
Jackson stressed in no uncertain terms that the tragedy of the Montevideo Maru must never be allowed to fade away.
“Firstly, there are the victims’ relatives and their thirst for knowledge and need for closure,” he said.
“Because there remain so many questions about the tragedy, it is impossible for these people to assure themselves that the full story has been told.
“In the dishonouring of the rights of the relatives to official recognition of this tragedy, there is an implicit dishonouring of the memories of the 1,053 men who died.
“Second, there is much that is unknown about political decisions made in Canberra in January 1942 that left just 1,400 Lark Force troops to defend Rabaul against a strong Japanese invading force supported by overwhelming air and naval power.
“Third, there was the discreditable official silence, for the entire duration of the war, surrounding the fate of the 1,053 (it is thought) troops and civilians loaded on to the Montevideo Maru.
“And then there was the unsolved puzzle of who exactly was on board the vessel.
“There was a roll kept by the Japanese that apparently fell into Australian hands after the war.
“It went missing.
“Fourth, there has been the unfathomable official reluctance to give due recognition to the Montevideo Maru tragedy, which is at least as significant as the sinking of the light cruiser Sydney (645 deaths) and the hospital ship Centaur (268 deaths).
“Fifth, there are stories that Australians should know about our history.
“This is surely one of them.
“These are the reasons why this matter must be pursued.”
Keith Jackson can be contacted on email benelong@bigpond.net.au or visit his PNG Attitude blog http://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/.

Pacific Storms Opening

Pacific Storms, a contemporary art exhibition of significant Pacific island issues curated by Joycelin Leahy opened to a record crowd of 425 people at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery last Wednesday night.

It was opened by the Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Affairs, Mr Duncan Kerr. The turn out included audiences from around Australia, Pacific islanders, residents of Bundaberg Region and 27 of 33 artists who exhibited in the show.

In his speech, Mr Kerr said the artworks challenges the traditional perceptions of Pacific Cultures and their arts. He called Pacific Storms a “superb example of contemporary Pacific Island Culture”.

“I am sure that those who visit the exhibition will be surprised and perhaps startled by what they see. The works on display present a contemporary perspective of Pacific societies and cultures. It is a perspective that many Australians, including those in the art world, may not be prepared for,” Mr Kerr said.

He also said the exhibition brings an important understanding of Australia to its closest neighbors and the fact that Pacific islands’ concerns and their worlds are not so different to Australia’s.

Australia has committed $150 Million over three years under the Climate Change Adaptation Initiative to help meet high priority adaptation needs of vulnerable countries in the region which focuses on Pacific Islands and East Timor.

Responding to other major social issues highlighted in Pacific Storms, Mr Kerr said development assistance alone cannot improve long-term economic outlook or Pacific Islands, therefore Australia has placed a greater priority on trade and economic cooperation with its Pacific partners.

Since its opening, there have been a number of public programmes organised by curating partner, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery. These included leis making and weaving which drew another crowd of 378 people on Saturday at the gallery. During the week, PNG artists, Daniel Waswas and Peter Leo Ella engaged with Bundaberg School children to discuss their style of artwork and talk about Pacific people and the culture.

Pacific Storms will remain on show at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery until July 12.

 

 

 

Airlines PNG commences regular commercial flights to Bulolo

The historical mining town of Bulolo, Morobe province, took another giant step forward last Friday with the commencement of a regular passenger transport (RPT) by Airlines PNG.

Media personnel as well as the first batch of passengers were on board the Dash 8 flight to Bulolo last Friday morning, which was greeted by management and staff of PNG Forest Products, which owns the land on which the Bulolo Airport is built.

Captain Ross Fieldus and his first officer Russell Yappa made it look like just another ‘milk run’ with the flight taking just 40 minutes.

The Bulolo service, which will be every Monday and Friday, promises to greatly boost business and tourism in Bulolo, as well as the surrounding electorates of Menyamya, Huon, Markham and Lae.

Airlines PNG systems and distributions manager, Tremaine Flynn, said the decision to commence an RPT to Bulolo stemmed from its charter business.

“A year ago,” he said at a small reception at the Bulolo airport terminal, “we commenced a contract with Morobe Mining Joint Venture to move their personnel in and out of Bulolo with three flights a week.

“This has progressed into a daily service.

“We believe that many stakeholders are also recognizing the development and growth in this region of Morobe as more and more of them set up either direct or indirect services here.

“The introduction for this new RPT service not only represents confidence in the community and business sectors but it also sets the stage for new opportunities for business to begin.

“The flow-on effect of improved services and industry to the region will mean that the people in the community will directly benefit and we now encourage the community to take full advantage of this new service.

“Therefore, we believe that our decision to introduce the RPT service between Bulolo and Port Moresby is timely and will be supported by the community and business industry throughout the Wau/Bulolo area.”

Mr Flynn commended Bulolo MP Sam Basil, MMJV, and PNGFP for their support in making the service possible.

PNGFP deputy general manager Marinus Valks said: “PNG Forest Products is very pleased to see the return of a regular passenger service out of Bulolo again.

“We’re sure that the community is going to support this new service.

“It’s also a great opportunity for Airlines PNG, since the commencement of regular charter services last year.”

 

You needed to know this!!...

AT 5 MINUTES AND 6 SECONDS AFTER 4 A.M., ON THE 7th OF August, THIS YEAR,
THE TIME AND DATE WILL BE: 04:05:06 07-08-09
THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN UNTIL THE YEAR 3009!!!

Don't you feel better for knowing that?

"Unlearn and relearn," say industry experts to small and medium enterprises

Issued by the APEC Secretariat

 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5 June 2009 – “If you build it, they will come,” say guests of the APEC SME Technology Entrepreneur Seminar. 

 

The economic landscape has incurred some dramatic changes: budget cuts, climate change, social and demographic shifts pose a new set of challenges.  However, say industry experts, for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are able to adapt, such changes offer a wealth of opportunities:

 

• Perhaps counter-intuitively, established players insist that now is the time to spend money on research and development.  According to Choo Hua Wee, Director of Corporate Affairs, Microsoft will invest 9 billion in research and development in 2009 – a billion more than the previous year.

 

• Open innovation is key to advances in technology.  Gone are the days when companies angled to attract the best and the brightest and used patents and copyrights to keep everyone else away, explains Robert Kramer, Vice President of Public Policy at Comp TIA: “Intellectual Property Right isn’t just a means of protection; it’s a bargaining chip.”  External research is as important as internal research and ideas are regularly bought and sold. 

 

• Challenges associated with demographic shift and climate change will demand solutions.  BYD, the Chinese Hybrid/Electric Car Company in which Warren Buffet invested last year, will launch the Pure EV-e6 “rechargeable car” in China by the end of 2009. 

 

• Outsourcing auxiliary tasks allows companies to concentrate on their core business.

 

• The convenience of technology allows small businesses to operate with very little overhead.  Explains Ryan Brock of AMI Partners, “like everyone, SMEs have had to do more with less.”  Technology makes business more efficient and frees up time for maintaining good client relationships.

 

• Technology offers an alternative means of export – a largely untapped arena for SMEs.  Steven Liew, Director of Government Relations, eBay Asia Pacific points out: “1.3 million sellers use eBay as their primary or secondary source of income; and of these sellers, 530,000 operate standalone stores on eBay.”

 

The seminar, which drew members of the SME community as well as large corporate representatives from organizations including Microsoft, Dell, PayPal/eBay, and BYD, has issued a set of recommendations to the APEC SME Working Group.  The Working Group is responsible to APEC’s senior officials, whose work is instrumental in shaping public policy throughout the APEC region.

 

For more information, contact:

Carolyn Williams at cdw@apec.org or at (65) 9617 7316

Anita Douglas at ad@apec.org or at (65) 9172 6427

 

 

 

Pictures of the first commercial Airlines PNG flight from Port Moresby to Bulolo on Friday, June 5, 2009

Macdhui is an icon of Papua New Guinea history

The wreckage of the mv Macdhui as seen from Kanudi

Bradley Gewa shows the bell of the mv Macdhui on the roof of St John's Anglican Cathedral in downtown Port Moresby

Mast of the mv Macdhui at the Royal Papua Yacht Club in Port Moresby

The bell of the mv Macdhui on the roof of St John's Anglican Cathedral in downtown Port Moresby

The bell of the mv Macdhui

The mv Macdhui being bombed by Japanese planes

The mv Machdhui on fire

The mv Machdhui...unknown date

A small but significant anniversary takes place on Thursday, June 18, 2009.
This will be the 67th anniversary of the sinking of the mv Macdhui, sunk in the Port Moresby harbour by Japanese bombs on that day in 1942.
One of the best-known landmarks in Port Moresby is the wreck of the Macdhui in the waters just off the Port Moresby Technical College at Kanudi.
Many people just drive or walk past without knowing the significant role that the maritime legend Macdhui played in the development of then Papua and New Guinea.
In 2007, I was asked to be a tour guide for a retired US veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, and one of the World War 11 relics I showed him was the wreck of the Macdhui.
As we stood at Kanudi looking out to sea, I wondered what stories the deep blue sea, the rolling hills, and the wide sky could tell me about what they saw that fateful day in 1942.
The Macdhui, 4630 tonnes, built in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1930, was owned and operated on the Australia-Papua New Guinea service by Burns Philp and Company Limited.
Macdhui’s maiden voyage took place in March 1931, sailing to Suva, Fiji, via the Azores, Jamaica, and the Panama Canal, with a load of coal.
Then the Sydney to Rabaul route for Burns Philip with 167 first-class passengers’ accomodation.
On June 20, 1931, a fire broke out on another voyage between Madang and Lae, but the passengers were safely taken ashore in lifeboats.
MacDhui was safely towed to Salamaua, New Guinea's then administrative capital, by Neptuna, another Burns Philp & Co vessel.
After patching at Salamaua, MacDhui was sailed to Sydney for six weeks of repairs.
With the onset of war the ship was commandeered by the Navy and used to evacuate civilians from New Guinea, then carrying Australian troops back to Port Moresby.
On June 17, 1942, the Macdhui was attacked by Japanese bombers as it was discharging to lighters in Port Moresby harbour.
It began zigzagging around the harbour but took one direct hit which caused considerable damage.
The vessel later went alongside the main wharf to unload dead and wounded.
The next day, at 10.45am, there was another air-raid warning and the Macdhui moved out into the harbour and began manoeuvring.
Soon after the raid began, it took a direct hit.
The captain headed towards shallow water where his ship finally keeled over onto a reef.
Ten of the crew of 77 were killed along with five Australian gunners from 39th Battalion.
Altogether, the Macdhui took four direct hits.
The dramatic sinking was captured on a black and white movie film shot by the famous Australian cameraman, Damien Parer from a nearby hilltop.
The loss of the Macdhui was a great blow to the morale of the Australian troops in Port Moresby.
Until then it had been the only regular and reliable link between Australia and Port Moresby.
After the war, the Australian government compensated Burns Philp for its loss.
The wreck itself is now deeply pitted and corroded under the waterline.
It is gradually breaking up but even if it does slip completely under the surface part of the Macdhui will remain in Port Moresby.
In the late 1960s the mast was removed and now stands outside the Royal Papua Yacht Club as a memorial to those who died.
One of the bells was erected in the tower of St John’s Anglican Church in Port Moresby and to this day still calls parishioners to worship.
Former vice-commodore of the Royal Papua Yacht Club, Trevor Kerr, tells of a supernatural experience in 1979 when the ashes of the late Captain J. Campbell, skipper of the Macdhui, were laid to rest with his ship.
The powered launch Tina, owned and skippered by yacht club committee member Russ Behan, approached the wreck with Captain Campbell’s two sons, a United Church minister, and Kerr on board.
“The weather in the harbour was unusually placid, not a zephyr stirred,” writes former Port Moresby diver Neil Whiting in Wreck and Reefs of Port Moresby.
“The sea was so clear that the superstructure of the Macdhui could be seen below the surface of the water.
“There was not a ripple on the surface or current drift to break the calm.
“With heads bowed in prayer, the United Church minister upturned the urn containing Captain Campbell’s ashes and scattered the contents into the sea.
“Trevor, observing the ceremony in a more-detached fashion than the others, observed the most-amazing sequence of events.
“The ashes initially clouded the water as one would expect, but almost immediately condensed into a form similar to a teardrop.
“Then, the most amazing phenomenon occurred.
“The teardrop cloud quite rapidly crossed the six-metre intervening gap between the Tina and the Macdhui and disappeared into the hull.
“At a nudge from Trevor, Russ glanced up and also observed the incredible event.
“The engines of the launch were quickly started and in a state of chilled awe, the funeral party motored away.
“Captain Campbell had returned to his ship.”

Varroa mite not such a threat to Papua New Guinea coffee

A collaborative research between Australian and Papua New Guinea scientists has revealed that the potential economic impact of a new Varroa mite (pictured above feedling on a honeybee) on Papua New Guinea agriculture is likely to be much less significant than speculated earlier.
 This outcome was discussed at a research review workshop hosted by the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in Lae last month which gathered a number of key agencies working together on the issue.
 The new variant of the varroa mite (Varroa jacobsoni) was first found in PNG on European honeybees (Apis melifera) in the Eastern Highlands in May 2008.
 The mite is now thought to have been in PNG for about six years. 
There were concerns the mite, which can decimate colonies of European honeybees, could significantly reduce the yields of a number of pollinated crops. Earlier predictions were that coffee yields alone could be cut by as much as 50%.
However, the study, just completed by scientists from NARI and the Australian-based Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), predicts that in a worst-case scenario, the mite would lead to annual economic losses to the coffee industry of less than K14 million, a fraction of the earlier prediction of K200 million.
The results of the CSIRO/NARI study, funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and Australia’s Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), were discussed by a number of agencies at the workshop in Lae, including representatives of NARI, CSIRO, ACIAR, the National Agricultural Quarantine and Inspection Authority, the Coffee Industry Corporation and Eastern Highlands provincial offices of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock.
“The study surveyed food and cash crops dependant on insect pollination and assessed their degree of dependence on insect pollination,” said CSIRO ecologist Dr Saul Cunningham. 
“It also surveyed pollinator insects that visit selected dependent crops both in the highlands and lowlands of the country.
“In PNG, the distribution of managed European honeybees (Apis mellifera) is restricted to the cooler highlands of PNG, whereas the feral Apis cerana are found throughout the country.
“Based on established knowledge from elsewhere, it is expected that Apis mellifera provide significant pollination services to highland crops like coffee, cucumber and orchard tree crops.  While pollinator dependent lowland crops like coconuts, oil palm and some vegetables are serviced by Apis cerana and other pollinator insects that do not appear to have been affected by the new strain of Varroa mite.”
In view of its relatively-high contribution to annual cash incomes of smallholder farmers in the densely-populated highlands of PNG, and its significance to the national economy, the scoping study focused on the likely economic impact that mite may have on the PNG highland (Arabica) coffee.
 The study developed an economic simulation model to estimate probable economic losses from coffee production over a period of years.
“The study showed that the earlier estimate of K200 million worth of annual drop in coffee production due to decline in pollination services is therefore considered a very unrealistic scenario in PNG,” Dr Cunningham said. 
“We predict that given the likelihood that other insects, such as the feral bee species Apis cerana and native bees, will continue to pollinate coffee, the impact could be even smaller than K14 million. 
“The workshop concluded that further targeted research would more accurately predict whether the impacts are closer to K14 million or K4 million annually.
“Further research is also needed on coffee pollination in PNG style coffee gardens, on which insects are involved, and how much they boost yield.  Such research would not only help understand the risks posed by Varroa mite, but would also help improve coffee production practices in the future.”
  Preliminary findings from a separate survey of Varroa mites in all PNG provinces indicate that the Varroa mite is widespread in the country, suggesting the need to initiate appropriate and sustainable parasite management interventions such as targeted application of chemicals, restriction of movements of bee colonies and hive equipment and other quarantine measures.
The coffee industry is already experiencing a gradual decline in supplies of coffee to the market, although the causes for this decline are still unknown. Further research work is needed to identify the possible causes and assess their relative importance.
Further information about results of this study can be obtained from Dr. Saul Cunningham of CSIRO in Canberra (Email: Saul.Cunningham@csiro.au )  or Dr Workneh Ayalew of NARI in Lae (Email: workneh.ayalew@nari.org.pg ).
The final report from the scoping study will be available from ACIAR later in 2009.

Forest carbon market already shows cracks

Source: Reuters

 

 * Papua New Guinea revises policy on forest carbon projects

 

* All projects suspended in meantime

 

* Carbon brokers made lucrative offer to assist govt agency

 

* Development groups warn forest deals could spark conflict

 

By Gerard Wynn and Sunanda Creagh

 

LONDON/NUSA DUA, Indonesia, June 4 (Reuters) - It could save the rainforests of Borneo, slow climate change and the international community backs it. But a plan to pay tropical countries not to chop down trees risks being discredited by opportunists even before it starts.

A forest carbon market is emerging in anticipation of a global, U.N. climate deal in December in Copenhagen, expected to allow rich countries to pay to protect rainforests as a cheap alternative to cutting their own greenhouse gases.

Officials in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have underlined how things may go awry.

Reuters has uncovered evidence of a multi-million-dollar offer of assistance from carbon brokers to a government agency, and confusion over whether offset sales were from valid projects.

There is growing interest from countries and companies in the developed world to buy the rights to the carbon stored in trees as they grow, to offset their own emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

But development and environment groups have long warned that suddenly placing a big value on rainforests could spur friction and even conflict in some developing nations, because of uncertain tenure rights, corruption and inadequate policing.

At a conference on the Indonesian island of Bali last week, Interpol environmental crime official Peter Younger told Reuters he expected fraudulent trading of carbon credits, as organised crime infiltrates the system of companies and countries in the developed world buying rights to the stored carbon.

Indonesia last month became the first country to set out some form of regulation for how its scheme will work, but stressed it has not yet developed a model for the most sensitive issue of revenue collection.

Papua New Guinea, which has some of the world's fastest-disappearing rainforest and has championed the forest carbon market, established its Office of Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability (OCCES) in 2008 to develop forest protection projects.

The agency suspended in January all plans to sell rights to the carbon stored in its rainforests after deals sparked land ownership disputes, a senior official told Reuters.

"All projects are suspended while we get some experience," said Theo Yasause, executive director of OCCES.

One such project included the department's own proposal to give exclusive rights to a large area of rainforest to two brokers which would in return donate A$10 million ($8 million) to fund the agency's creation.

Brokers develop projects for landowners to sell the carbon stored in their forests in return for a share of those rights.

ASSISTANCE

In government papers dated June 12 2008, seen by Reuters that Yasause signed and has authenticated, two brokers offered to help fund the OCCES agency. They were named in the memo as Earth Sky and Climate Assist PNG but could not be located for comment.

"That memo was in June, by January everything was stopped," said Yasause. "I said 'no, let's set a policy first.'"

In the memo Yasause asked PNG Prime Minister Michael Somare to counter-sign a certificate allowing the brokers to sell forest carbon offsets valued at $500 million.

"The (two brokers are) prepared to put in 10 million Australian Dollars to assist the establishment of the Office of Climate Change," Yasause wrote in the June 2008 memo. The OCCES would also earn 20 percent of any proceeds from carbon sales.

When the OCCES was created, Prime Minister Somare said it should be self-sufficient through funds generated from forest projects.

When asked why he thought his agency should receive such a large sum, Yasause said: "Initially we thought we should get some of that. It wasn't meant to set it as a policy. When I started I thought (it) could come as a tax to government.

"It was only a proposal. Nothing came through," he added.

MESS

PNG is now crafting an "open tendering" policy to sell rights to the carbon stored in its rainforests, Yasause said. That would apply to one project initially, called April Salome, when the policy was up and running.

"We suspended all communications and dealings with the brokers at this stage. I put a notice up saying 'there's no dealings as of January.'"

However, another broker and project consultant, Swiss-based South Pole Carbon Asset Management, said it had rights to sell carbon credits from a certain portion of the April Salome project and would continue to do so.

"We have all kinds of letters of (government) support, approval and so on, including letters after January," said Christian Dannecker, principal at South Pole, who also referred to written authorisation for the project from 160 landowner groups in the region.

South Pole is already selling the carbon rights before the project is approved by a third party, called validation, a common practice in carbon markets. The timing of approval was unsure given it was "in an early phase", said Dannecker.

The company estimates April Salome will generate 1 million tonnes of avoided carbon dioxide emissions per year, but that was not formally audited. "We're still putting together data," said Dannecker. "It's not done, just estimates."

One buyer of the credits from South Pole was a Spanish environment group promoting ecological projects, CeroCO2, which in turn has sold the offsets to individuals, small companies and an event in Zaragoza, for example to offset travel.

The company has sold 660 tonnes at about 10 euros each. The buyers paid up-front but the group would replace the credits if the project was never approved, a group spokeswoman said.

CeroCO2 had told their clients that the project was at an early stage and that the carbon offsets were still hypothetical, she added.

CeroCO2's Web site said the offsets met a standard devised by U.S.-based auditors called the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA), but they did not.

"We have not received any documents about this project," said Joanna Durbin, a director at the CCBA.

"It was a mistake in our Web site," the CeroCO2 spokeswoman said. "We are human." CeroCO2 removed the project from its Web site after speaking to Reuters.

"It all goes to show what a horrible mess will ensue when there is neither a basic level of governance in the countries where the forestry credits are supposedly being generated, nor any regulation in the international markets where they are being traded," said Simon Counsell, director of the Rainforest Foundation UK.

Counsell urged much slower adoption of forest carbon rules, rather than rushing these in time for a December climate deal.

ELIGIBLE

Industrialised countries already pay developing nations to avoid greenhouse gas emissions, for example to build dams, wind farms or improve the efficiency of their factories, in a $6.5 billion trade in carbon offsets.

They view such offsets as a cut-price way to meet their carbon caps under the Kyoto Protocol, instead of taking more costly action at home, for example imposing carbon taxes on industry or households.

Payments to conserve trees are not eligible under Kyoto, but there is enormous pressure to widen the scheme to include rainforests under the successor climate pact to be thrashed out in Copenhagen.

Papua New Guinea helped found the 40-nation Coalition for Rainforest Nations which wants support for the system, Reduced Emissions from Degradation and Deforestation (REDD), under a new treaty.

Most PNG rainforest is owned by communities and indigenous groups, but the government still hands out concessions, said Andy White at Washington-based Rights and Resources Initiative.

The head of the Office of Climate Change, Yasause, produced papers in a PNG court on Monday confirming that he had suspended a deal -- which he had originally approved -- involving another carbon fund, after complaints from landowners that they had not been consulted over sales of carbon rights in a forested area called Kamula Doso.

"I am not working with them until I get clarity in this landowner dispute, we cannot do REDD in those places if there is fighting between landowners, it will kill it," Yasause told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Daniel Fineren; Editing by Sara Ledwith

World Environment Day mangrove planting programme (please click to enlarge)

ENVIRONMENTAL and Conservation groups under the PNG Eco-Forestry Forum network are embarking on a massive tree planting drive with a target of 10,000  mangrove seedlings to be planted to commemorate World Environment Day on June 6.
The Motupore Islands Research Centre, mangrove expert Marine Biologist Thomas Manuawie is heading the re-vegetation exercise to take place in three coastal villages of Gabagaba, Tubuseria and Tahira on June  6.