NEW CASE, SAME STORY - FOREST RESOURCE GRAB CONTINUES (2026)
Ecologically and culturally significant tropical forest in Papua New Guineaā€™s Western Province is being unlawfully logged under what appears to be a Forest Clearing Authority (FCA), according to evidence published in this report.
This new report investigates a potential new FCA, covering an area of 96,754 hectares - a size roughly equivalent to 135,000 rugby fields - making it one of Papua New Guineaā€™s largest FCA concessions. It is the first in an investigative series presenting overwhelming proof that in 2026, FCAs are still being used as a loophole for industrial logging that bypasses more stringent environmental regulation and social safeguards. This comes despite a moratorium on new FCAs announced in 2023 and the widely acknowledged misuse of these permits.
This new report investigates a potential new FCA, covering an area of 96,754 hectares - a size roughly equivalent to 135,000 rugby fields - making it one of Papua New Guineaā€™s largest FCA concessions. It is the first in an investigative series presenting overwhelming proof that in 2026, FCAs are still being used as a loophole for industrial logging that bypasses more stringent environmental regulation and social safeguards. This comes despite a moratorium on new FCAs announced in 2023 and the widely acknowledged misuse of these permits.