[{"bbox": [97, 164, 1163, 219], "category": "Text", "text": "However, within the complex scenario of severe risks for PNG's ecosystems and livelihoods on the one hand and major opportunities as described above, several key challenges remain:"}, {"bbox": [85, 261, 340, 292], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.2 Problem Analysis"}, {"bbox": [97, 320, 1163, 374], "category": "Text", "text": "PNG has tremendous natural capital but cannot afford alone to protect it for the world, yet the world cannot afford to not have it protected."}, {"bbox": [97, 386, 1163, 440], "category": "Text", "text": "1. The main **common challenges** for the various key components of the FCCB nexus, namely Forestry, Climate Change, Land Use, Agriculture and Biodiversity, at national and subnational/community levels, are as follows:"}, {"bbox": [97, 451, 1163, 718], "category": "Text", "text": "(a) *Inadequate FCCB nexus governance:* Despite its updated policies, strategies, actions plans and roadmaps, mandated institutions and some data, PNG primarily lacks implementation, monitoring, compliance and enforcement of rules, regulations and policies as well as global conventions, due to weak and fragmented institutional arrangements, insufficient capacities and to some extent corruption and vested interests in maintaining unsustainable practices. In some areas, logging for round log export has resulted in severe conflicts with traditional landowners, violation of land customary rights, displacement and human rights violations. The lack of a transparent carbon trading mechanism minimizes PNG's opportunities for benefits from its carbon sink capacities, while opening the way for illegitimate actors ('carbon cowboys'). Special Agricultural and Business Leases (SABLs) granted by the state are also often seen as bypassing forestry legislation and customary land rights, if protocols around Free, Prior and Informed (FPIC) consent are not applied."}, {"bbox": [97, 729, 1163, 889], "category": "Text", "text": "(b) *Lack of FCCB awareness, knowledge, capacities and mobilization of key stakeholders and the population:* Implementing for the foreseeable future a sustainable green development model as foreseen in PNG's STARS strategy and resisting the temptation of short-term gains at the expense of a sustainable future requires a population (and in particular traditional landowners) that is aware of the risks, opportunities and challenges. It also requires a growing number of knowledgeable professionals across a wide spectrum of stakeholders including public service, civil society, private sector, media and research that are motivated to engage on behalf of future generations."}, {"bbox": [97, 900, 1163, 1114], "category": "Text", "text": "Though nascent, these three layers of knowledge management are insufficiently developed. Current state and non-state stakeholders involved in or with a mandate to design, monitor, advocate for, and/or implement FCCB actions at national and local levels need more specific knowledge, information and capacities for the fulfilment of their roles and responsibilities. Women and women's organisations, in particular, need strengthening to make sure they can take an active part and advocate for gender-responsive forestry-related policies and actions, considering these have mainly been gender-blind. Educational institutions, including schools, universities, as well as research and teacher training institutions, need to be empowered and enabled to produce a growing number of professionals knowledgeable about FCCB and motivated to engage in the sector for the benefit of PNG's future."}, {"bbox": [97, 1125, 1163, 1313], "category": "Text", "text": "(c) The current *unsustainable economic model in the rural areas*, where 80% of the population live, is based by and large on subsistence agriculture encroaching on forest, on increasing commercial agribusiness/ agriculture commodity plantations including palm oil, almost always linked to deforestation, and on (partly illegal) logging with very limited or no economic benefit for the landowners. With little to no alternative deforestation-free income generating opportunities, especially for women, rural communities engage in unsustainable local economic practices including deforestation and agricultural practices leading to land degradation. Overall, there is a lack of capacity to implement gender equality and human rights commitments and policies in climate actions and rural development."}, {"bbox": [97, 1324, 1017, 1351], "category": "Text", "text": "2. More specific **sector challenges** that prevent PNG from transitioning to a green economy include:"}, {"bbox": [97, 1364, 191, 1390], "category": "Section-header", "text": "**Forestry:**"}, {"bbox": [97, 1390, 1163, 1603], "category": "Text", "text": "The PNG Forest industry is focused on harvesting natural forest for round log export. Logging of native forests has provided significant input into the PNG economy with round log exports valued at between USD500million and 700m, per annum. Estimates indicate that such high volumes are unsustainable. An assessment of the legality risks for PNG under 2017 determined a Timber Risk Score for PNG of 3/100. Key areas of concern related to legal rights to harvest, payments of taxes and fees, timber harvesting activities, third parties' rights, and transport and trade. This follows allegations of malpractice, corruption, political interference, inadequate monitoring and poor enforcement within the forestry sector for a number of years. An effective system for traceability and verification of legality is still not in place. Regulatory mechanisms are weak and there remains a lack of transparency in forest resource allocation."}, {"bbox": [85, 1657, 193, 1682], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 7 of 32"}]