39 million trees and 200 families at risk from loggers
Eight communities are standing firm against loggers.
But how much longer can they take the pressure?
Regina, our Country Manager in Papua New Guinea, explains that the logging company has been lying in wait for over 12 months. They have set up camp near the communities to keep the pressure high.
“Their aim is to log as many trees as possible, shipping the timber to China. They enter the communities every few weeks with tempting offers. Thick envelopes of cash and empty promises” Regina says.
The loggers strategy is calculated.
The loggers arrive with smiles and promises that sound like a politician’s pitch: better roads, schools, health centres, roofing irons and water tanks. They sweet-talk communities, saying things like ‘you can keep your land and other resources, we just want your timber’ or ‘you’ll receive royalties to help your families and keep your children in school.
They don’t arrive at villages alone; they hire local people to act as messengers. Setting up bases right beside rainforest communities. They watch. They wait. They see tired people walking, patient and vulnerable, and they see opportunity.
“They like to target leaders and ward councillors first, knowing that if they convince one respected figure, others might follow”, Regina says. “Right now they are pressuring eight communities, 200 families, to sell their trees.”
The New Guinea forest is the world’s third largest rainforest.
Stretching 73 million hectares, it is incredibly biodiverse, resource-rich and extremely valuable. Valuable to the people that call it home, to exploitative industries and in the fight against the climate crisis.
This rainforest stores around 6.9 billion tonnes of carbon and is home to 7% of all species on our planet, including critically endangered species such as the singing dog, cuscus and birds of paradise. To lose it would be devastating.
But it is not paradise, living in the forest is tough. It can take days to reach schools and health centers and hours to reach the nearest town. Access and income is often weather dependent. Communities often grow peanuts, weave Bilums and sell vegetables at market. An income here is hard to come by.
Cash is a lifeline and loggers know it.
When a logger puts a thick envelope of money on the table, it can look like a lifeline. A father can think: my family can finally buy what we’ve always wanted. Even if it’s just for a few weeks, life would feel easier.
People in these communities don’t see thick envelopes of money every day. It is easy to understand why a logger’s offer would be tempting.
We already support three of the communities at risk with cash and data so they have the ability to say no to the loggers. But the other five communities have asked us directly for help.
“We must support them” says Regina, “If we can give all eight communities cash to thrive and data to monitor their forests from threats, then we can stop the loggers pushing deeper into the forest. Protecting 39 million trees from deforestation.”
The five communities sit between the sea and millions of hectares of primary rainforest. If loggers get consent here, they’ll have a clear path inland. Hundreds of thousands of hectares of rainforest is at stake.
All donations doubled to stop loggers.
Throughout December, every donation you make is doubled as part of our urgent appeal.
Our goal: raise £200,000 to support the five new communities. And every one-time donation you give in December will be matched pound for pound by a generous friend of Cool Earth.
Together, we can give these communities the support they’re calling for to protect their land and their future.