Area Statement
Papua New Guinea has a total land area of 46.284 million hectares of which some 29.437 million hectares is estimated to contain forest cover. A broad Land Classification is as follows;
- Total Land Area – 46.284 million ha
- Forest Cover – 29.437 million ha
- Other wooded Lands – 4.474 million ha
- Inland water bodies – 0.998 million ha
- Other Land – 11.375 million ha
Note: These figures will be subject to changes as new information from remote sensing is available.
Vegetation Classification of PNG
Papua New Guinea is situated 6 degrees south of the equator and thereby falls within the moist tropical rainforest zone on the world. Due to its location, the country in general gets an average of 3,000mm of rainfall per year that influences the vegetation to a large extent. Despite this high rainfall, there are some parts of the country that receive less than this.
PNG’s vegetation is currently classified by the PNG Forest Authority based on the structural formation of the vegetation. Six classes have been distinguished and these are;
- Forests
- Woodland
- Savanna
- Scrub
- Grassland
- Mangroves
Note: the area statements associated with this vegetation classes shall be made available once the remote sensing work has been completed.
Within these 6 structural formations, 59 vegetation classes have been differentiated.
Further details of the classes can be obtained from the Planning Division of PNGFA.
Main Forest Tree Species
There are estimated to be between 15,000 to 20,000 higher order plant species of which over 2,000 are tree species and furthermore over 400 of these are utilised in one way or another including harvesting for commercial use such as timber production or log exports.
Some of the main commercial tree species that are exported are; Homalium, Pometia, Calophyllum, Eucalyptus, Terminalia, Dillenia, Toona, Buchanania, Canarium, Anistoptera, Endospermum, Octomeles, Instia, Syzgium,, Celtis, Burckella ,Mastixiodendron, Dracontomelont, Canarium.
Further details of species can be obtained from the PNG Forest Research Institute on email address fri-users@fri.pngfa.gov.pg.
Forest Resource Ownership
In Papua New Guinea forest resource ownership is unique unlike many other parts of the world. This is closely associated with the Land Tenure system where land is owned and managed by customary landowners (tribal clan groups). It is estimated that 95% of the total land area of the country is customary owned while the remaining 5% is owned either by the State (Government), Private Companies, Individuals or Religious Groups such as the Roman Catholic, Lutheran and United Missions.
Due to the land tenure system, the forest that grows on it is by default owned by the clans and tribal groups. In order to carry out any forest related operations such as harvesting of timber or other forest produce and or reforestation, extensive consultations must take place between the State Agencies including the PNG Forest Authority and the landowners often referred to as the resource owners.
