Papua New Guinea

Peter Sondakh, the Rajawali Group chairman and chief executive officer, has set his sight on making his company a global giant in the palm oil business and sees PNG as the game changer for the industry.

PNG's Secretary for Justice, Lawrence Kalinoe, has made an astonishing defence of the unlawful SABL land grab and the government's failure to cancel the leases.

Any action by the PNG government to address the SABL land grab and illegal logging is very welcome - but landowners have been waiting two years, not six months as the Chief Secretary claims

Companies with SABL leases are nervous that their unlawfully acquired rights could be extinguished and are looking for ways to protect their positions. Once again, it could be the Department of Lands that comes to their assistance.

Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, has completed the acquisition of PNG-based New Britain Palm Oil Ltd, adding 135,000 hectares to its land bank.

Customary landowners in Papua New Guinea have been meeting to discuss their next steps following last month's National Court decision to halt the cancellation of flawed land leases.

The cancellation of controversial flawed land leases in Papua New Guinea has been halted, leaving traditional landowners unsure of when they will get their land back.

Philippines company is looking at business prospects related to a 300,000-hectare area for rice planting for export to the Philippines.

Communities in the Collingwood Bay area of Oro Province, Papua New Guinea are fighting plans for mining on their customary land after winning a court victory against illegal leases for logging and oil palm held by Malaysia's KLK.

The SABL became a national and an international issue when it was uncovered that 5.2 million ha of customary land in PNG were converted to agricultural business leases without the knowledge and consent of customary landowners.

As the lands of traditional palm oil powerhouses like Indonesia and Malaysia have become saturated with plantations, companies looking to profit have turned to areas of tropical forest elsewhere – like Papua New Guinea.

There’s little doubt that the use of palm oil is expanding rapidly throughout the world, and with it the need for millions of hectares of land to grow oil palm trees. The results can be devastating for local communities.