Papua New Guinea Forest Authority (PNGFA) on the 4th of August, 2026 had an inaugural meeting with the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) to open up collaboration and cooperation between the two government agencies. PNGFA Acting Managing Director Mr. John Mosoro hosted the DAL Secretary Dr. Sergie Bang and his senior officers at the Forestry Headquarters in Port Moresby.
Mr. Mosoro who described the agriculture sector as the backbone of the country, said this was an opportune time for the two agencies to work together, saying “the establishment of initial dialogue is important to develop sustainable use of resources.
“I see this as a very exciting time for us to work together,” Mr. Mosoro added.
“We are now shifting away from natural forest harvesting towards implementation of total ban on log export and promote downstream processing. In terms of European
Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) we are going to acquire grasslands, this time to plant trees, and not to cut them. That’s part of our response to the EUDR,” Mr. Mosoro said.
He added: We recently launched our National Reforestation and Afforestation Programme (NRAP) 2025-2030 in Hela Province. In September, we will be launching it in East Sepik Province, then in New Ireland Province. It’s a massive programme. We are trying to address some of the issues put out by the EUDR as well.”
Secretary Bang said that for some time now, they’ve (DAL) been discussing the need for PNG’s economic sector to work closely and he sees the meeting with PNGFA as the start of this.
“The economic sector needs to work together at a higher level,” Dr. Bang added, which Mr. Mosoro agreed to.
“We (Forestry and Agriculture) have many similarities that will benefit both our industries as we work together,” Secretary Bang added.
The agriculture sector has four ministries namely Agriculture and Livestock, Coffee, Oil Palm and Livestock and various commodity boards.
Dr. Bang explained that: “DAL’s role is no longer delivery to the ground level, but its concentration is on policy formulation, coordination and monitoring and evaluation.
This was elaborated on further by DAL’s Technical Advisor Dr. David Thomson who in agreeing to Secretary Bang said, “Ground level delivery in DAL is now the job of commodity boards, and provincial and district level governments. DAL is now formulating policies and collaborating at the national level to implement them effectively and providing the foundation for objective monitoring and evaluation. We’re also about supporting the delivery agents, and coordinating effectively for resources they may need.”
Meanwhile, Secretary Bang said: “the big thing going forward for DAL is multi-sectoral partnership. We want to work with all the partners like yourselves. You are the first one on our list.”
Mr. Mosoro has tasked his Legal team to do up a Memorandum of Understanding for the two agencies to sign which will begin formal collaboration between them.