Ecologically and culturally significant tropical forest in Papua New Guinea’s Western Province is being unlawfully logged under what appears to be a Forest Clearing Authority (FCA), according to evidence published in a new report by ACT NOW! and Jubilee Australia Research Centre.

The report is the first in an investigative series to be published over the next two-months presenting overwhelming proof that in 2026, FCAs are still being used as a loophole for industrial logging that bypasses more stringent environmental regulation and social safeguards. This comes despite a moratorium on new FCAs announced in 2023 and the widely acknowledged misuse of these permits.

“This is the sixth report we have published over the past three years detailing the abuse of individual FCA logging licences,” says ACT NOW! Campaign Manager Eddie Tanago.

“The Bank of PNG and a Special Parliamentary Committee have also published reports describing the abuse of these logging permits. Yet, as our new report shows, the same abuses are still ongoing and speak to the complete breakdown of governance in the forestry sector and the capture of government agencies by foreign corporate interests. “

Proof of selective logging suggests FCA abuse

The new report ‘New Case, Same Story - Forest Resource Grab Continues: The Eiwa Integrated Agro-Forestry Project’, investigates a potential new FCA, covering an area of 96,754 hectares – a size roughly equivalent to 135,000 rugby fields - making it one of Papua New Guinea’s largest FCA concessions.

Satellite imagery analysis has revealed evidence of selective logging over a large tropical forest area in Eiwa that started towards the end of 2024, almost two years after a moratorium on new FCA projects was imposed. Selective logging is known to be used in other FCAs, where there appears to be no intention to clear land for agriculture, but rather to extract high-value trees from the forest and leave smaller and lower value trees in place.

ACT NOW! and Jubilee Australia have also uncovered evidence of round logs being loaded from the Eiwa concession in 2026 and likely shipped to Vietnam and China. This comes after the PNG Government repeatedly committed to end round log exports by 2025.

“Time and again, foreign-owned logging companies have acted with impunity, treating PNG's laws as optional. The Government's more recent commitments to end round log exports are nothing but a pipedream unless the issues of forest crime - driven by foreign corporate interests - are properly dealt with first” - Mahealani Delaney, Jubilee Australia Research Centre  

Communities say they have not given consent

ACT NOW! was approached by community members with concerns over the” project in December 2025. They claim they had no knowledge of any proposed logging project or license until the company arrived on their clan land and began operations, and they have not given their consent. PNG’s Forestry Act requires FCA applications to produce evidence of landowner consent, but the Papua New Guinea Forest Authority (PNGFA) has not responded to a written request for information on what was provided to satisfy this requirement.

Malaysian-owned company likely operating in Eiwa

Malaysian-owned forestry company Advanced Success Limited appears to be operating in the FCA area and lists the ‘Eiwa Integrated Agro-Forestry Project’ as their primary place of business. Advanced Success Limited were contacted and given the preliminary report findings with request for additional information, however, no response was received.

Summary of recommendations

To address the systematic misuse of FCAs for large-scale selective logging, the PNG Forest Authority should:

  • Publicly release the findings of the internal audit of all FCAs;
  • Extend the moratorium on new FCAs and suspend all FCA operations until an independent audit has been completed and the recommendations implemented;
  • Ensure compensation for customary resource owners for illegal logging activities in FCA areas
  • Take action against logging companies who have breached forestry laws;
  • Establish a public register of all timber harvesting operations

Advanced Success Limited Should:

  • Cease logging in the Eiwa Project area until an independent investigation of the project’s legality has been undertaken and any recommendations implemented;
  • Rehabilitate any areas that have been degraded if illegal selective logging has occurred;
  • Provide compensation to the customary resource owners for any logging activities that are found to have occurred in contravention of the terms of the FCA

Banks, insurers and other institutions providing services to Advanced Success Limited:

  • Review their risk exposure and conduct enhanced due diligence on any arrangements that could be connected to funds generated from the Eiwa Project

About this investigation

The new report was prepared based on desk investigative research conducted from February 2026 to June 2026. The report draws its evidence heavily from satellite data, official company filings and primary source information supplied by community members. Unfortunately, with no independent monitoring of log exports since the cessation of a previous contract on 11 March 2024, there is no reliable, publicly available data showing the volume of log exports, species, or export revenue for the Eiwa concession.