Precis

On Australia’s northern doorstep lies one of the most extraordinary places on earth – some environmentalists call it the second Amazon.

The Sepik River Basin in Papua New Guinea is a natural wonder and home to rich and ancient cultures. It’s a place few outsiders ever get to see.

For some time, PNG correspondent Natalie Whiting has been hearing rumours about what’s going on in the remote areas upriver – claims of a logging land grab, police brutality, even killings.

This week on Foreign Correspondent she undertakes the journey far up the Sepik River to see for herself what’s happening.  

In the rainforest of the Upper Sepik a community is divided. Logging operations and a proposed massive mine site bring hope of economic prosperity for some.

But others fear development of the land by international companies means environmental destruction with little benefit.

PNG is the world’s largest exporter of tropical round logs but out of sight in the Sepik region some landowners say the logging is happening without proper consent and there are consequences for those who stand in the way. 

With a long history of mistrust of big corporations and the promises they make, many of the locals are angry and ready to do whatever it takes to preserve some of the most unspoilt rainforests and waterways on the planet.

Episode teaser

Music

00:10

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: The Sepik River snakes its way through Papua New Guinea, pouring life into the landscape. 

00:24

It’s the main artery of one of the most pristine freshwater basins on the planet.

00:34

MANU: The river, the lake, and the forest, they're all connected. It's the lifeblood of the people.

00:40

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: There’s wildlife here you won’t find anywhere else on earth. Rainforests as far as the eye can see, and 50,000 years of living culture.  Some call it the second Amazon, but like the Amazon, the Sepik has become a battleground.

00:49

NAROX: "Burn it down! If the company won’t stop, we’ll burn it down. Who'll lead this? I will!"

01:17

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter:  PNG is the world’s largest exporter of tropical round logs. In the Sepik, it’s big business.

01:25

So what do you see when you walk around these logs?

01:33

ARTHUR: I see a lot of money.

01:36

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: And the plan for a huge mine and hydroelectric dam is dividing Sepik people from the mountains to the sea.

01:38

WAPUNAI: That little gap there, that’s where they’re going to put the dam. Build it in the mountains and then flood back this way.

01:47

JACOB: We elected you.  Now you must stand with our tribe to dig that mine.

01:55

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: The people here want development, but they also want to protect the environment that sustains them and their culture.

02:02

Super: Natalie Whiting

Can they trust the logging companies, the miners or the government? There’s a battle shaping up on these waters.

02:11

MATILDA: If it’s all destroyed, where will we go? We worry about this.

02:18

Title: SECRETS OF THE SEPIK

Music

02:33

Super:
WEWAK AIRPORT, EAST SEPIK

02:40

Natalie at airport waiting for plane

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: I’m waiting for a plane that will take us deep into the jungle.  When I started as the correspondent here, I heard stories of conflict in the far reaches of the Sepik. A controversial mine proposal. Claims of a logging land grab, police brutality, even killings. But people didn’t want to go on record.

02:47

Natalie and Theckla board plane

Since then, my colleague Theckla and I have tried to get firsthand accounts, but it’s tough. Communications upriver are patchy at best. Now, we’ve finally got a way in. We’ve made contact with a local landowner called Luke Amial. He’s encouraged us to come and see for ourselves.

03:14

Landing at Edwaki airstrip

We’re not sure what to expect. All we’ve got is Luke’s phone number and a mark on the map for the Edwaki airstrip. 

03:39

Villagers turn out to welcome plane

It looks like we’ve got a welcome party. The last plane that landed here was months ago.

03:57

Natalie and Theckla alight from plane

"Morning, everyone!"

There’s no sign of Luke, but these people are going to take us to him.

04:05

Natalie walks with villagers to river

Music

04:18

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter:  "I’m going to get burnt. I’m not built for PNG sun.".

04:30

It’s about an hour and a half’s walk from the airstrip to the banks of the Yellow River where we’re told we’ll continue our journey by canoe. You really do feel cut off out here. This is one of the most underdeveloped parts of Papua New Guinea.

04:39

Natalie to camera

There are no roads in or out, communications are very minimal, services are all but non-existent. It is incredibly isolated, and you get the sense that if you wanted to get away with something out here, you probably could.

05:02

Canoe sets off down river

Music

05:20

Natalie in canoe

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: This is the heart of the Upper Sepik Basin, an untamed wilderness of marshlands, waterways, and hundreds of species of trees. But it’s giants like these that are most prized by the loggers. We’re on the Yellow River, which is one of the tributaries that feeds into the mighty Sepik. It’s also the western boundary of a massive and controversial logging area.

05:29

Natalie greets Luke

MAN IN BOAT: Luke! It’s Luke!

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: Around a bend in the river, we find Luke.

05:58

For over ten years, Luke’s been a thorn in the side of the logging operations here. He says he never gave consent for logging here and he wants it to stop. Luke claims the company brings police here and he says they intimidate the landowners who oppose the logging.

06:08

Luke and Natalie walk

LUKE: I don’t like logging. Logging has destroyed a lot of our environment. The company and police abuse the human rights of the traditional landowners here.

06:33

Natalie attends landowners meeting

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: Luke's gone to the authorities and his local MP, but he says they’re not listening. Now, he’s rallied landowners for a meeting with a law firm from Port Moresby, hoping their claims will finally be heard.

06:49

Luke addresses meeting

LUKE: "It’s your land. And they’ve brought in the machines. They’re ripping you off. They kill the pig and throw you the scraps. Take the meat and leave you the bones. Know what I’m saying?"

07:10

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter:  The landowners have gathered here at Yellow River high school. Some have walked for five days.

07:30

LUKE: We’re fighting a giant, remember? Now this team has come to help us.

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: Environmental lawyer Arthur Dalye and his team travelled two days by road and river to be here.

07:38

Luke’s complaint convinced them to come. They’re here to see who else will step forward.

LUKE: "I'd like us all to give them a round of applause."

07:58

Arthur addresses meeting

ARTHUR: "Thank you Luke and your people on the ground who've helped us get here safely. Thank you."

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: Arthur works for CELCOR, the Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights, an NGO that represents traditional landowners.

08:13

ARTHUR: "We want to identify potential plaintiffs in the event that we go to court. You can stand up and tell us your story, and we’ll listen. Alright? Alright?"

CROWD: "Alright!"

08:34

David tells Arthur his experience

DAVID: "I’m the chairman of a land group. I didn’t sign the agreement. Someone signed it on my behalf. If landowners resist, police threaten us with their guns. You still resist, they lock you in a shipping container."

08:57

Narox tells Arthur his experience

NAROX: "The police shot a man for no reason. There’s so much frustration with the logging. What the police have done over all these years. We’ve been suffering too long. Now it’s time. Close down the operation. If the company keeps operating, I tell you, we’ll burn down the camp. You with me? Burn it down! If the company won’t stop, we’ll burn it down. Who will lead this? I will!

09:25

Drone shots over Yellow River

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: Trouble here goes back more than a decade to when the Malaysian logging company Global Elite was first granted access to more than 100,000 hectares of customary land. The company told us it obtained legal consent. The type of lease it was given, called an SABL, is not a logging lease. Cutting down trees is only allowed to clear the land for agriculture. The company says it had plans for rubber and palm oil, but they went up in smoke when landowners burnt down the nurseries.

10:13

Arthur interview . Super:
Arthur Dayle
ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER

ARTHUR: What we’ve been seeing is most logging companies are using the SABL under the Land Act to conduct logging operations. And it's for a period of 99 years. Imagine. That’s about three generations. And landowners will become spectators in their own land for 99 years.

10:55

Drone shots over Yellow River

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter:  To get the SABL, the company had to detail how their project would benefit the area.

11:21

Village young people

They committed to improve health services and schools, and build new roads. But locals say they haven’t seen that here at Yellow River.

11:28

Angry man at meeting

BILL: "We’ve seen no benefits at all. You look at our health services, primary schools, elementary schools, there’s been no improvement for 10 years since the operation started. The title of our land must be given back to us! Now Luke has lodged a complaint. He’s speaking up for the concerns of landowners. This is our cry. Who will wipe away our tears? That’s all. Thank you."

11:38

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: This is clearly a very unhappy community.

12:20

Natalie to camera

There’s been a lot of emotion on show in this meeting, a lot of anger, a lot of upset. There’s been allegations of people not getting what they believe they’re owed. There’s also been a lot of allegations about police working for logging companies and abusing landowners. Luke has his own story of police violence.

12:23

Community meeting

LUKE: They broke my jaw, my teeth, my mouth. They beat me badly. My life was on the line. They pointed a gun at me. They tried to throw me out of a moving truck, but I held on. I told them, I’m not a criminal. They locked me in a shipping container for a week.

12:49

Narox tells story of police violence

TEX: When he opened fire, the bullets hit bystanders?

NAROX: In the market.

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter:  Landowner Narox Nanaro tells us a policeman brought in from Port Moresby shot into the crowd during an argument.

13:15

MAN IN CROWD: The first shot hit a man here. 

NAROX: Killed him. Second man was shot here. Now he’s paralysed. Third man was shot here. 

13:28

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: The crowd retaliated and killed the policeman. It was Narox’s brother-in-law who was shot dead -- a father of four young children.

13:42

Community meeting

Music

13:52

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: We’ve confirmed that Global Elite has been bringing officers in and paying for their food and accommodation. The company says it has an arrangement with PNG police, and it denies they're intimidating landowners. But we've been able to get hold of the police commissioner and he tells us he's banned deployments that support logging operations. He says the officer involved in the shooting should never have been here, and he wants anyone with a complaint to come to him.

14:02

Drone shots over high school

We’ve also seen a confidential report from PNG defence that backs up claims of police using a shipping container as a jail cell, and that warns logging companies are, quote, "using police to bulldoze over the rights of landowners".

ARTHUR: Imagine police doing that to the people who they are supposed to protect. Instead, they are protecting foreign interest. Abusing or violating the people's rights, constitutional right.

14:33

Arthur 100%

That's how these people are being treated by the police force, their own police.

15:11

Music

15:16

Natalie, Arthur and others walk to river and into boat

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: Armed with what they’ve heard from the meeting, Arthur and his team press on with the mission.

15:29

They want to see some active logging. So do we. We’re heading downstream to meet with a landowner called David Vanemo. Although no one at the meeting spoke up for the company, there are people who’ve consented to the logging and are benefitting from it. David is one of them. He’s invited Arthur to see the operation.

15:40

Arthur at logging site

ARTHUR: "So they’ve logged this area already?"

DAVID: "They’ve logged all the way down to the Sepik. These machines built the road to there."

ARTHUR: "It’s done block by block?"

DAVID: "Yes, block by block. The landowner signs the consent and they go into their block and cut the trees."

16:09

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: The company says it has the proper landowner consents, but Arthur is investigating to see if they are following the rules.

16:26

ARTHUR: Land is communally owned. It's not owned by just one single person.

16:36

Arthur interview

So consent basically has to come from everyone. And the company is doing the total opposite by just getting individual consent forms from the people and that's how they go in and cut trees.

16:41

Samuel by felled tree

SAMUEL: Okay, forty thousand, two hundred forty… this is the log number 40,247.

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: So this is more than 4,000 logs cut?

SAMUEL: More than 40,000 cut from here already.

16:55

Natalie with David and other, inspect logging sites

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: So, this old tree is part of your customary lands?

DAVID: They’ve already paid me, so it belongs to the company now.

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: David says Global Elite pays him 150 kina a fortnight – about 60 Australian dollars.

17:08

DAVID: I have two wives and eight children. School fees for my older kids are 150 kina each. So one fortnight I pay for one kid. Next fortnight I pay for another. Next fortnight another. Yes, I worry about the damage to the river. They pollute our water. They destroy the environment. You plant something and they ruin it. But the old way of life is gone. Today we live differently. We live on money.

17:27

Natalie into canoe

18:15

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: We say goodbye to David and continue downstream.

18:25

Natalie to camera in canoe

So we’re just coming up to the Sepik River. This is where the two rivers join.

18:35

Drone shot over river

Music

18:41

Natalie and Theckla in canoe

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: The engine cuts out, and suddenly I'm struck by the serenity of the river and how lucky we are to be here.

18:51

Then, the motor kicks back in, and we’re on our way again.  We’re going to Global Elite’s port at Elamuli where the logs from Yellow River are loaded onto the barges and transported down the Sepik. It’s the last stop on Arthur’s journey.

ARTHUR: This is the log pond. This is Elamuli.

19:12

Log pond

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: These logs will be sent overseas – mostly to China where they’ll be milled into things like floorboards. So what do you see when you walk around these logs?

19:35

Arthur interview at log pond

ARTHUR: I see a lot of money. These logs are worth a lot of money, but I've been to the villages where these logs come from, to see things like that, I am really sad and I feel for them. So, I will try as much as possible and with my team and our organisation, we will see how we can assist them in our capacity. People are missing out.

19:50

Chopper arrives

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: It’s time to leave Arthur and take to the skies.

20:15

Natalie hugs pilot, departs in chopper

We’re in safe hands. I’ve flown with the pilot, an, before. The chopper is the only way we can get to our next stop, Ama, in the mountains on the other side of the river. Global Elite and one of its partner companies have logged here, too.

20:23

Natalie alights from chopper and greets Wapunai at community meeting

But in the last few years they’ve come up against one of the most powerful men in the Sepik…

"Mr. Wapunai!"

…recently re-elected MP, Johnson Wapunai. After winning another term, Mr Wapunai is back in the community that raised him, spruiking his credentials as the man who stands up to the loggers.

20:45

WAPUNAI:  The company needs to tell us what they mean to invest after they harvest the logs. That has never happened so I said, I will not allow you to go beyond where you started. So that's what happened. So they cannot go beyond. I have been elected a second time and I'm still in power for the next five years. They will not push me over.

21:13

Wapunai greets constituents

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: In the afterglow of re-election, Mr Wapunai is riding high.

21:33

Wapunai into chopper with Natalie

But there’s pressure on him to deliver.

WAPUNAI: "Turn left and go straight to Frieda."

PILOT: "Straight to Frieda. I got you."

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: His electorate is huge, stretching over a million hectares from Ama to the top of the Frieda River, one of the Sepik’s major tributaries.

21:39

GFX:     Map showing Copper-Gold project and Hydroelectric project

It’s the proposed site for a giant gold and copper mine and hydroelectric dam called the Frieda River Project.

22:02

Chopper over Frieda River

WAPUNAI: That little gap there, that’s where they’re going to put the dam. Build it in the mountains and then flood back this way.

22:11

Landing at Frieda River

PILOT: "Welcome to Frieda River airstrip, guys."

22:22

Houses by river, escarpment behind

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: Above these houses is a towering escarpment. That’s where the dam is planned, designed to store over a billion tonnes of mine waste. That means a wall of concrete from that cliff to the mountain opposite.

22:30

Children by river

This area is vulnerable to earthquakes, and people against the project say a dam break would be catastrophic, but the developer is assuring people that keeping them safe is their top priority.

22:49

View of escarpment from river. Wapunai in canoe

Australian-based Chinese-owned Panaust says it’s a nation-building opportunity worth 11 billion dollars, with royalties and benefits for local landowners.

23:04

WAPUNAI: Majority in the area, they want to develop this. They want the mine to come in so at least they can get the spin offs and do what they want to do. For me, I'm more on neutral ground.

23:18

Natalie and Wapunai visit Paupe

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: In the shadow of the proposed dam wall is the community of Paupe. The landowners here are known as the Paiyamo.

23:32

Natalie greets Pastor Jacob and Rhonda

We meet elders, Pastor Jacob and Rhonda Aiyapanai. Their father signed the original exploration permit back in 1964 that uncovered vast reserves of gold and copper. Now the application to start mining is in play, they want to make sure they get their share.

23:44

Pastor Jacob addresses community meeting and Wapunai

PASTOR JACOB: "The Frieda Mine must go ahead. You all agree?"

CROWD: "Yes."

PASTOR JACOB: "Freida Mine must go ahead. But the government of East Sepik must recognise the Paiyamo tribe. It’s serious. It’s serious. We elected you. You must stand with the Paiyamo to dig that mine.

24:15

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: There's been disagreement over who the primary landowners are and the Paiyamo are calling on Johnson Wapunai to make sure they are properly recognised.

24:37

PASTOR JACOB: "I'm saying to you, Johnson. We are people from the village. And I am not happy. The Paiyamo said yes and the company came here to work.

24:47

Wapunai addresses meeting

WAPUNAI: "Thanks to all of you and those who voted for me. This is the second time I've been elected. I know not all of you voted for me. But that’s politics. PNG is a big country.

25:14

Village children

RHONDA: The mine is just a name, nothing more. We were all small when talk of the Frieda Mine began. But we grew older. We got married and had children. Our children got married and had our grandchildren. Now I've got 20…

25:29

Rhonda / Children play at river

25 grandchildren. We want to see the mine go ahead. We need to see it happen before we die. Maybe when the mine starts up we might become like white people, because they’ll build us modern houses, nice rooms to live in, showers.

25:52

We’ll be busy traveling in cars or getting picked up by a bus. We’ll go shopping, maybe come home for a nap. Something like that.

26:30

Done shot over river

Music

26:51

Natalie in boat with Matilda

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: What do you feel when you’re on the Sepik River?

MATILDA: When I'm on the Sepik, I feel like she’s my mother. She looks after me. She gives me food, gives me water. I can drink her water. I don’t get sick.

26:55

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: Everything comes from the river?

MATILDA: Yeah.

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter:  I'm on the Middle Sepik, about 200 kilometres downstream from Paupe, with a crocodile, and local elder, Matilda Pinga.  She worries what could happen if the Frieda River project goes ahead.

27:09

MATILDA: If the dam breaks, the waste will flood the river and it will cover the banks. It will ruin the soil and it will be hard to build gardens.

27:27

Matilda 100%

Nothing will grow.

27:37

Dancers perform for festival

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: Clans from the area are gathering at Korogu village for a celebration of the traditional food and culture of the area.

27:39

Emmanuel at festival

Korogu traditional owner and activist Emmanuel Peni leads an NGO that campaigns against the Frieda River project.

27:54

Emmanuel addresses community members

EMMANUEL: It’s just a very simple request. We want an independent body to go with the company village to village, community to community, and re-do the informed consent.

28:05

NATALIE WHITING, Reporter: PNG has a terrible history of environmental destruction from mining projects and Emmanuel says that means there's a real lack of trust.

EMMANUEL:  The people there, of course, want to see development.

28:16

But what these people forget is that all the rubbish and all the pollution, all the destruction, would be carried by the people along the Sepik River.

28:32

Drone shot over river

Music

28:53

Matilda in canoe

MATILDA: When I go out on the water, I'm free. It’s a feeling of freedom. I call my sisters over, “Hey, come! Come for a chat.” We chew betel-nut and tell stories, joke around. I worry about losing my traditional way of living and adapting to a new life.

29:02

Matilda 100%

If the river is destroyed, where will we go? We worry about this.

29:34

Drone shot. Women gather in canoes. Emmanuel on veranda overlooking river

EMMANUEL: We always get this where people just say, 'You NGOS are always complaining about this and you don't understand economics. And so, what do you have to give to the people if you're going to say no, no, no?' What people fail to see is that we actually do understand economics, because we understand sustainable development from our Papua New Guinean heritage.

29:45

Emmanuel by river

Look at this, this is sustainable development. We've been able to thrive, we've been able to live, we've been able to sing and dance and be happy and be content with life and still have all of this. We have been doing this for more than 50,000 years.

30:09

Credits [see below]

30:26

Outpoint

30:49