EEP Crowned pigeon number 4

EEP STUDBOOK CROWNED PIGEONS
6.5.3 Threats for Papua New Guinea
With more and more massive development planned in many of the islands wildest locations,
what will the future for the wildlife, environment and people of New Guinea be? At the
moment this is still one of the worlds last true wilderness areas. Estimates of the amount of
land that remains forested vary, but somewhere between 70 and 80 per cent is a reasonable
guess, a remarkably high proportion. In fact, this is the most extensive area of tropical
rainforest still standing in South East Asia. Because of its large range of habitats the island is
also one of the worlds abiodiversity hotspots. In other worlds it contains one of the most
varied collections of animals and plants on earth. New species are being discovered every
year. So far, most do not face imminent extinction, unlike the inhabitants of many tropical
forests elsewhere (Nightingale, 1992). Logging is finally beginning to hit New Guinea in a
big way. In 1989 there was hope when the government of Papua New Guinea declared a ban
on new timber cutting as part of the worldwide Tropical Forests Action Plan. Then soon after
that was announced several new timber licenses were issued (Nightingale, 1992).
In Papua New Guinea over 95 per cent of the land is traditionally owned and, with of 80 per
cent of the population still following an agricultural life, most people are strongly tied to the
local ecology of their land. People now only own their homes and immediate gardens but also
have complicated rights passed on through the generations to use wild forest for hunting and
collecting. They may also regard remote mountainsides as sacred or special places.
This does, however, cause one significant problem. The government finds it hard to create
national parks because people will not sell their land and generally demand exorbitant rents
for its use. Only 2 per cent of Papua New Guinea is protected in any sort of park. On the other
hand, traditional ownership means the government cannot steamroller development through
against local opposition. In some cases village land tenure can be turned to very positive
advantage in the protection of wild places (Nightingale, 1992).
The Papua New Guinea government was one of the firsts to recognize the potential value of
local participation in wildlife conservation. It has put this into practice through a series of
Wildlife Management Areas. The traditional landowners are allowed to use the areas as they
have always done but are encouraged to create certain rules covering its use. These are aimed
at keeping outsiders away and preventing the owners themselves from over-exploiting their
natural resources. The idea is to encourage people to utilize wildlife in a sustainable way.
One classic example is a megapode nesting ground on the island of New Britain. It's called
Pokili. The eggs from the Pokili nesting ground have been harvested for as long as anyone
can remember. People dig out the megapode tunnels and retrieve the eggs from the
volcanically heated soil. Traditionally the collectors and their families ate the eggs. Now
there's a cash economy on the island and so they are also sold at the market. This has led to
over-harvesting. During the 1970s it was estimated that about six million eggs were being
collected every year. Yields declined as fewer and fewer chicks managed to hatch and grow to
adulthood. In the past there had been certain taboos restricting the type of person allowed to
collect eggs, but these were not sufficiently strong to prevent the situation deteriorating. This
was why the villagers were keen to introduce controls.
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