PNG 5th national report to the CBD

Considered as one of the world’s biodiversity rich countr
ies, Papua New
Guinea ranks among the megadiverse countries and the last frontiers for
biodiversity conservation. This land of diversity hosts 6
-
8% of the global
species, hosts one
-
sixth of known languages, and rivals Borneo, the Amazon
and the Congo in t
erms of biodiversity wealth. PNG comprises the eastern
half of the largest tropical island on earth, along with hundreds of smaller
outlying islands, and its land mass only occupying less than 0.5% of the
world’s total.
Its diverse interior consists of s
pectacular highland valleys, grasslands, vast
expanses of rainforest, ancient swamps and mangroves. Primary rainforest
covers around 75% of the country, its interior consists of undulating mountain
ranges and grassy lowlands that rise to Mt.Wilhelm, the hi
ghest summit at
3,600m. Crisscrossing the country’s surface, acting as a lifeline in terms of
sustenance and access are a collection of thousands of waterways, the
largest of which are Sepik, Purari, Markham, Strickland, Kikori and Fly Rivers.