The New Guinea Challenge - Development and Conservation in Societies of Great Cultural and Biological diversity
An introduction to the natural history, societies, conservation and
sustainable development of the New Guinea region prepared by CSIRO Australia for the Moore Foundation, 2003 (Section 2 of the Report - The NG challenge)
With 3.8 million cubic meters of tropical wood exported in 2014, primarily to China, Papua New Guinea (PNG) has become the world’s largest exporter of tropical wood, surpassing Malaysia, which had held the top spot for the
past several decades.
Tropical forestry and logging are complex subjects, encompassing a range of diffi cult issues, including land ownership, the sustainability of natural resources, the impact on climate change, the social and economic impact of logging on isolated and relatively untouched, subsistence sector communities, and the protection of the basic rights of the people concerned.
Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) forests and forestry have played an important role in the livelihoods of the people of the country for many years. Forests have provided a source for food, fruits and nuts, building materials, medicinal plants, habitats for refuge and a wealth of other services.
The history of agriculture in PNG is about 10 000 years old. This history is reviewed here in the context of 50 000 years of human occupation of the Australia – New Guinea region. 1 More is known about what has happened nearer to the present, especially since 1870, than about the distant past. Much of the early history (prehistory) of PNG was unknown until about 50 years ago, but since 1959 there has been a lot of research on the prehistory of PNG, with a major focus on agriculture. However, this is a rapidly evolving field of study and our understanding of
Midway up the slopes of the Andogoro, Moirutapa, and Kundiman mountains that rise up from the surrounding floodplains and separate East Sepik Province from Enga and Western Highlands Provinces in Papua New Guinea, are the traditional settlements of the Upland Arafundi people (Roscoe & Telban 2004:94). Galleries of stencils
Two of the unanswered questions of Papua New Guinea prehistory are: (1) whether agriculture was present
in the mid-Holocene not only in the highlands but also in the lowlands and Bismarck Archipelago and (2)whether the presence of agriculture might have been influenced by interaction between these regions. This paper addresses these questions through an analysis of prehistoric stone mortars, pestles and figures, which hold information on both style and function.
This is an economic evaluation of the compensation to which Papua New Guinea’s customary landholders -
wrongly dispossessed through Special Agricultural Business Leases (SABL) - might be entitled if they successfully sued the government. The evaluation involves the calculation of commercial loss but also, and probably more importantly, economic equivalent value loss. The framework identifies the relevant heads of value (not just priced transactions) and demonstrates appropriate methods for valuation. It does not pretend to be a price calculator but rather a tool for advocacy.
Massive overhunting of wildlife for meat across the humid tropics is now causing local extinctions of
numerous species. Rural people often rely heavily on wild meat, but, in many areas, this important source of
food and income is either already lost or is being rapidly depleted. The problem can only be tackled by looking at
the wider economic and institutional context within which such hunting occurs, from household economics
to global terms of trade. Conservation efforts must be placed within a landscape context; a mosaic of hunted
The Kokoda Initiative is a partnership between the Government of Papua New Guinea and Australia to sustainably develop and protect the Kokoda Track and the surrounding Owen Stanley Ranges. The Initiative reflects the strong commitment of both governments to continue to enhance the quality of life of communities living along the track, to protect the environment, cultural values and to keep the track open and well managed.
This dataset contains all studies conducted related to Kokoda Iniative.
We present the first large-scale synthesis of indigenous knowledge (IK) on New Guinea’s useful plants based on a quantitative review of 488 references and 854 herbarium specimens. Specifically, we assessed (i) spatiotemporal trends in the documentation of IK, (ii) which are New Guinea’s most useful ecosystems and plant taxa, (iii) what use categories have been better studied, and (iv) which are the best studied indigenous groups. Overall, our review integrates40,376 use reports and 19,948 plant uses for 3434 plant species.
Pacific tourism
Management Plan for Kuk World Heritage Site
Human Adaptation and Plant Use in Highland New Guinea 49,000 to 44,000 Years Ago
Documentation on getting started with the Inform Data Portal.
Development Studies research on the maternal deaths and their impacts on children in Papua New Guinea
From Wealth to Wellbeing: Translating Resource Revenue into Sustainable Human Development
Research on the Chronic Poverty in Papua New Guinea