This video about Papua New Guinea is called Chopping Down Trees To Save The Forest.
By Ecological Internet, Contact: Dr. Glen Barry, +1 (920) 776-1075, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org:
January 16, 2008
(Woodlark, Papua New Guinea) — Ecological Internet welcomes reports that Vitroplant, shady developer of a proposed oil palm project on Woodlark Island in Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea (PNG), has withdrawn.
PNG’s Minister for Agriculture and Livestock says no oil palm development will take place on Woodlark Island. Vitroplant’s withdrawal was due to local and international pressure to conserve Woodlark Island’s natural habitat.
The ill-conceived project was to have cleared 70% of the rainforests on biodiversity rich Woodlark Island, some 60,000 hectares, in order to establish a massive oil palm plantation.
Following the direction of local peoples, Ecological Internet’s Earth action network was able to generate nearly 50,000 protest emails from 3,000 people in 72 countries.
The protest embarrassed the PNG government and highlighted the hypocrisy of their support of carbon payments for avoided deforestation, even as Woodlark was approved for clearance, and a rogue rainforest timber export industry continues unhindered.
“We welcome reports that the Woodlark oil palm project is dead,” states Ecological Internet’s President Dr. Glen Barry.
“Yet campaigning will continue until Woodlark is legally removed from consideration for agricultural deforestation, and the land is returned to its residents.”
Ecological Internet’s PNG rainforest campaign seeks legally binding assurances that palm oil and other biofuels will not be developed on currently forested lands, and the elimination of PNG’s industrial log export industry. Only then will payments for rainforest protection be justified.
“The power of networks of informed Earth citizens to support local conservation action and an end to ancient rainforest logging has again been demonstrated. The forces of ecological destruction must be confronted and defeated,” asserts Dr. Barry.
EU biofuels policy left in tatters: here.
BirdLife and T&E react to EU biofuels target: here.
Papua New Guinea government signs $10 billion gas deal with US-Australian consortium: here.
Mining pollution in Papua New Guinea: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
PRESS RELEASE
Ocean City, New Jersey Cancels Order for Rainforest
Destruction to Fix Their Boardwalk
Victory for those working to end ancient rainforest logging,
and a defeat for supporters of forest certification
greenwashing, as an important precedent is set
January 18, 2008
By Ecological Internet, Contact: Dr. Glen Barry, +1 (920) 776-
1075, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
(Ocean City, New Jersey) — The city council of Ocean City
voted last night 6-0 to cancel a $1.1 million purchase of ipê
timber originating in ancient rainforests. The timber was to
be used to patch a one block stretch of Atlantic boardwalk.
The purchase provoked outrage as it went against a ten-year
old pledge by the council to not use rainforest timbers.
The mayor and others argued Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
certification ensured sustainability. Estimates are over 60%
of FSC timber comes from first time logging of ancient
forests, with claims only it is “well-managed”. Such
misleading statements setup a showdown with local group
“Friends of the Rain Forest” and led them to a year of protest
with support from Ecological Internet (EI) and others.
“EI’s network sent over 100,000 protest emails from 80
countries highlighting the ecological truth that maintaining
intact primary rainforests is a requirement to address climate
change and achieve global ecological sustainability,” explains
Dr. Glen Barry. “The message is getting through — to survive
rainforest logging must end, with compensation to local
peoples, and remaining rainforests protected and allowed to
expand.”
In recent weeks EI has significantly participated in
rainforest victories from New York, to Papua New Guinea, and
now New Jersey — working successfully to end the evil of
ancient rainforest logging. Dr. Barry notes “it is
disappointing that Rainforest Alliance, Greenpeace, Rainforest
Action Network, WWF and other FSC supporters — despite being
targeted by this campaign — were either on the other side of
this debate or chose not to comment. Their greenwashing of
ancient forest logging must end.”
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Do rich nations “owe” poor ones for eco-
abuse?:
It would seem they do — more than $1.8 trillion, if
a new appraisal is to be believed.
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/080121_environment.htm
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ALERT VICTORY/UPDATE
***********************************************
RAINFOREST NEWS TODAY
Analysis of a Rainforest/Climate Campaign Victory for
Woodlark, Papua New Guinea
***********************************************
Rainforest Portal a project of Ecological Internet, Inc.
http://www.rainforestportal.org — Rainforest Portal
http://www.rainforestportal.org/news/ — Rainforest Newsfeed
February 13, 2008
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet
Ecological Internet has deeply appreciated the opportunity to
participate in a recent string of rainforest and climate
victories. Given our deep attachment to Papua New Guinea,
perhaps none has been as satisfying as mobilizing
international pressure that helped protect precious Woodlark
Island from near total rainforest clearance for oil palm. This
madness is the epitome of ecological evil, and together local
peoples and the world expressed outrage, and for now have
cancelled the plans.
We have carried out similar campaigns for over fifteen years,
with many, many victories. Mongabay — the fantastic
alternative rainforest media source at
http://www.mongabay.com/ — has for the first time carried out
a post-conservation analysis of how local and international
Internet-based protest stopped Woodlark’s rich biodiversity
from becoming a toxic oil palm monoculture. It makes for a
good read, demonstrating conservation campaign methods that
could be widely replicated. Humanity’s eco-future depends upon
collaborative north-south protest of ecologically destructive
activities wherever found.
To comment:
http://www.rainforestportal.org/issues/2008/02/analysis_of_a_rainforestclimat.asp
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Papua New Guinea: How activists and scientists saved a
rainforest island from destruction for palm oil
Saving an island: analysis of Woodlark Island’s victory over
palm-oil development
Source: Copyright 2008, Mongabay
Date: February 13, 2008
How Woodlark Island’s plight went from local to global
In mid-January, Mongabay learned that the government of Papua
New Guinea had changed its mind: it would no longer allow
Vitroplant Ltd. to deforest 70% of Woodlark Island for palm
oil plantations. This change came about after one hundred
Woodlark Islanders (out of a population of 6,000) traveled to
Alotau, the capital of Milne Bay Province, to deliver a
protest letter to the local government; after several articles
in Mongabay and Pacific Magazine highlighted the plight of the
island; after Eco-Internet held a campaign in which
approximately three thousand individuals worldwide sent nearly
50,000 letters to local officials; and after an article
appeared in the London Telegraph stating that due to
deforestation on New Britain Island and planned deforestation
on Woodlark Island, Papua New Guinea had gone from being an
eco-hero to an ‘eco-zero’.
Except for the article in the London Telegraph, the issue of
Woodlark Island was largely ignored by mainstream western
media. For many involved this was disappointing, since the
plight of Woodlark Island so perfectly presented the wholesale
destruction palm oil plantations have been causing in Asian
and Pacific forests for years. Dr. Glen Barry, founder and
director of Ecological Internet, referred to the situation as
the “epitome of ecological evil” since this “incredibly
diverse island would be turned over to a monoculture crop”.
Although the issue barely touched mainstream media, it still
found its way from local protestors to scientists to global
organizations, eventually putting international pressure on
the decision-makers.
Mongabay first learned of the plight of Woodlark Island from a
blog entry by the conservation organization EDGE (Evolutionary
Distinct and Globally Endangered). The organization had been
contacted by researchers on the ground. After receiving help
and information from Alexander Rheeney, an environmental
journalist who covered the issue locally, Mongabay sent word
to various campaign organizations. Dr. Barry’s Ecological
Internet took it on, setting up the campaign to flood Papua
New Guinea’s government with e-mails from around. In the
meantime, island natives continued to pressure the government
and the London Telegraph picked up the story. It appears that
the combined protests and negative attention were enough to
sway the government to drop the project.
Opposition in many forms
There can be no doubt that the most important part of the
opposition to the deforestation of Woodlark Island was the
courageous citizens of Woodlark themselves, who decided not to
allow the government and Vitroplant Ltd. to devastate the
island’s ecology, resources, and way of life for short-term
monetary gain. Mongabay had been in contact with one of the
leaders of the local opposition, Dr. Simon Piwuyes, from early
on. He had this to say when the government pulled the project:
“This is fantastic. It is important that the livelihood of the
Woodlark Islanders and the eco-system that surrounds them is
maintained. Woodlark Islanders live care-free lives in the
midst of the ocean and their rich forest land. The forest and
the animals play an irreplaceable importance in the lives of
the islanders. It is a great relief to learn that the
government has spared rare species that our earth desperately
loves to keep. I, on behalf of the Woodlark Islanders, salute
the government for the decision.” When asked why he thought
the government changed its position, Dr. Piyuwes stated:
“Number one: pressure from the landowners, number two:
pressure from the NGOs, and number three: pressure from
international organizations and individuals”. He added, “On
this note I salute all organizations and individuals for
signing up for this great issue. Our earth needs such
cooperation.”
The cooperative efforts also included scientists and
researchers. Dr. Kristofer Helgen, a mammalogist who focuses
on species in the Papua New Guinea and its neighboring
islands, stated, “I think that this is very good news.
Woodlark Islanders loudly objected to major oil palm
development on Woodlark. Their campaign to prevent this action
involved contacting international researchers to attract
attention to their cause, which is how I came to be aware of
the situation.” Researchers and scientists proved instrumental
in spreading the word and providing continual context and
information. Without them the issue would never have made it
to a variety of media sources.
Forests.org, part of Ecological Internet, was the largest
organization to take on the issue. Ecological Internet asks
online members to send out protest letters regarding various
environmental issues. When asked why he decided to set-up a
campaign for Woodlark Island, Dr. Barry expressed a personal
link to the region: “[Ecological Internet’s] efforts began
with Papua New Guinea. The country is near and dear to my
heart. I married a woman from Papua New Guinea, and my wife
and daughter are there visiting now.” Dr. Barry also felt
positive about his organization’s ability to make a difference
in this situation. “I was quite confident,” he says, “given
the secrecy of this project with the shady Malaysian company
that once we exposed it we could either halt the project or
delay it long enough for further scrutiny and oversight”. Dr.
Barry describes the power of his organization as ‘the
boomerang effect’: the issue goes out to his over 100,000
members worldwide—living in almost every nation—and then
boomerangs back to the local nation involved. Carly Waterman,
project coordinator for EDGE, believes that the victory for
Woodlark Island “really highlights the power of the Internet,
where one person’s voice can turn into millions overnight”
At the time of the protest by Ecological Internet there was an
opportunity to remind Papua New Guinea of its previous pro-
environmental statements, namely its desire to receive funds
for preserving its forests to mitigate climate change. Papua
New Guinea even made headlines during the Bali conference on
climate change when one of its members, Kevin Conrad, had the
courage to stand-up to the world’s super-power. “I would ask
the United States, we ask for your leadership,” Mr. Conrad
said, “but if for some reason you’re not willing to lead,
leave it to the rest of us. Please get out of the way.” His
comments were met with applause from leaders worldwide and
shortly thereafter the U.S. caved to international pressure.
The article on Woodlark Island in the London Telegraph alluded
to this very moment in its observation that Papua New Guinea
was not truly an ‘eco-hero’ but an ‘eco-zero’ due to its
willingness t engage in deforestation. Dr. Barry also grasped
the opportunity: “You were leaders of rainforest conservation,
now you are going to allow an island with endemic species and
people living in harmony with their rainforest to be
essentially mowed down.” There is no question that the
comments made during the Bali conference, and in previous
arenas, came back to haunt the government of Papua New Guinea.
What the decision protects: the singularity of Woodlark Island
Papua New Guinea and its surrounding islands is a region of
ecological wonders. Woodlark Island alone possesses at least
twenty-four endemic animal species; the island has been only
partially surveyed by biologists; each new expedition usually
turns up a species unknown to science. Most famous of the
endemic species is the Woodlark Cuscus, an arboreal marsupial.
Islanders occasionally hunt and eat the Cuscus, but this has
not affected its healthy population. If Vitroplant Ltd. had
been allowed to go ahead it is quite conceivable that many of
Woodlark Island’s species would have become endangered. Dr.
Helgen noted that “for animal species unique to Woodlark
Island, including the beautiful Woodlark Cuscus, the island’s
forests are their only home. The decision not to destroy those
forests is a clear victory for everyone interested in the
long-term survival of all of Papua New Guinea’s unique
wildlife species, which have fundamental cultural and
ecological importance in this island nation of ancient and
beautiful forests.” The very ecological systems of the island
would have been affected as well. Dr. Dan Polhemus stated in a
previous article that supplanting forest with palm oil greatly
degrades local water systems. As well, it was believed that
chemicals and fertilizers used on the island would end up
contaminating the surrounding coast, eliminating the fish
supply that islanders depend upon.
It is not only the ecology of the island that has been
preserved by the government’s decision, but the islander’s
unique culture as well. Deforestation of 70% of the island
would have drastically changed a culture whose subsistence
relies on the island’s ecology, an ecology that has been
shaped by the islanders as much as the islanders have shaped
it. Dr. F.H. Damon, an anthropologist who has been studying
the Woodlark Island for over thirty years, says that “there
remains on the island something of a unique example of a
regional social and ecological system that supported human and
other life for 2000 and more years.” Employing gardening,
small-scale hunting, and pig-herding the islanders have built
a sustainable way of life for themselves and the island’s
other species within a mere 80,000 hectares (the size of New
York City).
It is easy to list off what is being preserved by not
developing Woodlark Island, but it’s more difficult to fully
comprehend the agglomerate richness of a place like Woodlark
Island in its global context. Dr. Barry describes Papua New
Guinea as “one of four remaining areas of rainforest
wilderness—in terms of size and contiguous intactness.” He
says that “as well as Papua New Guinea, the other three areas
are the Amazon, the Congo, and the Guyana Shield. Unlike
Europe, China, or the United States, where all habitats are
small and fragmented, it is very important not to let these
last four remaining areas become fragmented.”
Still not safe: the future of palm-oil
Unfortunately such fragmentation may still occur in Papua New
Guinea. Most people involved with Woodlark Island believe that
the island is still not safe from palm oil plantations or
other forms of destructive development. “It is very likely
this issue will appear again in the near future,” Dr. Barry
said, “any rainforest is never truly protected.” Dr. Damon
agrees, “In the scheme of things this is a small decision
amidst massive movements which may yet overwhelm the island’s
ecology and culture, a culture that has been being eroded for
150 years. Yet the people of the island said no to one
possible direction for their future. That is a courageous
act.” Dr. Simon Piyuwes is aware of the danger. He said that
while the islanders welcomed the government’s rejection of the
project they stilled demanded the company’s official
withdrawal. “This is because the land lease has been granted
to the company,” Dr. Piyuwes explained, “we would like the
lease to be nullified.” It seems the future of palm oil
remains strong, even though this ‘green’ biofuel is no greener
than gasoline.
A recent study of biofuels and carbon sequestering has proven
that virtually all agricultural biofuels actually increase
emissions that drive climate change. This report has received
worldwide attention. In a comparison with various biofuel
crops, palm oil proves to be the most environmentally
damaging, especially as it is usually produced on cleared
rainforest and peatlands. According to the study, it would
have taken Woodlark Island eighty-six years for the palm oil
plantations to make-up for the amount of carbon their
development released in the atmosphere, and yet the lifecycle
of a palm oil plantation is around thirty years, meaning that
it could never overcome its carbon debt and would be a net
source of CO2.
Despite these reports, scientists believe that biofuels, and
in particular palm oil, will continue to threaten Papua New
Guinea’s forests. Both Malaysia and Indonesia, the kings of
palm oil, have felled so many forests and peatlands for the
crop that few places remain for expansion, which is one reason
why Papua New Guinea is suddenly under great pressure to cave
into the palm oil industry. “I am sure that palm oil
plantations will continue to expand in Southeast Asia and
Papua New Guinea, at least as long as global demand for palm
oil remains high,” says Dr. Helgen. “This demand is linked to
strong interest in… ‘biofuels’ as alternative and
inexpensive sources of energy, and especially by demand for
biofuels in the rapidly growing economies of China and India.”
In addition, Dr. Barry points out that the Prime Minister of
Papua New Guinea, Michael Somare, never commented on the
government’s decision to pull Vitroplant out of Woodlark
Island. Barry says that Prime Minister Sumari’s “interest in
logging and bad environmental record has shown him to be a
hypocrite. I have seen this happen in Uganda, a minister
cancels a project while the Prime Minister does not comment on
it. It means that it will be likely that palm oil production
and logging will be seen again in Papua New Guinea.” Dr. Damon
adds a further warning for the future: “until we devise new
energy sources and models of the human good, [palm oil
production] is a track to destruction. Monocrop agriculture is
not a viable future but so many things have to change before
we have a realistic alternative that it is almost hopeless to
think about a different future.”
Some scientists believe there are ways to counter the current
biofuel rush. “I think that part of the solution to countering
the ‘blitzkrieg’ expansion of palm oil plantations into former
rainforested lands across Asia and Melanesia is getting the
word out globally that the global biofuel industry,” says Dr.
Helgen, “especially those parts of the industry that involve
massive tropical deforestation, involve catastrophic losses of
biodiversity… and may have a huge negative impact in
worldwide efforts to counteract the acceleration of global
climate change.” With more attention placed on biofuels by
researchers and governments—the EU has already taken notice—it
is possible the palm oil industry will begin to wan in South
East Asia. Dr. Barry sees hope in current trends, “I think the
kind of unfettered growth that we have seen in the last few
years as biofuels and oil palm were heralded as climate savior
is being legitimately questioned.” He adds that “as we
approach 7 billion people, countries will have to choose
between adequately feeding and adequately transporting
themselves.” Such choices will hopefully lead to further
research studies and a greater focus on more effective ways to
fight climate change.
The necessity of celebrating victories
While Woodlark Island is still threatened, while so much of
South East Asia’s forests have succumbed to palm oil, and
while every year more and more effects from climate change are
seen, some might believe that claiming any victory is
premature. However, Dr. Barry who has seen both victories and
disappointments in his organization, says, “I don’t know how
else to sustain a movement and grow a movement than
celebrating positive developments.” Such celebrations, whether
of preserving Woodlark Island or ending the use of rainforest
wood to make New York City’s benches, are important “to
sustain ourselves, and give ourselves hope… We live to fight
another day.” Dr. Barry concluded that for environmentalists,
“A lot of this is fighting a defensive action. When the moment
comes where the world finally begins to focus on the necessity
of large-scale ecological renewal the seeds of habitat will
remain to make this restoration possible.”
For Dr. Piyuwes, and the inhabitants of Woodlark Island, there
is no question that this is a victory. When asked what advice
he would give to those participating in future struggles for
conservation, he had this to say: “We need to preserve our
forest from deforestation. There are other alternatives to
development. There are many organizations and individuals
nationally and internationally who are willing to support you
on the issue of deforestation. My advice is to engage the
international organization and media to battle the issue.” Dr.
Piyuwes is now able to imagine a much more celebratory future
for his native island than anyone could have a month ago.
“Number one,” he says, “we will demand the Government to give
back the land to the islanders (woodlark is state land).
Number two, declare woodlark as protected land. Number three,
encourage eco-tourism.” Only the victory over Vitroplant
allows such happy plans to be realistic.
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ALERT VICTORY
***********************************************
RAINFOREST PROTECTION NEWS TODAY
Oil Palm Companies Pledge to Stay Out of Indonesian
Rainforests
***********************************************
Rainforest Portal a project of Ecological Internet, Inc.
http://www.rainforestportal.org/ — Rainforest Portal
May 14, 2008
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Dr. Glen Barry, Ecological Internet
Palm oil companies operating in Indonesia have pledged to stop
expanding plantations into rainforests. In late 2006
Ecological Internet was the first to launch a large
international protest campaign on this matter — bringing to
the world’s attention how oil palm plantations on carbon rich
tropical rainforest peatlands were destroying biodiversity,
global climate and orangutan habitat. Over 11,000 protestors
from 114 countries sent one quarter of a million protest
emails to the Indonesian government and many other responsible
parties at http://www.rainforestportal.org/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia_peatland
On another occasion similar numbers brought the
matter to the attention of every UN climate change national
focal point. Others including Greenpeace later followed our
lead (below).
Together we have achieved these pledges to keep oil palm out
of rainforests, and this is a tremendous victory for
rainforest and climate protection movement. Certainly more
remains to be done. It is still questionable to use food for
agrofuel. Indigenous and other local peoples may still lose
their land to corporations. Already cleared peat soils that
should be reflooded and restored to hold their carbon are
likely to be developed. And the Indonesian government is
notoriously fast and loose with promises to disarm
environmental campaigns, and enforcement may well lag. Without
continued monitoring, this pledge will be disregarded and oil
palm will continue to expand even into protected areas and
orangutan habitat (see below). Yet what makes this victory so
savory is that it is the companies buying the palm oil
themselves that have made the pledge — it will be hard for
them to renege.
Ecological Internet brought Indonesian rainforest destruction
for oil palm to the world and our key demand to keep
production out of rainforests has been met. This makes four
victories for our Earth Action Network in the past six months,
six in the last year. From Papua New Guinea to Indonesia, the
Congo to Australia, and all along the East Coast of the U.S.,
the message is being heard that ancient forest destruction and
diminishment must end to maintain the world’s biodiversity,
ecosystems and climate. See more of what we have achieved
together at http://www.rainforestportal.org/kudos/ . We are
successful even though we are not afraid to confront difficult
issues like FSC greenwash, and over-population and
consumption. And realize action alerts are but one of the free
services we supply; others including the only true green
search engine, news tracking, biocentric blogging, exhaustive
links and more.
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PRESS/SOCIAL MEDIA RELEASE
Papua New Guinea Rainforests Deeply Threatened
– Future carbon payments for avoided deforestation in
doubt. As a global leader in promoting such payments, the
PNG government would be well advised to focus upon better
protecting its rainforests, if it wants to fully access
carbon monies based upon their continued carbon storage
February 22, 2009
By Earth’s Newsdesk and the Rainforest Portal
Projects of Ecological Internet
http://www.ecoearth.info/newsdesk/
CONTACT: Dr. Glen Barry, glenbarry@ecologicalinternet.org
(Seattle, WA) — An important new study in the journal
“Biotropica” finds that between 1972 and 2002, a net 15
percent of Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) rainforests were
cleared and 8.8 percent were degraded through logging[1].
The clearance rate of 1.1 to 3.4 percent/yr in
commercially accessible forests is much higher than
reported previously by the FAO.
PNG — located in the South Pacific, northeast of
Australia — holds some of the world’s largest and most
important intact and contiguous forests. Their fate has
important implications for local livelihoods and
biodiversity, and both local and global climate change.
The new study quantifies forest loss PNG for the first
time with a high degree of accuracy. And the findings are
not good.
Some 36% of the accessible forest estate has been
degraded or deforested. This finding raises the question
of whether the PNG government — as a welcome leader in
promoting avoided deforestation payments — is pursuing
the necessary policies to ensure large rainforests
continue to exist as the basis for their country to
receive large and continuous international payments for
their carbon storage?
“You cannot industrially log, and clear forests for
biofuels, and expect to receive avoided deforestation
payments,” says Dr. Glen Barry. “As a nation PNG is going
to have to choose between continued once off rainforest
destruction, mostly for foreign advantage, or being paid
more, essentially forever, for maintaining the national
and global benefits of fully intact rainforests.”
Ecological Internet calls upon PNG to immediately
reappraise its logging, biofuel and agriculture policies;
to ensure maximum amounts of fully intact forests are
available for anticipated international carbon market
funding to stop deforestation and diminishment, and for
continued non-diminishing traditional local uses. First
time industrial logging of primary forests releases huge
amounts of stored carbon and permanently reduces the
forest’s carbon holding potential. Clearly industrial
forestry, certified or not, is a dying industry with no
future.
### MORE ###
The study found that change in PNG rainforest extent and
condition has occurred to a greater extent than
previously recorded. The study assessed deforestation and
forest degradation in Papua New Guinea by comparing a
land-cover map from 1972 with a land-cover map created
from nationwide high-resolution satellite imagery
recorded since 2002. In 2002 there were 28,251,967 ha of
tropical rain forest.
Between 1972 and 2002, a net 15 percent of Papua New
Guinea’s tropical forests were cleared and 8.8 percent
were degraded through logging. The drivers of forest
change have been concentrated within the accessible
forest estate where a net 36 percent were degraded or
deforested through both forestry and nonforestry
processes. Since 1972, 13
percent of upper montane forests have also been lost.
It was estimated that over the period 1990–2002, overall
rates of change generally increased and varied between
0.8 and 1.8 percent/yr, while rates in commercially
accessible forest have been far higher—having varied
between 1.1 and 3.4 percent/yr. The study concluded that
rapid and substantial forest change has occurred in Papua
New Guinea, with the major drivers being logging in the
lowland forests and subsistence agriculture throughout
the country with comparatively minor contributions from
forest fires, plantation establishment, and mining.
“Sari tumas. Nogat bikpela bus, bai yu no kan kisim win
mani long lukautim em,” says Dr. Barry. In Melanesian
pidgin: I am very sorry, if you don’t have large
rainforests, you cannot be paid to take care of them.
### ENDS ###
[1] ” Forest Conversion and Degradation in Papua New
Guinea 1972–2002″, Biotropica, 10.1111/j.1744-
7429.2009.00495.x. Corresponding author Phil L. Shearman
(to request copies), shearma@ozemail.com.au
DISCUSS RELEASE:
http://www.rainforestportal.org/issues/2009/02/release_papua_new_guinea_rainf.asp
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