Saving our precious wildlife

The National Weekender

By BURGESS YOPOLO
IT is not often that we take time to truly appreciate the work that is being done in PNG to protect and preserve PNG’s precious wildlife.  In recent times however, Port Moresby Nature Park has become a shining light for taking a lead in providing opportunities for community education on a number of initiatives including wildlife conservation, the environment and cultural and environmental connectedness.
At the beginning of last month, Port Moresby Nature Park in conjunction with major partner, ExxonMobil PNG Ltd successfully held World Wildlife Day as a means to providing a platform for conservation groups country wide to share with a wider audience works that are going on to save and conserve PNG’s wildlife.
World Wildlife Day was officially declared in 2014 by the United Nations to coincide with the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).  The date is now celebrated worldwide to recognise Wildlife and the need to protect it, particularly from illegal trade and overhunting.
In the Nature Park’s and ExxonMobil PNG’s second year in co-hosting the event over 16 conservation-based organisations shared their programs to over 2,500 visitors on the day.
Organisations included Dept of Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA), PIKU Kikori Project, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Mama Graun Foundation, Partners with Melanesia, RSPCA of PNG, Sepik Wetlands Initiative, New Guinea Binatang Research, Tenkile Conservation Alliance (TCA), Tree Kangaroo Conservation Project (TKCP), YUS Conservation organisation, Global Snakebite Initiative and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
Here are some of their stories:

YUS Conservation  / Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program
The YUS Conservation Area Landscape on the Huon Peninsula of Morobe is a mosaic of human settlements, grasslands, agricultural gardens, fringing reefs and rainforest. This extensive forest is home to a rich faunal biodiversity, with 268 bird species including at least five endemic species and 44 mammal species, including the endemic Matschie’s tree kangaroo.
While the Huon Peninsula has so far been largely spared from large-scale resource extraction, its ecosystem and biodiversity are under increasing pressure from the subsistence resource needs of its growing population.
The people of the Huon Peninsula depend on the land for subsistence agriculture, clean water and hunting for protein sources and ceremonial materials.  As throughout PNG, customary landowners maintain control and ownership of the conservation area. Therefore, long-term wildlife conservation requires that landowners understand the direct link between protecting their forests and protecting their future.
The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program started in 1996 to study the endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroo and look for ways to conserve this species in partnership with the local people of the Yus LLG.
Through research and consultations with local landowners, the primary threat to the survival of the Matschie’s tree kangaroo was determined to be unsustainable rates of subsistence hunting.

Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is the longest established international conservation non-government organisations (NGO) within Papua New Guinea and has had a permanent presence in the country since the mid-1980s. WCS PNG works with local communities, local and international NGOs, and with local, provincial and national governments on a wide range of conservation issues and across a range of landscapes from the country’s coral islands to its forested highlands.
The vision of WCS PNG is “Gutpela sindaun, gutpela solwara, gutpela bus” which translates to “Empowering people with healthy seas and healthy forests”.
During World Wildlife Day, WCS focused on raising awareness of ‘Lukautim Bilas Bilong Yu’ (‘look after your traditional costumes’), which focuses on their research on the impacts to native wildlife populations from harvesting of animals for customary dress and ornamentation (“bilas” in Tok Pisin).
WCS officer Grace Nugi explains, “WCS is not asking people to abandon the use of wildlife in their customary dress but rather we are encouraging people to better preserve what they already have.”
Nugi pointed out, “We estimate that in the case of the Pesquet’s Parrot feathers used in headdresses in Chimbu, if we can extend the average lifespan of people’s bilas by five years we might be able to reduce the impact of hunting by 20%.”
To help achieve such an outcome WCS has been giving out hundreds of bilas protection kits in the highlands. Each kit consists of instructions, mothballs, and alternating sheets of heavy duty plastic and paper to help protect the bilas from insects, mice and mould.
Nugi enjoyed the opportunity to share the message with the thousands of children who attended the festivities at the Port Moresby Nature Park.
“Many children in Port Moresby see bilas being sold while sitting in their cars at intersections.”
“Hopefully now they will think about the impact of that sale on the animals in the wild.”
She recommends people visit the Nature Park’s new Pesquet’s Parrot (also known as Vulturine Parrot) display which includes information panels describing WCS’s conservation initiatives.