In the lush rainforest of the Adelbert Mountain range on the north-central edge of Papua New Guinea, the Conservancy is working directly with local communities to preserve the resources they need to survive, to support their families, and to preserve their unique cultures.

A Place of Remarkable Beauty and Diversity

Home to tree kangaroos, giant bandicoots, alpine wallabies, bougainville monkey-faced flying foxes, and the endemic fire-maned bower bird, the Adelbert Mountains area is extraordinarily rich in biodiversity.

In 1998, a series of Conservancy surveys identified 57 mammal species, 336 bird species, 423 butterfly species, and 103 reptile and amphibian species likely to be found in the region. Botanical surveys in 1998 and 1999 identified 973 species of floral diversity—including four newly described species—just in the lower elevation forests near the Guam River.

Many of these plant species have significant cultural and traditional importance to local people as well. From plants that provide food and medicine, to others that are used for construction or to improve the hunting performance of dogs, this region has been identified as a high national priority for conservation.

A People-Centric Approach

The Conservancy began working in the Adelbert Mountain region in the late 1990s because of a serious threat from logging. The government had placed much of the region under a Forest Management Agreement (FMA), meaning that logging rights could be sold to the highest bidder. The Conservancy decided on a novel approach: promote sustainable forestry operations and provide benefits to communities so there is less pressure to log their finite forest resources.

The Conservancy then partnered with a private U.S.-based company called Sustainable Forest Systems to create Sustainable Forestry Resources (SFR). This partnership submitted a proposal to the provincial government to engage in small-scale timber harvesting, conservation, and compatible business development.

In 2001, the Conservancy began creating conservation covenants: voluntary agreements in which landowners protect their lands for conservation over long periods of time in exchange for much-needed benefits, such as roads, schools and water tanks.

The Power to Choose a Brighter Future

By late 2008, nine communities had signed and approved land use and management plans. The Conservancy provided technical support in determining which land should be set aside for conservation, and which areas could be used for gardening, agriculture, hunting, and collecting building materials.

Instead of being paid a small amount by developers to log their forests, the local villagers will receive more than an equivalent amount of services for conserving their traditional land.

In 2007, the Conservancy helped secure a grant from the EU to bring rainwater collection tanks to four villages in the project region. Access to fresh water was identified as a pressing need for these villages, and the rainwater collection tanks will ensure access to water through the dry season.

The Conservancy continues to work with all the villages on conservation and community development issues. By providing ongoing training and support to the conservation monitoring teams, and support to communities in health education, training in midwifery, and baking skills, a sustainable future can be created in the Adelbert Mountains.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Mark Godfrey/TNC (Villagers do a traditional singsing welcoming visitors from The Nature Conservancy to the village of Turutapa located in the Adelbert Mountain Range of Papua New Guinea's Madang Province); Photo © Mark Godfrey/TNC (A young Long-tailed Pygmy Possum (Cercartetus caudatus) is a diprotodont marsupial found in the rainforests of northern Australia, Indonesia and New Guinea).