|
About | Contact | Mongabay on Facebook | Mongabay on Twitter | Subscribe |
|
|
Tropical islanders win battle against palm-oil Jeremy Hance, mongabay.com January 16, 2008 Confirmation that Woodlark Island will remain free of palm-oil development
This is considered a victory both for the islanders and the unique ecology of Woodlark Island. In November one-hundred islanders (out of 6,000) traveled to Alotau, the capital of Milne Bay Province, to formally protest the planned deforestation and plantation development. The Woodlark Islanders live off gardening, raising wild pigs, and occasional hunting. Over centuries they have shaped and been shaped by the environment around them. Dr. F.H. Damon in a previous article for Mongabay stated 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." If 60,000 hectares of the island had been deforested and turned into a monoculture, there is little question that the Woodlark Islander's unique way of life would have been changed irrevocably.
The government cited that the reason for the pullout was due to the people's opposition. But the government may have also felt international pressure. A recent environmental campaign by forests.org sent thousands of opposition e-mails to officials involved in the plans to develop Woodlark Island. As well, a recent article in the London Telegraph called Papua New Guinea an "eco-zero" due to its logging on New Britain island for palm oil, and its proposed logging on Woodlark Island. Dr. Simon Piyuwes, one of the opposition leaders, stated that the fight for ownership of Woodlark Island is not over: "Woodlark Island is state land since 1916. Our next phase of campaign is to return the island to the islanders." If the islanders are able to win legal rights to the island then no company would be able to develop any portion of the land without the islander's assent.
Tags: environment asia forestry rainforests forests rainforest agriculture agriculture conservation biofuels papua new guinea environmental activism jeremy hance activism logging palm oil deforestation biodiversity happy-upbeat environmental green News index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing
|
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 
Photos HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS / PRINTS 
CALENDARS 
CANVAS BAGS 
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright mongabay 2010 Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from mongabay.com operations (server, data transfer, travel) are mitigated through an association with Anthrotect, an organization working with Afro-indigenous and Embera communities to protect forests in Colombia's Darien region. Anthrotect is protecting the habitat of mongabay's mascot: the scale-crested pygmy tyrant. |
