scholarly journals Rationale, experience and ethical considerations underpinning integrated actions to further global goals for health and land biodiversity in Papua New Guinea

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1653-1664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Middleton ◽  
Jackie A. Cassell ◽  
Gavin Colthart ◽  
Francesca Dem ◽  
James Fairhead ◽  
...  

Abstract The SURFACES project is integrating action on good health and wellbeing [Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3] and conservation of life on land (SDG 15) in the threatened rainforests of Papua New Guinea (PNG), and mapping evidence of similar projects worldwide. Our approach is framed by Planetary Health, aiming to safeguard both human health and the natural systems that underpin it. Our rationale is demonstrated through a summary of health needs and forest conservation issues across PNG, and how these play out locally. We outline differing types of integrated conservation and health interventions worldwide, providing examples from Borneo, Uganda, India and elsewhere. We then describe what we are doing on-the-ground in PNG, which includes expansion of a rainforest conservation area alongside the establishment of a nurse-staffed aid post, and an educational intervention conceptually linking forest conservation and health. Importantly, we explore some ethical considerations on the conditionality of medical provision and identify key challenges to the successful implementation of such projects. The latter include: avoiding cross-sectoral blindness and achieving genuine interdisciplinary working; the weak evidence base justifying projects; and temporal-spatial issues. We conclude by suggesting how projects integrating actions on health and conservation SDGs can benefit from (and contribute to) the energy of the emerging Planetary Health movement.

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Ezebilo

<p>Ecosystem services that are not traded on markets contribute to human wellbeing however their economic value is not well known and research is required to reveal it. This paper reports on a study of willingness to pay (WTP) for the maintenance of Mount Wilhelm by urban residents and socio-economic factors influencing it. The possibility of developing an ecotourism strategy that could generate benefits for local are discussed. The data were obtained from questionnaire and personal interviews of residents of Kundiawa, which is the capital of Simbu Province, Papua New Guinea. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and binary logit regression model. The results showed that 92% of the respondents were willing to pay for maintenance of Mount Wilhelm and they would pay an average of 7.4 Papua New Guinea Kina (US$ 2.5) each year. The respondents who belonged to high income group had the highest WTP, followed by those who were willing to give out part of their land for conservation. Approximately 62% of the respondents would pay ≥10 Papua New Guinea Kina (PGK), which is equivalent to the amount charged as access fee to Mount Wilhelm by the locals living around it. The willingness to pay ≥10 PGK was influenced by income, education, importance of forests and willingness to give up land for conservation. The findings will contribute to land use planning and design of nature-based recreation that meets societal demands.</p>


2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy MacKinnon

Papua New Guinea (PNG) occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and still boasts 33 million hectares of closed natural forest (77% of the country), home to numerous endemic species. Overall PNG is sparsely populated with some 700 distinct cultural/ language groups. Economic growth over the past two decades has been spurred by large-scale mining, petroleum and logging operations though the majority of the population continues to rely upon subsistence agriculture (swidden) and collection and utilization of forest products. Some 15 million hectares of forests are accessible for logging, of which 1.5 million hectares have already been logged, generally in an unsustainable manner. Of the over 6 million ha of approved timber blocks more than 1.5 million hectares have been located in areas of high biological value. Forest loss and degradation is now becoming a serious problem.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. S73-S79 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Taune ◽  
P. Ustero ◽  
S. Hiashiri ◽  
K. Huang ◽  
P. Aia ◽  
...  

2001 ◽  
pp. 351-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlyne Johnson ◽  
Paul Igag ◽  
Robert Bino ◽  
Paul Hukahu

2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Hunt

The article describes and quantifies the financial benefits of small-scale community forestry, conducted on an ecologically sustainable basis—‘eco-forestry’, by customary landowners in Papua New Guinea. Through economic modelling the article also attempts to quantify the global benefits generated. Eco-forestry is subsidized by donors directly and through NGOs in its setting up and certification. Financial modelling suggests that, with a subsidy, eco-forestry is capable of generating a return to landowners that is comparable to industrial logging. While the return to logging followed by conversion to agriculture is much more attractive than eco-forestry, agriculture is an option available only in some locations. Economic modelling finds that the external economic benefits emanating from tropical forest conservation that replaces logging in Papua New Guinea are far greater in scale than the financial benefits to landowners. However, the lack of reliable data on the environmental benefits of forest conservation means that economic analysis is somewhat inconclusive. The need for further research to quantify environmental benefits is thus highlighted. The subsidization of forest conservation directly, instead of indirectly through small-scale forestry, is investigated and found to generate a similar level of economic benefits to eco-forestry. However, the cost of direct subsidization is greater. Moreover, mechanisms for direct subsidy are undeveloped in Papua New Guinea. Donors may prefer to continue to subsidize small-scale forestry where it replaces logging because of its apparent conservation and side benefits and because it is operational, while at the same time exploring and extending cost-effective models of direct conservation that have the advantage over eco-forestry of being applicable in more remote areas. Compared with industrial logging, eco-forestry contributes little to consolidated revenue. Therefore it is to be expected that eco-forestry will meet government resistance if it makes significant inroads into the allocation of logging concessions.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257393
Author(s):  
Karen E. Mulak ◽  
Hannah S. Sarvasy ◽  
Alba Tuninetti ◽  
Paola Escudero

Adapting laboratory psycholinguistic methods to fieldwork contexts can be fraught with difficulties. However, successful implementation of such methods in the field enhances our ability to learn the true extent and limitations of human behavior. This paper reports two attempts to run word learning experiments with the small community of Nungon speakers in Towet village in the Saruwaged Mountains, Papua New Guinea. A first attempt involved running a cross-situational task in which word-object pairings were presented ambiguously in each trial, and an explicit word learning task in which pairings were presented explicitly, or unambiguously, in each trial. While this quickly garnered a respectable 34 participants over the course of a week, it yielded null results, with many participants appearing to show simple patterned responses at test. We interpreted the null result as possibly reflecting the unfamiliarity of both the task and the laptop-based presentation mode. In Experiment 2, we made several adjustments to the explicit word learning task in an attempt to provide clearer instructions, reduce cognitive load, and frame the study within a real-world context. During a second 11-day stay in the village, 34 participants completed this modified task and demonstrated clear evidence of word learning. With this success serving as a future guide for researchers, our experiences show that it may require multiple attempts, even by experienced fieldworkers familiar with the target community, to successfully adapt experiments to a field setting.


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