Environment and Development: The Forests of Papua New Guinea

1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-149
Author(s):  
Herb Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
International Agencies ◽  
Forestry Sector ◽  
Effective Manner ◽  
Customary Land ◽  
The Relationship

The uniqueness and importance of island tropical moist rainforests, such as that of Papua New Guinea is well recognised. It can be safely argued that tropical islands with their rainforests and adjacent coral reefs may well comprise the most biologically rich complexes of ecosystems on the planet. Therefore, those who pursue economic growth or developmental processes on these islands must be particularly cognizant of the environment. This paper examines, with particular reference to Papua New Guinea, the relationship between development and the environment. Papua New Guinea incorporates the largest continuous tract of lowland tropical moist rainforest in the Southeast Asia/Pacific region. The forestry sector in Papua New Guinea is described. This is followed by a conceptualisation of the environmental/economic dilemma. It is then argued that economic criteria and legal/juridical policies, used by international agencies and the State to resolve the problem of forest degradation, have proved to be a failure in Papua New Guinea. Those people most affected, villagers and peasants, have no control over the incursion of international capital and are forced or enticed to sell off their own and future generation’s customary land rights. Social relationships have been commercialised in a most effective manner. In return the villagers receive roads without maintenance, schools without teachers and royalty agreements without payment. To date no consensus has yet been achieved on the relationship between the protagonists of economic growth and those of ecological or social sustainability

scholarly journals Editorial

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julius Ary Mollet
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
The World

<p>Today, the Asia Pacific region is one among the fastest growing region in the world with strong economic growth. Due to globalization, world economy has undergone significant changes. While Europe’s economic growth has been slowing down, Asia Pacific’s consistently shows an impressive growth. In the next few years, the economic growth in the region will remain strong, in parallel with improving living standards in the region. With its huge population and strategic location, Asia Pacific offers many opportunities for countries outside the region to embark on collaboration and economic cooperation.</p><p>Papua and PNG are integral parts of Asia Pacific and play a strategic role in the region. Papua and PNG share commonalities in terms of economic development’s approaches. Both regions rely on extractive economies which depend on the exploitation of natural resources. Papua and PNG posses enormous and extraordinary biodiversity, unique to the region. But natural resource-based development has not only threatened but also undermined any effort to protect region’s diverse flora and fauna. With the emergence of Asia Pacific as a new economic powerhouse, the growth has transformed indigenous communities and their livelihood including their economic, cultural and social institutions as well as their relationship with their environment.</p><p>Moreover, although Papua and PNG are resource-rich regions, both have a substantial number of populations who live in poverty or extreme poverty. Income distribution in Papua and PNG demonstrates that there is a striking gap between the poor and the rich. On top of that, the provision of basic services such as education and healthcare is still unevenly distributed. While cities are generally well-served, some areas in the hinterland suffer from a lack of teachers and medical personnel. The fundamental challenges faced by Papua and PNG lie precisely in these aspects: economic, social, cultural and environmental.</p><p>Considering the importance of human development and biodiversity in Papua’s and Papua New Guinea’s contexts, efforts are needed to develop the region, while at the same time, to save and protect region’s immense diversity by improving the quality of life, promoting sustainable development in all sectors, preserving natural resources, and improving community awareness. Furthermore, there is a need to conduct more research and studies related to above mentioned components in order to support better development efforts in the region.</p><p>Papua and PNG have been collaborating in the education sector for a long period, which takes the form of research collaboration, student exchanges, seminars and symposia. This long standing collaboration has strengthened bilateral relations between Papua and PNG. This symposium has persist this tradition as well as add a new tone in the framework of knowledge sharing between educators in Papua, PNG and abroad by bringing together some crucial issues in social sciences and biodiversity in Papua and PNG. Additionally, this symposium is also an important moment for Cenderawasih University as the symposium will be held to commemorate the university’s 53rd anniversary and to celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations between Papua-Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.</p><p>Cenderawasih University was established on November 10th, 1962. Cenderawasih University is the oldest university in Papua and has committed to develop its human resources and determined to implement the Tri Dharma Perguruan Tinggi or the Three Principles of Higher Education which focuses on education, research, and contribution to society. This momentum of holding International Conference on Social Sciences and Biodiversity of Papua and Papua New Guinea in Cenderawasih University was vital given that some distinguished experts are gathered from around the world presenting their finest research. We highly expect that this event had inspiring researchers who are interested in exploring further research on the social sciences and biodiversity around Papua and Papua New Guinea.  </p>

scholarly journals Enacting the Absent State: State-formation on the oil-palm frontier of Pomio (Papua New Guinea)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Tammisto
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
State Formation ◽  
Oil Palm ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
The State ◽  
Rural District ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Active Worker ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
New Britain

Tammisto, Tuomas 2016. Enacting the Absent State: State-formation on the oil-palm frontier of Pomio (Papua New Guinea). Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde 62: 51-68. In this article I examine the relationship between new oil-palm plantations and state-formation in Pomio, a remote rural district of East New Britain Province (Papua New Guinea). I am particularly interested in the kinds of spaces of governance produced by the new oil-palm plantations and how this contributes to state formation and territorialisation in Pomio.Plantations in Pomio do not became state-like spaces as a result of top-down processes alone, but also because of active worker initiatives. By contributing to state formation in this way, the inhabitants of Pomio also make claims on what the state should be like. While plantations become governable and statelike spaces, they do not produce simply governable subjects, nor do they produce a uniformly governable territory but an uneven space in which some places are more governable than others. The inhabitants of Pomio move between these places in their pursuit of different goals.

Landowner Groups and the Codification of Custom in Papua New Guinea

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria C. Stead
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Resource Extraction ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
Middle Way ◽  
Customary Land ◽  
Relations Of Power

Although it diverges markedly from the vision of the Melanesian Way elaborated in the 1975 constitution, large-scale resource extraction has in recent decades been championed as the key mechanism for development in Papua New Guinea. In this context, forms of “middle-way” land reform are advocated as means of rendering customary land tenure commensurable with the requirements of modern, capitalist practices of production and economic activity. Principal amongst these are Incorporated Land Groups (ILGs) and lease-lease-back arrangements. Ethnographic exploration of communities affected by the tuna industry in Madang Province shows how these land reforms transform structures and cartographies of power, privileging the agents of the state and global capital at the same time that they transform relations of power within communities. At the same time, however, forms of codification and the assertion of landowner identities allow communities to make claims against outside agents involved in resource extractive activity on their lands.

Spinisternum castaneipictus Willemse, 1966 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae) from Papua New Guinea, with description of the male and remarks on the relationship

Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2055 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-68
Author(s):  
MUSTAFA ÜNAL
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Key To Species ◽  
The Relationship

In the present paper, the male of Spinisternum castaneipictus Willemse, previously unknown is described. The similarity of Spinisternum with other genera causes confusion in identification. This problem is discussed and similar species in different genera are compared. A key to species of Spinisternum and illustrations of S. castaneipictus are provided.

Insides and emotion in Koromu

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 243-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Priestley
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
The Body ◽  
Linguistic Understanding ◽  
The Relationship

This paper describes several emotion expressions in Koromu, a language of Papua New Guinea. As in other languages, emotions can be expressed by reference to body events and processes. Bodily images are used for common and pertinent emotion expressions in Koromu and the alternative grammatical constructions in which some of these expressions occur enable speakers to express varying emotions while still indicating that there are shared semantic components between the expressions. In addition, as the emotion expressions are examined and their meanings explicated, a number of universal concepts and components of meaning can be observed. A study of these language specific expressions therefore contributes to a cross-linguistic understanding of the relationship between emotion and the body.

Spitting Ginger in Jesus’ Name? The Concept of Hybridity in a Lele Theology of Healing

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

In the January 2018 issue of the IBMR, R. Daniel Shaw introduced the concept of hybridity to define how the Christian faith can connect meaningfully with people’s local rituals and practices. I researched how mature Lele Christians in Papua New Guinea evaluate their traditional concepts of sickness and healing. In this article I argue that hybridity provides a useful theoretical framework to understand how Lele Christians relate their Christian faith to their tradition. I also show that the concept finds good biblical precedent and is significantly moving forward the discussion about the relationship of Christianity and culture.

Gifts of grief: performative ethnography and the revelatory potential of emotion

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 528-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosita Henry
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Emotional Engagement ◽  
Cultural Performances ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Performative Ethnography

After participation in the funeral of a beloved friend in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea, I was drawn to contemplate the revelatory potential of emotions such as grief. With reference to literature on the anthropology of emotions and the concept of empathy, I consider the relationship between ethnographic knowledge and deep emotional responses in the context of fieldwork. I argue that moments of intense emotional engagement, which many researchers record as having experienced during fieldwork, have the potential to lead to rich ethnographic understanding, particularly when such moments productively draw us into participatory cultural performances that help mediate the conceptual divide between meaning and feeling, observer and observed.

Papua New Guinea may encounter 'resource curse'

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Gdp Growth ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Recent Policy ◽  
Economic Outlook

Subject The economic outlook for Papua New Guinea. Significance Rating agency Moody’s on March 23 shifted Papua New Guinea (PNG) to 'negative watch', a further indication of the economic challenges facing the re-elected Peter O’Neill government as it prepares to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November this year. PNG in February suffered its largest earthquake for nearly a century in areas surrounding the largest resource projects in the country. Impacts Despite a planned major expansion in LNG production, recent policy decisions suggest a troubled business environment. Reversals in economic policy, combined with the earthquake, will further depress GDP growth. Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is weaving together a large coalition which should cement his position until at least after APEC. Foreign exchange shortages will harm growth and discourage investment, due to fears that firms cannot pay dividends to foreign shareholders.

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