New Guinea
The island of New Guinea plays host to the largest pristine rainforest in the Asia-Pacific and the third largest rainforest in the world. Its wetlands are the jewel of the region. These habitats are home to more than 800 bird species, including extraordinary birds of paradise. They also contain over 500 types of reptile and amphibian, mammal species such as the tree kangaroo and 25,000 plant species. The island is unparalleled for cultural diversity, with 1,100 different languages spoken.
New Guinea covers less than 0.5% of the world's land area, yet contains up to 8% of the world’s species. Around half of these are unique to the island. New species continue to be discovered: in the past 10 years, some 794 new species have been officially recorded here.
Threats
The island’s environment is under severe pressure from unsustainable or poorly planned development.
New Guinea faces growing threats from illegal and unregulated logging, subsistence exploitation, freshwater contamination (from mining and logging) and fires.
Conversion for palm oil is another threat, as are commercial mining and road construction. Invasive or exotic species pose a threat, as do unsustainable fisheries and global climate change.
A destructive patchwork of logging concessions, agricultural plantations (such as oil palm), mines and roads are already planned, which could see the island lose a third of its remaining rainforest. The clearance of this biologically rich forest will not only destroy precious habitat for many species, but also one of the few chances the people of the island have for long-term economic growth.
The challenge is tremendous. The two countries that share the island, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, are experiencing the highest rates of illegal logging and deforestation in the world today. Only through a concerted effort by governments, the private sector and NGOs will New Guinea keep its forests for generations to come.
Solutions
WWF focuses on linking science and effective policy with community action to ensure the protection and sustainable use of forest, freshwater and marine resources throughout New Guinea.
Between 2004 and 2007, our major successes included the launch of 12 new protected areas covering 7,700 sq km and the launch of a 2,000 sq km transboundary protected area in the Transfly area of southern New Guinea.
Building on our achievements here since the mid-1990s, WWF is now uniquely placed to reshape how, in particular, industrial developments affect the island.
Our vision is that the people of New Guinea and its islands maintain their extraordinary natural and cultural heritage while meeting their development needs. By 2020 we aim to protect 200,000 sq km – almost the size of the UK – of the vast wilderness and frontier forests of New Guinea.
To help achieve this, we will lobby for a moratorium on new logging concessions in Papua New Guinea and for the existing moratorium on logging to be enforced in Indonesian Papua. We will also work to transform market demand and investments to achieve better practice in the oil and gas, forestry, oil palm and mining sectors.