Conservation in Papua New Guinea

[3] As a result, New Guinea shares major families and genera with Australia and East Asia, but is rich in local endemic species.

Endemism is a result of mountainous isolation, topographic and soil habitat heterogeneity, high forest disturbance rates and abundant aseasonal rainfall year round.

[5] Within the country, about 79%[6] of the PNG population depend on the biological resources to sustain their physical, spiritual and social livelihoods.

[7][8] The biological resources are a source of food, building material, medicine for minor ailments, and logs for canoes.

[9] Currently, the harvesting of natural resource for export is a source of income that sustains the modern PNG economy.

The PNG government recognized the relationship between the people and nature and at independence, provision was made in the constitution for "all necessary steps to be taken to give adequate protection to all our valued birds, animals, fish, insects, plants and trees".

The government research organizations tend to place emphasis on species with economical value to PNG.

PNG has two listed Ramsar sites: Lake Kutubu and Tonda Wildlife Management Area.

[citation needed] Therefore, involving communities in Wildlife Management Areas (WMA) was identified as being compatible with the PNG land tenure system.

[citation needed] Papua New Guinea had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.84/10, ranking it 17th globally out of 172 countries.

[citation needed] Most coastal communities have little understanding how fish stocks are recruited and maintained in the oceans.

[40] The effects of climate change and the introduction of exotic species add another dimension onto the challenge of conservation.

Furthermore, coral bleaching, an effect of high temperatures and increased carbon dioxide in oceans was observed from the PNG waters in 1996.

However, it has a negative effect on indigenous fauna in lakes and rivers because of its prolific breeding and bottom feeding habit.

Furthermore, studies have shown that the over the years that there has been a decrease in the native fish catch and an increase in the introduced tilapia.