U N A / O The Human Footprints R I S C © U U U U N N N c. 45,000 N A A A A / / / / O O O O R R R c. 34,000 R I I I I S S S S C C C C © © © c. 30,000 © Archaeology (years of human records) The basic footprint of human society in the New Guinea Region may be Data source: Prof. Geoff Hope, ANU (pers. comm.) represented by the combination of inhabited places (each shown with r o g 5km radius buffer), annual fire occurrences and population density. e Equator r G c M n h o J © M Inhabited places S U B N A Data source: ESRI / O H R I S C F © O R I S C The main map shows that higher population densities , Fires m a Data source: NASA & UM, 2001-2002 h a occur (i) around and inland from major coastal towns, r G . A (ii) in the elevated PNG Highlands (H) and the Baliem © Valley (B) of Papua, and (iii) along most of the coasts of the mainland and major islands. The distributions Even a cursory assessment of population densities across of inhabited places and of annual fires reveal that south-east Asia will quickly people and their effects are widely dispersed across suggest the near-unique Low much of the landscape. However, vast landscapes in opportunities for conservation achievements within the large High the upper catchments of the Mamberamo River (M) rainforest blocks in sections of in Papua and in parts of the upper Fly River (F) and the sparsely populated New Population density Guinea region. Data source: ESRI Sepik River (S) in PNG remain sparsely inhabited. U N A / O Community Infrastructure Footprints R I S C © U U U U N N N N A A A A / / / / O O O O R R R R I I I I S S S S C C C C © © © © Roads Community infrastructure has been represented by the combination of Data source: ESRI O R major roads (shown with 5km radius buffer), major and minor airfields I S C , U Equator (with a 10 km radius buffer) and stable nightlights that represent urban m a N h A / a r electricity use or industry. O G R I . S A C © © S e c n a i l l A n o i t a v r S e s n O o R I C S e l C i k © n e S T © Airfields Data source: Royal Australian Air Force 2002 This mapping combination of technologically-based U N infrastructure gives a clear impression of the degree A / O R to which some aspects of modern society and western I S C culture (including religion) have penetrated into much © of the region. Only the vast coastal and sub-coastal Regional Stable Nightlights swamplands (S) remain relatively inaccessible. Over a time span of only a few decades, opportunities for travel, migration (in and out), trade and resource development have been greatly enhanced. With this Stable nightlights radical change in access, rural communities now hold Data sourcee: NOAA NGDC & US AFWA high expectations for attaining modern lifestyles. U U N N A A / / O O Agriculture and Development Footprints R R I I S S C C © © U U U U U N N N N N A A A A A / / / / / O O O O O R R R R R I I I I I S S S S S C C C Agriculture C C © © © © © Data sources: PNGRIS/MASP DEC PNG; LP DAAC USGS/NASA In PNG, lowland forest biodiversity may be seriously threatened by a proposal to substitute oil palm income for declining mining revenues. Export income and royalties from mining and oil production in PNG may decline in the next decade due to falling reserves and resource access problems with Logging serious implications for government revenue. The European Union has sponsored a study on the use of palm oil, PNG’s most valuable agricultural export, concessions as a mining revenue substitute but this will require large areas of agricultural land. & plantations Main Ports This dark green square represents Data source: CIA Fact Book and Jakarta Post the 4,500 square kilometers (1% of Papua 1999 & PNG 2002 the PNG land area) of new oil Data sources: PNG DEC & GFW Grasberg Mine has proved and probable palm plantations needed to earn reserves of 63.7 million ounces of gold 900 million Euro (US$1000 million) at 6 tons of palm oil per hectare per year and 326 Euro per ton. Logging concessions This light green square represents in PNG have changed the 9,000 square kilometers of little in the last two new oil palm plantations needed if years due to the price or productivity drops by 50%. moratorium on new leases. Scaled footprint (red rectangle) of Active mines Land suitable for agriculture mining operations, estimated as 150 Developing mines (Nix et al. 2000) to 200 square kilometers (ignoring Oil & gas downstream impacts), for the same Mineral industries financial returns as above. Papua logging concessions 2002 Data source: Mertens 2002a, CIFOR funded by CI U U U U N N N N A A A A / / / / O O O O e e R R R R I p I I I p o S o Lowland cash crops S S S H C H C C C © © © Data sources: PNGRIS/MASP DEC PNG & GFW © © © U N A / O Regional Ecological Communities R I S C © Ecoregions of New Guinea Equator n o m l a S . P © In the PNG section of the Central Cordillera, the Strickland River Gorge is around 1000 meters deep. It separates the Star Mountains to the west and the Central Highlands to the east. In terms of bird Ecoregions (World Wildlife Fund) distributions, this is one of two major biogeographic barriers that Over the past decade, the World Wildlife Fund has developed a broad-scale cut the Central Range montane rain regional classification of the Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. In this approach, the forests eco-region. (see bird basic unit is termed an ecoregion. This is defined as “a relatively large unit of biogeography map below) land or water that contains a distinct assemblage of natural communities”. The boundaries of ecoregions approximate the original extent of natural communities prior to major land-use change. Northern Melanesian Provinces (NMP) Within ecoregions, finer scales of variability in the occurrences of species and communities will usually be found, with variations determined by local Ecoregions in Papuan conservation areas topography, soils and climates as well as by ecological and evolutionary history. (Mertens, 2002 a, CIFOR & CI). (See boxes and picture to right.) An ecoregional approach allows for rapid However, the approach allows conservation research and planning to focus on comparisons of conservation progress under key areas of the globe where actions may bring the greatest reward. For New Guinea Main Island (NGMI) differing national administrations. It assists in example, recent research (Olson and others, 2001, in Bioscience) has shown answering the four critical questions: "What that the Central Range montane rain forest ecoregion of the New Guinea Key to biogeographic barriers for birds (Schodde) will it take to save all the pieces", "How much region is truly exceptional at the global level as it has one of the the Blue thick: water barrier between NGMI and NMP is enough?", "How do we maintain highest concentrations of ecoregion-endemic mammal species in the Blue mid: major water barrier within NMP; Blue thin: minor water barrier within NMP. functionality across landscapes?" and world (i.e. mammals that occur only in that ecoregion) – a feature shared Yellow: mountain barriers for lowland populations "Where do we need to act first?" only with two relatively small areas in Central Africa and Sulawesi (Indonesia). Red: internal montane community barriers Conservation and Protection Areas of U N A / O R I S C © Various Types and Tenures Papuan conservation areas updated to 2002 ..3 Equator Mamberamo Wildlife Sanctuary Cyclops Mts Strict Nature Reserve Hunstein Ra. Wildlife Management Area 1 4 2 National Park, light green (1) Nature Reserve, midgreen (2) Strict Nature, dark green (3) Protection forest, olive green (4) (Mertens 2002a) There are strong contrasts in regional conservation achievements. Protected Areas (PAs) constitute only 2.9% of Crater Mt. Wildlife Management Area PNG but 15% of Papua. Most PAs Existing Conservation Areas (red) in the have grave management problems, New Guinea Region with inhabited e.g. the Lorentz World Heritage Area places, airfields and roads (buffered). with resident Papuans and uncontrolled exploitation, Wasur NP with resident Papuans and large transmigrant populations nearby, roads in Tonda Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Kikori Integrated Conservation & Development (ICAD) area with no legal status, while mining threatens the Lorentz World Heritage Area Wasur National Park and Tonda WMA Kikori ICAD Crater Mt. WMA. U N A / O R I Priority Conservation Areas S C © Priority Conservation Areas for the New Guinea Region were defined in two major scientific studies, the PNG Conservation Needs Assessment (CAN) workshop in 1992 and The Irian Jaya Biodiversity Conservation Priority-Setting Workshop in 1997. National and international experts defined areas of land that were U N A considered of high priority/ for conservation action based on the best available information on community O R I distributions and specieS s occurrences. In PNG, a later study (BioRap) made a rapid planning assessment for C biodiversity areas using© very detailed knowledge of the climate, topography, soils and competing land uses. BioRap Biodiversity priority areas Equator Papuan priority conservation areas leased for logging BioRap areas CNA priority areas Logging concessions (red) within bio- diversity priority conservation areas Priority Conservation Areas (yellow) identified for (green) in Papua (Mertens 2002a) the New Guinea Region with inhabited places, airfields and roads (buffered).