Executive Summary

The performance of PNG Cluster research and demonstration activities and the outputs of the project can be evaluated by reviewing the achievements. The measure of outcomes is important for the sustainability of PLEC research and demonstration approaches with local communities to create an atmosphere of the benefits of planning for sustainable resource management in smallholder agricultural systems.

Sustainable management and utilization of biodiversity is important for the sustenance of rural livelihood. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), there is no legislative framework in place to regulate the activities of smallholder farmers. Most of the land (approximately 95%) of the land is under customary tenure of family groups referred to as clans or a tribe (groups of clans). This means that the current acts (National Parks Act, Wildlife Management Acts, and the Fauna Protection Act) only applies to state acquired or state owned land. These acts do not govern or regulate the activities of biodiversity management on land under customary ownership.

This means that state agencies such as the Office of Environment and Conservation (OEC) cannot regulate biodiversity management in smallholder agricultural systems. The OEC has therefore concentrated on promoting environmental education and awareness. The PLEC PNG Cluster activities complements these efforts as well as other biodiversity conservation strategies undertaken by the Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Community-based Organizations (CBOs).

The achievements of PLEC PNG Cluster has been a vehicle by which descriptive analysis of the demonstration sites and the demonstration activities has provided database and complimentary demonstration activities to foster the efforts of creating awareness with sustainable biodiversity management at smallholder agricultural systems.

The basis of evaluation of PLEC PNG Cluster activities would be on the number of field days, workshops, seminars, publications including biodiversity, agrodiversity, population and resource database development, farmer exchange visits, community participation, NGO and line agencies participation, and publications of the outcomes of results of PLEC research and demonstration activities as outlined in the appendix. The highlights of PLEC PNG Cluster achievements are outlined in Appendix 1.

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Section One: History of PLEC Papua New Guinea Cluster Activities

The UNU-PLEC Papua New Guinea Cluster programme was initially hampered when Mr. Thomas Nen, then Cluster Leader resigned from the National Research Institute (NRI) to become the Director of The National Forest Authority. The Director of NRI, Dr. Beno Boeha assumed the cluster leadership’s role but was unable to initiate field-based activities for the national component of the project. It was then that the Director realized that a researcher had to be recruited to lead the national team and the visiting researchers from the University of Tokyo and the Australian National University (ANU).

Mr John Sowei was recruited four weeks before the management group meeting was organized at the United Nations University Headquarters in Tokyo. Mr Sowei assumed the Cluster Leader’s role and attended the meeting in Tokyo.

The demonstration sites were selected by the collaborating institutions. This included Tumam/Nghambole and Miko in Drekikir and Maprik, East Sepik Province under the leadership of Dr Bryant Allen from The Australian National University and Kikita, Paijaka, and Wenani in the Tari Basin, Southern Highlands Province under the leadership of Professor Ryutaro Ohtsuka of the University of Tokyo. The National Research Institute selected the Ossima demonstration site in the Kilimeri area of Sandaun Province.

The immediate task for the Cluster Leader was to recruit national staff as Research Officers and Research Assistants to assist in developing demonstration site activities in respective sites. It took six months to assemble a national cluster team, comprising three graduate research officers and two field assistants. This meant that actual field-based activities were started in July 1999. Because of this the planned demonstration activities for the PNG Cluster lagged behind other PLEC Clusters in participating countries.

There were also other constraints which hampered the progress for field-based activities during second half of 1999 fiscal year. This prompted the Scientific Coordination team to organize trips for the Scientific Coordinators (Dr. Michael Stocking, Dr. Daniel Zarin) and the Demonstration Advisory Team (Dr. Pinedo Vasquez and Professor Edwin Gyasi). The technical advisory team provided advice and suggestions on methodologies for biodiversity assessments and demonstration activities.

Following the 1999 DAT, BAG, and Stocking's reports and the Cluster Leader’s visit to the West African Cluster in Ghana a detailed workplan was formulated considering general Cluster progress and resource requirements to develop the demonstration site activities.

Difficulties in accessibility hampered progress of field-based activities. Cost of air travel and hire cars was excessive. The provision of a four-wheel-drive vehicle on loan from ANU in October 1999 was a bonus in supporting the descriptive phase at Tumam/Nghambole and Miko sites. A motorcycle was procured to assist movement

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between sites. Upon advice from the scientific coordination, the Cluster Leader redirected resources in developing the Tumam/Nghambole and Miko demonstration sites under the leadership of Dr Bryant Allen. The DAT, BAG, and Stocking missions provided useful advice on the methodology (DAT/BAG) and direction on field-based activities.

There was substantial progress in characterization of the demonstration sites in Tumam/Nghambole and Miko which was completed towards the end of 1999. Analysis of the satellite image on land use categories and genealogy data was completed and two major botanical surveys were carried out by Dr Stephen McCoy.

Biodiverse gardens of collaborating farmers were used as to demonstrate the diversity of crops and cultivation practices that were used in the Tumam/Nghambole site. Species and management diversity of the collaborating farmers were described and documented.

The farmers of Tumam/Nghambole organized a field day in October 2000 to display the variety of cultivated and managed species. Posters were produced and displayed during the field day. Various food items and useful plants were displayed to create awareness of the value of biodiversity in food security and sustenance of livelihood.

Representatives from line departments and NGOs were invited to attend the field day in an effort to establish networks with stakeholders to promote the concept of biodiversity management in PNG.

Substantial descriptive data on agrodiversity was compiled by collaborating researchers from the University of Tokyo for Kikita, Paijaka, and Wenani demonstration sites in Tari Basin, Southern Highlands Province.

However a major regional conflict occurred in the area west of Mendi Township in the Southern Highlands Province, within which the Tari demonstration site is located. Tensions have existed between the western and eastern sides of this province for some time. However, when an eastern leader was killed in a car accident, eastern people blamed western people for the death, murdered a number of westerners in retaliation and closed the road from Mendi to Tari. Easterners then attacked the westerners using high-powered firearms. Air Niugini ceased all flights to the Tari airstrip and Tari Township became isolated.

This conflict interrupted the progress of the demonstration site activities in Tari Basin. A meeting was organized in April between Dr. Masahiro Umezaki representing the Sub-Cluster team from the University of Tokyo, a Research Officer and the Cluster Leader 2000. It was agreed during the meeting that demonstration site activities were not feasible during the 2000 and 2001 fiscal year. This was due to the lengthy process involved in re-establishing farmers contact and introducing the PLEC concept.

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The high cost of airfares, mobility of staff, and the location of the demonstration sites presented difficulties in coordination of field-based activities between the three demonstration sites (Tumam/Nghambole/Miko, Tari Basin, and Ossima). Following Professor Stocking’s visit, the National Cluster Leader decided to abandon field-based activities in the Ossima site in the Kilimeri Census Division of Sandaun province.

Fallback sites in the Koiari area, situated approximately 40 kilometres East of Port Moresby were considered for field-based activities. A detailed workplan was submitted with additional resource requirements to help the research team develop the demonstration site.

During the DAT and Stocking’s missions one of the potential Koiari demonstration site was visited. Both DAT and Stocking’s report did not talk highly of species richness in the proposed demonstration site compared to the Tumam/Nghambole and Miko sites they visited. However, the Cluster Leader had his own reservations: descriptive analysis of biodiversity within degraded ecosystems forms a vital component of assessing threats to loss of biodiversity and to formulate conservation strategies in collaboration with farmers whose livelihood depends on this biodiversity. The ecosystems that are experiencing increasing threats should be documented and sustainable management practices identified to rehabilitate degraded environments which the reviewer also highlighted.

Following the completion of descriptive surveys in Tumam/Nghambole and Miko sites in mid-1999 the researchers were recalled to Port Moresby to initiate farmer contact and awareness of the PLEC concept with the Koiari villages. The team identified Ogotana Village in the Sogeri Plateau and started the descriptive survey to identify threats to biodiversity conservation to facilitate demonstration activities to counteract these threats.

Following DAT’s advice the descriptive analysis was discussed with farmers using a participatory approach to involve farmers in the decision-making process as to how demonstration activities should proceed within the community.

Unlike other clusters such as the Amazonian Cluster, the social organization in PNG is such that farmers live in aggregate communities or villages, and farming activities are conducted around these settlement areas. Decisions on resource utilization and biodiversity management may be influenced by groups of families who collectively own the land. The PLEC PNG team recognizes this when selecting collaborating farmers to avoid disparity between the community.

The Ogotana demonstration site has advanced with descriptive analysis, biodiversity and agrodiversity assessment, analysis of demonstration site, established a forest nursery to support work of landscape rehabilitation and fallow management.

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The Cluster has also enhanced the capacity of national research staff, development workers, extension agencies, NGOs, and postgraduate and undergraduate students in understanding the issues and threats to biodiversity conservation in PNG. An important contribution of PLEC PNG demonstration activities has enhanced the capacity of the local custodians of biodiversity to fully understand the consequences of unsustainable management practices on their ecosystems which supports their livelihood.

Section Two: Demonstration Site Description

Tumam/Nghambole Demonstration Site Description

This section provides preliminary information about the demonstration site at Tumam and Ngahmbole villages, in East Sepik Province. The demonstration villages are located in the northern part of the Dreikikir-Ambunti District at 142.75 degrees west and 3.61 degrees south. This site is approximately 50 kilometres west of the Miko demonstration site (see separate report).

The Dreikikir-Ambunti District is about 30 kilometres wide and 45 kilometres long, on the southern or Sepik fall of the Torricelli Mountains. The Torricelli Mountains are part of the Bewani-Torricelli-Prince Alexander Ranges that run parallel to the coast of northwestern New Guinea, reaching a little over 2,000 metres at the highest point. To the north of the range lies a relatively narrow coastal plain with an unprotected and dangerous open-beach coast. The mountains consist of several heavily dissected semi-parallel ranges, with steep north facing scarps. South from near the watershed on the main range, Tertiary sediments, mudstone, sandstone and conglomerates, form a wide band of foothill country which runs south to merge into the alluvial sediments of the Sepik plain. South flowing streams have dissected the soft Tertiary materials into an intricate ridge and valley pattern, with relative relief between 200 and 300 metres in the north and decreasing to the south. There are no roads from the coast inland, except for a road which leaves Wewak in the east, crosses the range and then runs east-west along the length of the foothills.

A variety of slope forms occur in the area of the demonstration sites but there are no other major geomorphic or ‘landscape’ divisions other than hills and valleys. The hill slopes themselves are characterized by moderate to strong slumping, which has given rise to a characteristic pattern of emergent crests and steep slopes near the top of the ridges, generally concave upper slopes, mounds of slumped material which creates swampy patches midway between ridge and valley bottom and convex lower slopes with incised streams. The complexity of the slope forms and precludes using them as a major landscape division.

Climatic records for the area are unsatisfactory. Continuous rainfall records are available for Dreikikir for only six years (1966-1978) and no regular temperature or relative humidity readings have ever been taken. Annual rainfall at Dreikikir Patrol Post averages

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1700 mm (McAlpine 1972, 61). Of more concern however, is the seasonality of rainfall because of the manner in which it influences the growing season of annual crops. Figures presented by McAlpine (1972,61) show that for a six year period, 60 per cent of the rain fell between October and March. McAlpine finds there is a 13 per cent variability in total rainfall at Bainyik, (45 kilometres to the east and just north of Wosera) and a 30 per cent variability in October to March rainfall, where the record is longer. But there is likely to be less variability at Dreikikir which is higher and wetter than Bainyik. Both Bainyik and Dreikikir rainfall stations are now closed. No figures are available for Dreikikir Patrol Post on the length of rainy and rainless periods.

Maximum and minimum temperature recordings collected at the demonstration sites over a broken 15 month period show a mean maximum temperature of 30°C and a mean minimum of 22°C. The maximum temperature recorded is 34° C and the minimum 19°C. The highest temperature was recorded at 1500 hrs in September and the lowest at 0630 on a very wet, misty morning in March. During the rainy season, damp, heavy mists are common in the mornings.

Thunderstorm activity is common and frequently takes the form of heavy afternoon downpours preceded by strong winds. Violent electrical storms occur less frequently, but lightning flickers about the horizon every night.

The knowledge that heavy falls of rain can be expected from late September on influences gardening activity to a great extent. New gardens are cleared and burned during August and September and gardens are planted to catch the rains. The early or late arrival of the rain causes concern, as does too much or too little rain. Unseasonal rain, or squalls which approach from an unusual direction, are blamed upon magic made by people in other villages, and wooden gongs are sounded in protest. Droughts are not unknown but appear to be rare and do not give rise to as much concern as wet periods.

If yam growing provides any guide, areas at higher elevations receive more rain. In the northwest, yams give way to sago production supported by taro and banana gardens. The yam is well adapted to wet and dry season regimes (Coursey 1967,71), but Urat gardeners maintain that too much rain is worse than too little, because growing tubers will rot in the ground if the soil becomes saturated for long periods. During dry periods they will survive until rain is again received when they will resume growing. But even during the 1997-98 drought, the most severe in Papua New Guinea since the 1900s, did not cause serious food shortage problems at Dreikikir. Sago and taro however can withstand wetter conditions. Some extensive areas of grass in the southwest suggest a drier climate.

A tall lowland hill forest with an irregular canopy is the most common primary vegetation in the study area. However the natural vegetation has been extensively replaced by secondary forest. Even apparently untouched areas of forest, are said by local people to have been the site of a number of former settlements, and would therefore have been cut

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and gardened at some time in the past. Below 600 metres above sea level the majority of ridges have patches of Imperata and Themeda qrasses (Heyligers 1972). Tumam men relate how before the introduction of steel axes, gardens were smaller and followed the ridge tops, rather than running from the ridge down into the valleys as they do now. Steel axes enabled larger trees to be cleared further down the slope causing a change in the shape of gardens, as well as an increase in the area. It seems likely that this factor, combined with less soil moisture on the ridge tops, has allowed the grasses to become dominant on the ridges.

Sago is planted in groves of up to 10 palms in valley bottoms and all over the slopes in small swampy areas formed by slumping.

The study area lies in a major earthquake zone. Two large shocks occurred in the area in the first half of this century, in 1906 with magnitude 8.4 on the Richter Scale and in 1935 with magnitude of 7.6 and an epicentre in the ranges near Lumi (Haantjens and McAlpine 1972,9) The 1935 earthquake was observed by oil exploration geologists. It caused widespread damage throughout the study area and is vividly remembered by people who experienced it. Many village houses collapsed, fissures appeared in the ground and the countryside was scarred by huge landslides, 'extending as far as the eye could see' (Carey 1935:11). Rapid mass movement in the form of debris avalanches of soil and vegetation blocked rivers. The lakes near Musengwa village approximately two kilometres west of Dreikikir Patrol Post were formed during this earthquake.

A brief description of the socio-cultural aspects of the Dreikikir people is offered. This material is based on sporadic fieldwork since 1971 and on an ethnographic study carried out at Porombil, an Urat speaking village, in 1985 by Stephen Eyre (1988) and by Mead, Tuzin and other ethnographers among adjacent Abelam and Arapesh speakers to the west of the demonstration sites (Abelam is the language spoken in Wosera the location of the Miko demonstration site).

The ethnographic material suggests a broadly similar regional culture pattern, influenced by adaptation to ecological conditions and diffusion between adjacent groups. These factors have tended to smooth out the sharper differences that might be expected between groups having their cultural origins in the Sepik River area and those which originate in the foothills and mountains. There are genetic and linguistic differences between these groups, although they are both Papuan or non-Austronesian language speakers. They differ significantly from the people of the coastal plain however, which is occupied by relatively recent (5,000 years ago) settlers speaking Austronesian languages and there is even today little direct contact between the coast and the inland.

The resident populations at the two demonstration sites have doubled since 1970 from 250 to 500 persons. An at present unknown number of people have migrated out of the villages, some of whom will eventually return. Detailed information on births, deaths, marriages and

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migration is available in genealogical records provided by villagers and continuous recording by the Institute of Medical Research (IMR) since the mid 1990s, but is as yet not analysed. This information has proved of great interest to the people at the demonstration sites who know that there are now many more people than ever before, but were not aware of the dimensions of the increase. The figures below are being simplified and have been reproduced as posters for display in the village for people to view and consider.

The over all pattern of population change since the first full census in 1941 has been one of a sharp fall during the Pacific War (from deaths, a fall in the birth rate and migration), followed by a slow increase to 1970 and a more rapid increase since 1970 (Figure 1). We can assume a very slow pattern of increase prior to 1940 when there was no effective colonial presence in the area. It is probable that smallpox entered this area at least once and possibly more than once during the 1800s. It is not known what impact this had on the overall population but it is likely to have killed many children. Children still die of tetanus, malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea in these villages, but an improvement in living conditions and improved health care facilities, including vaccination programs from the 1970s to the 1990s (when services began to decline), has reduced the infant mortality rate and led to the sudden increase in population. Health care standards are in decline at present, but it will take some time for increased death rates to slow down population growth. At the same time, living conditions are improving, with sawn timber and roofing iron being used to construct houses and rainwater being increasingly used for drinking. This may offset the impact of the failure of the health care system on demographic change.

Detailed figures from regular annual censuses carried out by the PNG Institute of Medical Research and the Case Western Reserve University in the USA who are jointly carrying out research into filaria, suggest that the increase has slowed (Figure 2). But these are resident populations only and do not take into account migration. Many young people leave the villages and stay with relatives in the towns, but eventually many return to get married and take up farming. Figure 3 is an age-sex pyramid for both demonstration site villages combined using the 1990 census data. Like much of the 1990 census it raises more questions than it answers. The base of the pyramid could be expected to be much broader in a population that is doubling in 30 years and the surplus of males aged 10-19 suggests that many young women were not counted in the census. These data can be checked and improved using PNG IMR census information and genealogical records updated during 1999.

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Figure 1

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Figure 2

It remains only to state that population increase (combined with that population’s need for

higher cash incomes) is presently the greatest threat to degradation of the environment and

loss of biodiversity at this site. Innovative methods of increasing food production while

maintaining biodiversity must be found.

Figure 3

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The Environment

The demonstration site villages of Ngahmbole and Tumam share a common area of 1,450 ha. Although most of the land is covered in forest and re-growth, it is closely subdivided. The subdivision boundaries are marked with Cordyline plants (known as tanget in pidgin) or are known by landmarks, streams and other natural features. Every subdivision has a name, usually a personal name of an ancestor who is said to have first cleared or cultivated the land, or who wrested the land from the control of a previously occupying group. A complex and confusing (at least to an outsider) history of fighting and occupation and re-occupation of land characterizes pre-colonial time.

In order to provide a common point of reference for both PLEC staff and village farmers a GPS survey of all ridge lines was carried out in which the names of blocks of land were recorded and mapped. Approximately 400 names were recorded and downloaded from the GPS to GIS tables. These names have been used both for the agrodiversity and biodiversity survey and in investigations into land tenure and land use in the period 1994 to 1999.

The selection of any particular site for cultivation depends upon a number of social, environmental and locational factors. The site must be, in the Urat language, literally ‘ripe’. That is the forest successions must have proceeded to the point where a number of known tree species have reached maturity. This set of trees is known collectively as the loumbure, the ‘good trees’. If the forest has not reached this stage it is considered poor management to clear it. On the other hand if the forest proceeds beyond this stage, the increasing size of the trees begins to give concern because clearing ‘over-ripe’ forest is a dangerous and difficult task.

The owner of a garden site that is ‘ripening’ will begin to actively seek participants in a gardening operation. He cannot clear the land without assistance and he will exchange access to the land for up to three years for the labour of other people willing to cultivate with him. He will cite family relationships, precedent (parents gardening together for example), good site and soil characteristics and proven past production from this land. Those he approaches will take into consideration the location of the site relative to existing gardens and to the village and other offers of land being made to them. Kinship is often the explanation given to why any individual is cultivating another’s land, but in a village of 500 people in which marriage within so-called descent groups is allowed and in some circumstances cross-cousin marriage is encouraged, sister exchange is practised and there is a high incidence of adopting individuals into the groups, it is possible to prove a kinship relationship of some sort between almost everyone in the village. Often kinship links seem to be little more than a rationalization or legitimization of a relationship based on friendship or good neighbourliness.

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Previous surveys in the 1970s found around 45 per cent of people at Tumam and Nghambole were cultivating land directly inherited from their fathers, alive and dead. A further 20 per cent were occupying land given to them by an agnate, a relative on their father's side of the family, often a father’s brother. Only 10 per cent were gardening land given to them by non-agantic cognates, relatives on their mother's side of the family. Eighteen per cent were on land given to them by an affine, a relative on their wife's side of the family. The remaining 7 per cent were on land owned by a special friend, an exchange partner, a moiety ‘brother’ or just a close neighbour. These data have been collected again for the period 1995 to 1999. It is expected to show that there has been a ‘tightening’ of land tenure and an increasing reluctance to let non-agnates use land. Increases in population are said to be the reason.

All species cultivated or used for food were documented, prior to carrying out a survey of agrodiversity. A survey of all species and varieties growing was conducted in the gardens of 49 Tumam and Ngahmbole farmers in 1999. The purpose of the agrodiversity survey was discussed with the PLEC expert group. The demonstration site expert group drew a sample of 49 farmers from a list of all farmers. The sample included at their insistence ‘old’ men, ‘middle aged’ men and ‘young’ men, and women gardening alone, usually older widows. The men were divided again into ‘good’ gardeners and ‘poor’ gardeners. There was some reluctance to include ‘poor’ gardeners in the sample on the grounds that they do not properly represent how gardening should be done. The main point in designing a form with all crops listed was to avoid writing the names at each square. The crops listed were the outcome of discussions with expert farmers and previous work. The survey team comprising the Site Research Assistant counted the number of species observed, ideally in four 10m x 10m squares (top, side, centre and bottom of garden). Two local experts identified the species and varieties. Where the gardens were not large enough, one or two of the squares was not used. The squares were coded to identify from which squares the observations came. This survey was carried out three times, beginning in 1999 with the newly cleared gardens. The same gardens and squares were observed in 2000 and 2001. A small number of farmers were lost from the survey because of deaths or illness.

Details of management diversity is provided in a separate reports by Bryant Allen for the main demonstration site in Drekikir. Agrodiversity and biodiversity species list is also provided in the reports.

Miko No 2 Sub-Site Demonstration Site Description

Miko village constitutes part of the bigger Wosera Abelam speaking tribe that lies just south of Maprik town. It occupies a defined area conforming to the boundaries of the South Wosera Census Division within the Wosera District of East Sepik Province. Early Patrol Officers found the local inhabitants aggressive and always at war with each other. Nutritionally the adults were under nourished and severe malnutrition occurred amongst children.

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Miko is situated along the flood plains of the Screw (or Amogu) River, one of the three rivers in Wosera. It has a flood plain up to a mile wide and between 3 and 10 metres above the normal level of the rivers. Unlike the floodplains to the east, it is intensively cultivated and almost completely cleared of forest. To the east, the hilly interfluves are covered with grass and the areas around the river are covered with secondary forest and garden regrowth with only a few patches of grass, while the areas around the rivers are covered with gardens, grass or tall cane grass. The Screw River rises in nearby mountains to the north and is more inclined to flash flood. Unlike the small rivers to the east, the floodplain of the Screw River tends to become inundated instead of scoured by flooding (Lea, 1964).

The Wosera including Miko villages consist mainly of low rounded hills, moderate slopes, rounded ridges and local relief is rarely more than 50 metres. Much of the area, especially west from the central Wosera towards Miko Village is underlain with fairly hard sandstone which often outcrops on the ridge tops. This sandstone probably represents an old eroded surface overlain with the Pliocene and Miocene sediments. The whole of Wosera was uplifted during the late Pleistocene period.

In the Wosera hills region (the grass areas excluded), Lea (1964) found the most common soil to be the brown forest soil but in many villages, it is often gleyed and strongly mottled indicating poor drainage. Iron concretions are not unusual in the sub-soil. Topsoils are thin and slightly darker than the sub-soils; occasionally topsoil may not be present. Colluvial soils are common on the lower slopes. The broad river terraces of Screw River have a finer texture than the other soils in the area, as reported by Lea (1964) including the higher and older terraces.

The Miko people, like the other Wosera Abelam, have a local soil classification system. The soil (kupma) is usually classified according to productive potential. Lea (1964) reported that the Abelam soil classification is based on whether soil is productive (yikwun kipma) or infertile (kaperei kupma). The poor soils are usually hard sandy or stoney clays, which dry out when exposed and become hard to work. Descriptive names such as taku kupma (the top part of the soil), tauli kupma (weathered siltstone which is usually the C-horizon) are also used. Gilli, ramu and wama kupma (black, yellow and white soils), and kambili kupma (river or alluvial soil) and wi kupma which is a sandy soil usually under grass are common terms. Along the Screw River there are three terraces, which have not been flooded in living memory. These have high clay content and are known as kwangea kupma. The middle terrace is occasionally flooded, and the coarse soils are known as nimbu kupma. The lowest terrace is usually flooded at least once a year and the sandy friable soil is known as the kambili kupma. Recent deposits of sand and silt along the riverbanks also have a different name. Often the soils are classified after a bad experience of crop failure, regardless of other factors such as the skill of the farmer and weather conditions. These empirical classification means that productive soils are intensively cultivated. Poor soils are usually abandoned to fallow for a considerable period. However,

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increasing population has put productive soils under pressure and farmers have to cultivate more marginal soils for food production.

Seasonal variations in temperature are negligible and seasons are distinguished primarily by changes in the direction of the prevailing winds and by resultant variations in rainfall. The Wosera area lies in the rain shadow of the Prince Alexander Range recording mean annual rainfall of 1540 mm. The wettest period with high rainfall intensity occur during the greatest isolation in April and late October. The ‘wet’ season begins and ends with the typical afternoon thunderstorms of the doldrums, which are usually very localized and convectional rains are also common. Droughts are rare in the Wosera area while cloud cover is considerable. Variations in mean monthly maximum and minimum temperatures are minimal throughout the year. Humidity is consistently high throughout the year but varies during the day.

In the Wosera area it is evident that very little remains of the well developed three layered forest structure. Most of the land has been used for gardening and is now garden regrowth, secondary forest or Imperata grassland. Dominant grasses include Imperata, Ophiuros, Polytoca, Sorghum halepense and Saccharum spontaneum, a tall cane grass Remnant alluvial forest along the Screw River has been completely cleared for cultivation. Agricultural activity has intensified due to increasing population. Under these circumstances people along the Screw River are forced to cultivate the rich alluvial flood plains despite the risk of crop loss during floods. The availability of a particular yam that withstands periodic flooding is an important factor in the successful use of the floodplains.

During the dry season, most of the area is subjected to burning which has depleted local tree species and encouraged invasive grasses to dominate the landscape. These grasslands occupy continuous landscapes. Narrow strips of gallery forest along the rivers and creeks separate large areas of grasslands. These grasslands are estimated to be at least 1000 years old.

Farmers cultivate food crops using steel tools, utilizing traditional knowledge on soils, climate and management practices, and production constraints. Important staples, yams (Dioscorea esculenta and D. alata) and cooking bananas, are cultivated under shifting cultivation. Minor crops of nutritional importance are the traditional greens.

River terraces (gara) along the Screw River are more intensively cultivated than hillslopes (numbu), the former regarded by farmers as prime land for cultivation. River terrace gardens are demarcated by 100 cm high ridges formed by throwing weeds and stones to field edges which serve as a network of paths runs between fields.

A short fallow period in both hilly areas and river terraces is indicative of intensive farming. Curry (1992) estimated the fallow periods in the range from 2 to 7 years for river terraces and from 10 to 15 years on hillslopes. Yams are commonly planted twice on the

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river terraces before a fallow, but only once on the hill slopes. A fairly dense shrub layer with scattered emergent trees characterizes land that is regarded by farmers as ready for cultivation on the hills.

The Miko gardening cycle starts towards the end of the dry season in September to October when new areas are cleared, and the second stage yams (D. esculenta) are prepared for planting utilising the same site after the first yam crop the previous season. According to observations, there are two main varieties of D. esculenta: the non-staked nianka and the staked asakwa. Asakwa and nianka are the two main varieties being cultivated for food and ceremonial activities. The classification appears to be based on whether yams are staked or unstaked, rather than on the degree of genetic differences between the cultivars.

From September to December, nianka varieties are planted followed by asakwa from October to March. Nianka are planted at higher density than asakwa because the vines are staked and the mounds are smaller compared to asakwa. Nianka is frequently cultivated in old asakwa gardens, as a second yam crop, but asakwa are always planted in new gardens.

A reasonably clear gender-based division of labour occurs. Adult males are responsible for planting and harvesting yams. Following the yam planting, women generally take over the routine tasks of weeding, and the planting and harvesting of subsidiary crops. After a new garden has been burnt and before, or shortly after the yams are planted, Amaranthus are the first garden greens to be harvested. Following the yam planting, other supplementary crops are planted including a range of greens (Abelmoschus manihot, Brassica spp., Cucurbita moshata, spring onions, taro (Colocasia esculenta and Xanthosoma sagittifolium), banana (Musa spp.), maize, pawpaw (Carica papaya), tomato, cucumber and beans (Vigna spp.) and winged bean (Psophocarpus tetragolobus).

Peanut (Arachis hypogea) is rarely cultivated between yam mounds. The cultivation of peanuts as a first stage crop was seen to be rare by Lea (1964) and Curry (1992). With modification by new information combined with local knowledge, peanut is cultivated as a rotational crop between other important plantings, to increase the nitrogen content of the soil before yam is planted. The planting of lowland pitpit (Saccharum edule) marks the end of the garden cycle. Very little labour is invested further in the garden, but the gardens do not cease to produce after the harvest of lowland pitpit. Banana, pawpaw, some taro and various fruits that emerge in the fallow may be harvested for several years

Harvesting begins with nianka in June after the full moon, but only young children eat the new yams. Adults wait a further few weeks before they eat the yams. Several weeks prior to harvesting, the farmers will announce the yam-harvesting season using a pre-determined rhythm of dug-out slit-gongs ‘ known as garamut’ in Pidgin. Families are excited to supplement sago, bananas, and Xanthosoma taro with newly harvested yams. The asakwa harvest, which begins later in August, does not attract the same level of excitement.

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Farmers at Miko maintain that the size of the seed tuber is positively correlated with the size of harvested tubers. The cultural value of large tubers from food gardens is significant. Quinn (1980) found that that men were opposed to increasing planting density, even though they knew that total yield would be increased.

Men do not commonly cultivate yam varieties that produce small tubers. This is a potential threat to loss of varieties and diversity, as men prefer the varieties of asakwa and nianka, the large tuber yams. In the trade-off between increased yields and reduced tuber size, growers preferred larger tubers for exchange. Yams are not grown solely for food. They are of high social and cultural value, and by using fairly large seed tubers and planting at relatively low densities, growers are not aiming solely to maximize food production. Reputations are built and lost on a man’s yam growing skills, with status and prestige accruing to growers who produce good-sized tubers. Nor do yams have to be presented in large ceremonial exchanges to bring prestige to the grower. Word of a good or bad harvest on the part of an individual quickly spreads throughout the village and the surrounding areas. Large tubers are also channeled into mundane exchange networks between kinship, so it is important for an ambitious man to have good quality yams for exchange purposes.

Garden management is influenced by socio-cultural factors such as illness, birth, death, male-out migration and disputes. Illness directly reduces availability of labour through temporary incapacitation. Taboos prevent both the mother and father from attending their gardens for up to a week or two after birth, and death may have indirect effects through cultural taboos against the deceased’s kin engaging in subsistence production during the mourning period. Male absenteeism reduces the pool of available labour for specific male tasks such as garden clearing and the planting and harvesting of yams, and disputes with a landholding sub clan sometimes restricts planting. The effects may extend into the following year, because of diminished seed stocks for planting in the following year.

However it is probably that these pressures are leading to a reduction in the use of food in ceremonies and exchanges. At Miko village during July to December 1999 it was noted that yams and other crops were grown only for domestic consumption and not for other purposes. Curry (pers. comm.) suggest that Miko farmers have not committed themselves to large scale inter-village activities since 1989 and that yam production is now used only for food and small intra-family exchange activities.

Sago (Metroxylon rumphii) is a very important food resource in Wosera. The smaller sized yam gardens in Miko compared to other Abelam farmers (Lea 1964) may reflect household dependence on sago as an alternative food source. Cooking banana, sweet potato and Xanthosoma taro (the latter introduced in the late 1930s) are also important staples in Miko. It was observed that there is considerable variability both within and between villages in garden areas planted to yams. Miko farmers are thought to have smaller yam gardens than other Wosera.

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Sago processing complements the yam-based farming system at Miko. Sago is an important food security resource especially during the dry season when yams are not available. The subsistence system is strongly seasonal. From January to June when yams are in short supply, sago, bananas and Xanthosoma are the most important food consumed. Other crops which supplement the diet include coconut, tulip (Gnetum gnemon), bush greens (when garden greens are scarce from July to November), breadfruit (Artrocarpus altilis) , and various fruits and nuts. Small game such as bandicoots, lizards, fish, wild pigs and insects are also important supplements to the diet at various times of the year.

Miko villagers still maintain much of their ‘traditional’ culture, both in the social and economic realms. They remain very much dependent on subsistence production, and indigenous social structures continue to play a fundamental role in delimiting rights to resources. Economic development in Miko and the Wosera generally is limited. Malnutrition was a serious problem but, with the improved health and education extension services, the level of malnourished children has declined.

Tari Basin Site Description

Tari basin is one of the most densely populated areas in Papua New Guinea. Rapid population increases since the European contacts have triggered land shortage and soil degradation, and the indigenous food production system has gradually been degraded in high-altitude areas (Wood, 1985; Umezaki et al., 1999, 2000). The impact of modernization (commenced in 1952 when an airstrip was established) has become manifest around the central part of the basin. Both physical and socio-economic aspects of environment have been diversified historically and in recent decades.

The agricultural activities, classified as one of the most intensified type in Papua New Guinea (Bourke, 1989) are based on the people's extensive knowledge for the plants for the maintenance of soil fertility of the gardens. For example, males have been anxious for planting specific trees around the gardens and females have been concerned over putting as much grass to soils as compost. Our preliminary survey suggested that the type and intensity of such behaviours differ between communities depending on their socio-economic and physical environment. The people's knowledge for plants seemed to differ between the sexes and residential locations.

The Tari basin and the surrounding mountainous areas, the homeland of the Huli-speaking people, are located between 142o45' and 143o10' east and between 5o40' and 6o00' south in the Southern Highlands Province. The basin consists of two environmental zones: the swampy flat areas (wet zone), and mountainous slopes (dry zone) (Wood, 1985). The former zone extends from the Tari airstrip to the southeast and to the swamp along the major rivers, while the latter refers to the hilly areas besides the uncultivable limestone ridges. According to estimates made by the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (Lehmann et al., 1997), the annual population growth rate from 1981 to 1991 was

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2.4% (de jure) or 1.7% (de facto) in the basin as a whole. There existed a slight regional variation; the rates were higher in the western (2.7% de jure and 2.0% de facto) than in the northern (2.3% de jure and 1.8% de facto) and the eastern (2.3% de jure and 1.4% de facto) regions. In the basin, the proportion of migrants increased from 12.7% in 1981 to 18.7% in 1991. Regional variation was negligible.

These demographic indicators suggest that the basin has been experiencing high population pressure for several decades. As a result, averaged residential density was the highest in this region of the Highlands. In 1980, the residential density was over 100/km2 in the central part around the town of Tari, 50-100/km2 in the surrounding flat basin, and just less than 50/km2 in the surrounding hilly areas (Wood, 1985; National Statistical Office, 1983). Contrasting cultivation system and land productivity were reported between the two zones (Wood, 1985). Importantly, while a 10 to 15 year fallow period is required after 5-10 years of cultivation in the dry zone, land can be used continually in the wet zone.

Moreover, the food productivity per unit land area in the wet zone was almost double of that in the dry zone. The Huli have heavily depended on sweet potato cultivation and rearing pigs for their subsistence. Food consumption surveys in a community in wet zone revealed that the contribution of sweet potato to the total energy intake was over 70% (Kuchikura, 1999; Umezaki et al., 1999). In the same community, 60-70% of the total production of garden crops, mostly sweet potato, was fed to pigs. In both communities, ditches are dug around the gardens. The ditches are dug systematically in wet zone so as to drain the swamp. In either community, deep and wide ditches are used as the boundaries between the land-holding cognate groups.

For growing sweet potatoes, mounds are made (mostly 3-4 m in diameter, but occasionally very small, around 1 m, or very long around 10 m), and sweet potato vines in bundles of three or four are planted. Harvesting starts about six months after planting and continues for several months during which the matured roots are picked up one by one. Finally, the mounds are broken with shovels or by tethering pigs to a stake nearby (the pigs eat the small sweet potato tubers remaining in the soil). After a few months, the site is again used for sweet potato cultivation; on this occasion, the previously-made mounds are completely broken down and new mounds are made at different places, usually in between two previously existent mounds. A cycle of cultivation, including the idle period, is almost one year (12 months), without seasonality. In the wet zone, the people claimed that this cultivation pattern has been followed for more than 100 years without a break, whereas, in dry zone, although repetition of the land-use cycle, consisting of cultivation for 5-10 years and fallow for 10 or more years, had prevailed for long.

In the Tari basin, the modernization process has accelerated since 1978 when a road linking Tari with the other major towns in the Highlands was constructed. The impact of the modernization could be seen from the increase in the consumption of purchased foods accounting for 10-25% of the total energy intake in 1990s (Kuchikura, 1999; Umezaki et

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al., 1999). The major monetary source for purchasing food came from marketing and remittances from the emigrated villagers. A gold mining field was found to the North of the basin toward the end of 1980s and people living in the northern basin experienced a "gold rush" at the time. However, this influence on the peoples* lives was only temporary, since the amount of gold being mined dwindled by the beginning of the 1990s (Clark, 1990; Vail, 1995.

Three communities, the Heli, Wenani, and Kikida, were chosen as the subjects. Wenani is located in the wet zone in the Haibuga swamp along the Tagali river around 1650 m above sea level, while Heli is in the dry zone in the Paijaka plateau at 1750-1850 m above sea level. Kikida located just next to the Tari airstrip and the territory was consisted of wet zone and dry zone. The population densities were at the range of 0-50/km2 in Heli, 50-100/km2 in Wenani, and <200/Km2 in Kikida, respectively (Wood, 1985).

Ogotana Demonstration Site Description

Ogotana demonstration site is located on the Sogeri Plateau along the foothills of the Owen Stanley Mountains, northeast of Port Moresby. The Ogotana community is part of the Koiari (Koyara) tribe which has a total population of approximately 1,500 people and a low population density of four persons per square kilometre.

The landscape ranges from savanna grassland in the Sogeri Plateau and Rouna Valley to the secondary forest re-growth. Agricultural intensification is low, as indicated by the long fallow period of between 20 to 25 years. A summary of the agricultural systems of the Koiari was described by Bourke, et al. (1988). Banana is the dominant staple, and yam (D. alata) is the second most important staple. Other staples include cassava, Xanthosoma taro, sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), yam (D. esculenta), and Amorphallus taro. Important vegetables include aibika (Abelmoschus manihot), common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), choko tips (Sechium edule), corn (maize), cucumbers, kangkong (Ipomea aquatica), lowland pitpit (Saccharum edule), peanuts, pumpkin tips, and karakap (Solanum nigrum). Fruits and nuts that are cultivated include magoes, marita pandanus, oranges, pawpaws, pineapples, watermelon, pomelo, breadfruit, okari (Terminalia sp) and coconuts.

The dominant landscape feature of the Rouna Valley and the Sogeri Plateau is savanna grassland caused by deforestation as a result of the impact of human activity and destructive burning over the years. The latter is promoted by the distinct dry season between March and September each year. Burning has modified the environment and reduced the diversity of local flora and fauna. The dominant trees are species of Eucalyptus, which are able to withstand the impact of fires. There are records of biodiverse forest environments within the vicinity of the Rouna Valley and the Sogeri Plateau. Grassland and savanna environment has spread beyond the forest boundaries reported by the early explorers in the 1800s.

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Commercial farming activities established on the Sogeri Plateau include cattle ranching and rubber plantations. Labourers from other provinces were recruited to work on the plantations and farms. Many of these labourers have settled on local village land on the Plateau. The commercial farmers (mainly large companies) the settlers and the local landowners compete for available resources. The impact of these activities and other socioeconomic activities were documented to identify threats to biodiversity conservation, develop and test models to counteract these threats.

To the immediate north vegetation is forest fallow and previously uncleared forest. To the south is savanna grassland. There is strong evidence that the grasslands have been created by destructive burning, promoted by a distinct dry season. The dominant soil type is red clay or Oxisols which have been described by Lea and Brown (1970). Oxisols are generally poor soils with very low nutrient content. Soil nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are adequate for crops such as bananas, sugarcane, coffee, rice and pineapples (Donahue, et. al., 1983). Sogeri Plateau is renowned for the pineapples, which are abundant during the fruiting season between November and January and are sold in the Port Moresby markets.

Historically trees have always been part of life for the Koyara (Koiari) tribe (see Plate 00). They previously constructed houses on trees up to 50 m above the ground. (Lindgren, 1999). Tree houses served as guardhouses and refuges for families when attacked by a warring tribe. This is a cultural identity, which the Koiari tribe is proud of. They continue to value their cultural ties with large forest trees. However, the impact of urbanization, migration, climatic and socio-economic changes is threatening the sustainability of their forest resources. Their livelihood may be threatened by the declining biodiversity that is evident in the spread of savanna and grassland.

Plate 00: An artistic impression of Narinuma Village of the Koiari (Coyara) tribe near Port Moresby in 1882 (Source: Lindgren, 1999).

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The people of Ogotana are of the eastern Koiari language-speaking group. The language including the western Koiari language is one of the three languages of the Koiari language group. The majority of the young people also speak Police Motu, a trading language which was introduced by the early Motuan Missionaries of the United Church, the only religious denomination at Ogotana. Tok Pisin and English are also mediums of communication when speaking with non-Motu speakers from within Ogotana and visitors from other parts of the country. There is a distinctive local dialect at Ogotana but it is not commonly spoken by the younger generation and is slowly dying out.

Ogotana is an inland village of Central Province situated 40 kilometres east of Port Moresby in the Sogeri Plateau approximately 800 metres above sea level. The village is made up of 3 clans of the Koiari (Koyara) tribe – Hogeri, Nidori, and Korohi. There are 51 households in the village with a total population of 260 people. The family profile of the Ogotana community indicates that 28% of families are of local women married to men from other parts of the country but who have decided to settle in Ogotana (see Table 1 and Figures 4 and 5).

Table 1: Population distribution of Ogotana Village

Category Adults ChildrenMales Females Males Females

Population 47 46 86 65Mix-marriages 22 28 29 31Temporary Residents 24 33 24 23Employment Opportunity 19 7 - -

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Figure 4: Population distribution by age group in Ogotana Village

Farmer = subsistence, market gardening, hunting and fishingEmployment = formal, casual, and self-employed.Special Skills = clerk, cashier, carpenter, plumber, mechanic, chainsaw operator, driver, baking and sawing skills, retired extension officer.

Figure 5: Inventory of skills and employment opportunities at Ogotana Village

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The climate (rainfall and temperature) is an important factor affecting management of agricultural and biological diversity. The rainfall distribution pattern of Ogotana recorded at Eilogo plantation for twenty years shows a distinct wet and dry season (see Figure 6). Smallholder agricultural systems such as that of Ogotana rely on the rainfall distribution. Burning and lack of soil moisture during the dry season are major threats to the management of useful agricultural and biological species in on the Sogeri Plateau

Figure 6: The average monthly rainfall recorded over twenty years at Eilogo Rubber Estate Office located 2 km from Ogotana village.

Section Three: Demonstration Site Activities and Evaluation of Outcomes

Tumam and Ngahmbole

(a) Growth of population of collaborating farmers

The farmers of Tumam and Ngahmbole villages were well known to the PLEC researchers, and the researchers to them, before the project began. Allen had worked in this village intensively in 1971 and 1972 and again for two months in 1979-80. This village was put forward as a PLEC site because, on the basis of past experience of working in PNG villages, it was not going to be possible to achieve many of the PLEC objectives, if the

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group had begun working in a totally new area. The two villages contained around 500 people. At meetings at which the project activities and goals were outlined, all families agreed to participate. The end of the project was holding discussions held about how to extend the project’s main findings to nearby villages in the same language group and to use the structure of the Local Government Council to do this.

(b) Selection of expert farmers

In 1971-72 Allen had surveyed all food gardens, rice garden fallows (rice was then being grown only for sale and rice growing ceased in 1970) and all coffee gardens. In 1979-80 Allen surveyed fallows and made some preliminary botanical collections. During these he had become aware that some men and women in the village were considered to be, in PLEC terminology, 'expert farmers'. They were intelligent, hard working and could identify a large number of plants by local names. The 1979-80 survey suggested that local botanical classifications were similar in structure to scientific classification. So for example, almost all Ficus species were given the prefix yulop- in the local language, distinguishing them as a distinctive botanical group. In 1998, when the project began, some of the group of farmers had died, and another was too old to participate. However two outstanding local botanists remained fit, active and keen to participate. The PLEC team also sought out village leaders, whether or not they were expert farmers, to carry the project and to oversee the work of the 'experts'. Two outstanding men in their 40s, with wide experience outside the village in the missions, the police and on plantations, were keenly interested in the project because of what it could tell them about the sustainability of village livelihoods. One, Chris Tokomeyeh became the local PLEC leader. He unfortunately died suddenly of heart attack late in 2001. His death has, at least temporarily, brought plans for expansion to a halt.

The PNG PLEC Cluster was always a little uncertain about how farmer-to-farmer training would be accepted at Tumam. In pre-colonial times, agricultural production was closely linked to highly competitive, even aggressive, exchanges of food. Group leaders cajoled their followers into producing more than their ritual competitors and the techniques used to grow more and better yams, bananas, taro, sugar and pitpit were jealously guarded and included spells, magical potions, abstinence from sexual contacts with women and a number of other practices. Furthermore, in a society in which there are no chiefs and no inherited offices, any leader in any enterprise can be challenged at any time, and frequently is. The challenge may be physical, social or magical and there is a widespread belief in sorcery. Throughout Melanesia there is a marked reluctance to give up knowledge to potential rivals who may use against one. Farmer-to-farmer training is a foreign concept in such an environment.

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(c) The effectiveness of farmer-to-farmer training

In the place of farmer-to-farmer training, the PNG PLEC group focused on field days in which everyone could be informed of PLEC work and findings in public, and on visits between the farmers from distantly located PLEC sites. So Tumam farmers visited Wosera and Ogotana and vice versa. These visits to other areas, although expensive because of the high cost of travel in PNG, were very successful. In all three areas yams and bananas are important and they found much to discuss. The environmental degradation at Ogotana and even at Wosera, was a shock to Tumam farmers and they held meetings in the village on their return to describe what could happen there if they did not take measures. The exotic African giant snail, recently introduced at Dreikikir, but endemic and a serious problem at Ogotana was also a topic of many conversations.

(d) Farmer associations

No attempts were made to form farmer associations at Tumam and Ngahmbole. This area has a colonial history of the formation of various forms of cooperatives, all of which collapsed in various states of bankruptcy. New churches sweep through the area about once every decade and after a short sharp and ecstatic frenzy of activity, people are left feeling depressed and let down. Political parties come and go. People are generally suspicious of new organizations.

What was planned was that Chris Tokomeyeh, who was running for the elected position of council chairman, if successful, would begin to try and get an agreement between a number of local Urat speaking villages, through their councillors, to not clear the remaining corridors of rainforest that still exist along the boundaries of village lands. Posters from the PLEC work that illustrate the impact of shifting cultivation on the land and the biodiversity value of these forests, were in preparation for this program. If successful, from his position as council chairman, Chris would have been influential in working at the inter-village level. Even within the village, it is not possible to stop an individual doing whatever he wants on land that is acknowledged as his own. But with strong community pressure not to clear such areas, individuals would have needed to be very strong to go against the grain. It remains to be seen whether the PLEC team can find another person willing to take on this task.

(e) Interventions by PLEC

PLEC did not intervene directly in the affairs of the Tumam people. However, in discussions with the small expert group, in village meetings and during the field days, it was clear that PLEC activities were raising the public level of awareness about a number of problems. These included the rapid population increase, changes in the land tenure system that were appearing, the potential impact of a locally owned mobile sawmill, the close relationship between small animal prey and the fallow successional regrowth plant

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communities, and the relationship between these same communities and the maintenance of soil fertility and food production. At field days, some possible alternative ways of doing things were discussed.

(f) Adoption of PLEC activities by farmers

The primary concern of Tumam farmers is to feed themselves and their families adequately and to earn as much money as possible with which to improve their houses and drinking water supply and educate their children. PLEC activities were never, and it was never thought they would be, the most important thing in their lives. Furthermore, PLEC activities mainly involved collecting information about the agro-diversity and bio-diversity aspects of their agricultural system, a system that is well known to them and from their point of view is tried and true. They are reluctant to make any major changes to it, given the risk of the unknown against the very well known. I do not know of any specific activities that were adopted as a result of PLEC activities. PLEC activities however, raised awareness of how their agricultural system responds to changes in land use practices in an observable way, that both they and the PLEC team can demonstrate. The PLEC team was able to show them, for example, historical air photographs, beginning in 1939, more than 60 years ago, and they found these very interesting. The drawing together of the successional changes in fallow regrowth and the relationships that exist between the successional stages and prey animals, and the likely repercussions if the later successional stages are not reached because of shorter fallow periods created a great deal of interest and thoughtful discussion. The impacts of PLEC activities are likely to be longer term than the immediate, and perhaps temporary, adoption of particular practices.

(g) The value of PLEC activities to farmers

Many of the values of PLEC activities to the farmers and their families have been covered above. Fundamentally, PLEC was able, with the critical assistance of the farmers, to collect information about a range of agricultural system dynamics within a scientific framework and to reflect that information back to them. Although they already knew these things intuitively and for their own small areas, PLEC was able to paint a larger picture for them so they could see how their small areas of land fitted into the overall village situation, and as well, to show them how changes were occurring over a 60 year period. In the pursuit of getting them to consider and discuss options, this was extremely valuable. Another very valuable aspect of the PLEC work was the way it enabled some people to visit other places and discuss agriculture and related matters with people in those places. Finally, a very valuable aspect of PLEC work were the visit by the TAG teams, Pinedo-Vasquez, Gyasi and Stocking, who were able to offer yet other perspectives on particular aspects of sustainable agriculture and food production.

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Evaluating demonstration site activities outcome for Ogotana demonstration site

Grassland rehabilitation, biodiverse garden and fallow management

The demonstration activity of grassland rehabilitation is not a foreign concept but has been developed from farmers’ own experience. The concept of grassland rehabilitation was initiated to arrest threats to biodiversity in Ogotana Village. The farmers’ greatest concern was invasion by Imperata which is promoted by seasonal bush fires. The demonstration activity is to test an intervention approach of landscape rehabilitation utilizing the agroforestry concept and fallow management (see Plate 00).

Plate 00: Demonstrating the value of biodiversity conservation using the model of landscape rehabilitation, biodiverse garden and fallow management at Ogotana Village (Photo: John Sowei).

Intensification, together with population density and the burning of cleared vegetation has destroyed forest ecosystems and created savanna grassland environments. The requirements for agricultural production in grassland environments cannot be met by the practices of shifting cultivation. Therefore, alternative crops will have to be introduced and production systems adopted, to replace the traditional crops and provide food security under the grassland agricultural system.

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Forest nursery

The forest demonstration activity was established initially to propagate seedlings of local tree species to be used in the rehabilitation demonstration site. However, the nursery has been a demonstration activity for the community and stakeholders to appreciate the concept of raising useful local tree species (see Plate 00).

Plate 00: Pangium edule being established in the nursery at Ogotana (Photo: John Sowei)

Community outreach, networking and capacity building

The advantage of Ogotana demonstration site has been its proximity to the Port Moresby where many NGOs and line agencies are located. This has been an advantage for the project to involve as many stakeholders as possible to disseminate through networking the importance of biodiversity conservation issues. This has strengthened the networking and sharing of information and experiences in different approaches to biodiversity conservation in Papua New Guinea.

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The interaction between visiting PLEC researchers, project personnel, students, farmers from Tumam/Nghambole demonstration site and stakeholder representatives from government agencies and the NGO community by its nature is a demonstration activity. This forum allows the interaction between Ogotana community to exchange experiences and issues affecting biodiversity management in smallholder agricultural systems in Papua New Guinea.

In Papua New Guinea approximately 95 per cent of the land is owned by small farmers under the traditional tenure. This means that small farmers own and manage agrobiodiversity for their sustenance. Management of biodiversity was developed and refined to meet subsistence requirements on a sustainable basis. However, contact with the outside world means small farmers are exposed to the socio-economic transformation in the global community. The impact of environmental change has affected decisions of resource owners (farmers) on sustainable management and utilization of resources that promotes biodiversity conservation.

Under these circumstances planning for sustainable resource management and utilization is required. Collaboration of scientists and small farmers has been the focus for the UNU-PLEC project to work with farmers to identify threats to biodiversity and promote management practices to conserve biodiversity. Where appropriate, scientific knowledge could be incorporated with traditional knowledge to counteract threats to biodiversity conservation.

An important evaluation of the outcomes of the PLEC PNG Cluster demonstration activities is the importance of these activities as a tool for creating stakeholder and community awareness of the importance of promoting biodiversity conservation at community level. The reality is that with the high level of traditional tenure, the Office of Environment and Conservation as an implementation agency of the Government of PNG’s environmental policies and legislation, needs to develop conservation models in collaboration with the landowners. The outcomes cannot be fully evaluated as the success of the demonstration activities to foster biodiversity conservation awareness really depend on the decisions and management practices of the local communities.

In Ogotana Village the community through the Councillor and the Village Development Committee has endorsed a penalty for persons found to deliberately set fires to the environment. That is an indication of the importance of community awareness through research and demonstration activities.

Some intangible benefits as a result of the demonstration activities is for the community to become more aware of the importance of biodiversity management and to be able to pass skills to the young generation as they will be tomorrow’s custodians of biodiversity.

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Furthermore, the intangible benefits of capacity building for line agencies through participation in meetings, seminars, field days and from the information and data provided on the impact of environmental change on agricultural, biological and the local human resource. This data and information through the PNG Cluster publications provide useful material for development planners, extension agents, scholars, researchers, and students to understand the complexities of trying to promote rural development without compromising the loss of biodiversity and the livelihood of the local population.

Section Four: Data Analysis 1

Agrodiversity and biodiversity surveys

The agricultural system at Tumam is a rotational bush fallow system. Cultivable land is finely subdivided into plots that are between 0.2 and 0.8 ha in area. Much of the time these plots are not cultivated, but are covered with regenerating plant successions under bush fallow conditions. During the fallow, very little human interference occurs on the plot. Then, once between every 15 years and 30 years, the forest on the plot is cleared and the plot is cultivated for up to around 30 months, before it is again allowed back into a fallow. The details of how the land is cleared an cultivated will be described elsewhere.

In this form of agriculture, a unit area of land fluctuates between supporting a number of cultivars or varieties of domesticated plant species for a relatively short time and for a much longer time, a larger number of natural plant species. Both the domesticated and the natural species change over time, the former as a result of human actions and the latter under natural conditions. The exploration of biodiversity at Tumam was therefore, divided into two parts. One part examined the cultivated sites, while the other part examined the fallow sites.

Agrodiversity methods

An agrodiversity survey of the cultivated sites was conducted in the gardens of a non-random sample of 49 farmers, drawn from a list of all farmers by the demonstration site expert group. The sample included, at their insistence, ‘old’ men, ‘middle aged’ men and ‘young’ men, and ‘women gardening alone’, usually older widows. The men were divided again into ‘good’ gardeners and ‘poor’ gardeners on the urging of the PLEC team. There was some reluctance to include ‘poor’ gardeners in the sample on the grounds that they do not properly represent how gardening should be done because they are lazy. Everyone knows how to garden, the argument goes, but some men are too lazy to do the hard work required and so get poor results. The survey team, comprising the site Research Officer Chris Tokomeyeh, the ‘expert botanists’ Joel Ngemgutu and Albert Yilumbu and two younger assistants, made observations of all domesticated cultivars and all other species (including weeds) in up to four 10m x 10m squares (top, side, centre and bottom of garden) in each of the 49 gardens, for three consecutive years beginning in 1999). The surveys were

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conducted in May and June of 1999 of gardens planted between September 1998 and January 1999; April and May 2000; and May and June 2001.These three periods of cultivation are named by Urat gardeners as wah, yekene and nerakase. Where gardens were small or awkwardly shaped, fewer than four plots were selected at each site. Between 1999 and 2001 the number of sites included in the survey declined to 41 in 2000 and 38 in 2001 because the garden owners died, left the village temporarily, became ill or incapacitated, or refused to continue to allow the team onto their land (the outcome of a dispute unrelated to PLEC activities). The survey team found the counting of hundreds of small weed and grass seedlings too onerous, so they noted only the presence only of these plants.

Biodiversity methods

The fallow sites were selected on the basis of the expert group’s classification of fallow stages. After cultivation ceases, a continuous process of natural re-growth begins and continues for between 25 to 30 years until the site is again cleared for cultivation. Tumam and Ngahmbole people recognize that the process of re-growth is complex and is continuous. However, like ‘scientific’ observers everywhere, they simplify the process by classifying the vegetation communities that occur into four stages, based on the species composition and structure of the fallow vegetation:

Nerakase begins from the cessation of cultivation and lasts for about 6 to 8 years. This stage of fallow and the last stage of cultivation are given the same name.

Banande lasts from around 6 to 8 years to 15 years from the cessation of cultivation. The term is a reference to the fast growing softwoods which dominate this succession and which die and fall after about 15 years. In its later stages, it is also known as the ‘trees which die’ stage, or kupyihope, a general term derived from the disappearance of kukup (Geunisa) trees which have been replaced by slower growing tree species by the end of this stage.

Boumbure literally ‘trees-good’ stage. In the latter parts of this stage, around 25 years from the cessation of cultivation, the garden site is judged to be again ready for cultivation. At this time, the loumbure forest is sometimes referred to as hipwurieu, literally ‘black and brown’, a reference to the loss of sunlight caused by the closing of the forest canopy.

If it is not cleared the previous stage continues into a fourth stage, loutinginde (literally ‘trees-forest’), in which the secondary trees increase to their full height and species normally only found in the undisturbed forest reserves begin appear in the succession.

An attempt was made to identify garden sites by fallow successional stage on a recent SPOT satellite image (black-and-white 10m x 10m pixels of August 1998 – the only partially cloud free image since 1990!). During a previous examination of fallows, air photographs were used to estimate the age of the fallow sites in years. But the SPOT image pixel size (15m x 15m) was not fine enough garden sites to be easily identified. The rate at which the successions proceed is in part a function of the inter-related factors of soil moisture and soil fertility, as well as time. This means that after the cessation of cultivation

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(and in particular weeding) natural regrowth does not take place at a constant rate all over the site. The succession tends to proceed fastest on the lower slopes of a site where there is high soil moisture content and soils washed off the upper slopes sometimes come to rest, and the sides if they are adjacent to forested fallows, and are slowest on the ridge tops. As a result, sites that were identified on the satellite image did not match with villagers classifications of fallows when the image was taken into the field for ground trotting.

It was therefore decided to base the biodiversity survey on farmers classification and knowledge of the location of individual fallow sites. The Tumam expert group selected the sites for surveying on the basis of their own classification and not on the age of the fallow, but they were able to provide the year of the last previous cultivation for all site. The terms of reference they were given were that there should be eight sites selected from each stage (with the exception of the previously uncultivated forest stage where the botanical complexity could not be assessed in the time available) and that four should be on what is considered to be ‘good’ environments and four should be in ‘poor’ environments. The sites should cover all parts of the village land. In total 36 sites were surveyed. A detailed description of the methods used will be presented elsewhere. Three further sites of never previously cultivated forest were surveyed. Two coffee gardens and two cocoa plots were also surveyed.

The botanical survey was carried out by Stephen McCoy a botanist and biogeographer in collaboration with Chris Tokomeyeh and the two local botanical experts, Joel Ngemgutu and Albert Yilumbu. They identified species with local names. McCoy collected samples, pressed them, and took them to the Lae Herbarium, where with the help of staff, he was able to identify the botanical names for most species. A total of 352 species were identified in his way.

Agrodiversity Survey results

This summary analysis does not go below the level of aggregation of the garden stage.

After clearing of the site, edible species are planted into the newly cleared garden in well established sequences. Seven months after clearing, more than 195 varieties of 41 edible species have been planted into the garden (Table 2). A year later, the number of species is about the same, although there has been some loss of varieties. A further year later the garden is allowed to slip back into fallow, no further weeding is undertaken and the number of edible species is half of what it was at the beginning of the cultivation sequence.

The species composition also changes over time (Tables 3). In the first stage very large numbers of green leafed vegetables are planted early, often by just broadcasting seed onto the soils and scuffing them over with the foot. These species, dominated by Amaranths and Nustertium homalospermum are later found scattered all over the garden site at densities of over 2,000 per ha. Two species, Ficus copiosa and Ficus wassa, are never planted, but either appear in the newly clearly site as seedlings, or are protected from damage during the clearing. Although found at a lower density than the Amaranths and Nustertium, they

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Table 2. Number of species and varieties by garden stage

Garden Stage Months from

clearing

Number of 10 x 10 m

plots surveyed

Total area surveyed (ha)

No of Edible

Species

No of Edible

Varieties

No of Weed

species

wah 7 125 1.25 41 195 559yekene 20 135 1.35 43 177 1198nerakase 33 116 1.16 19 70 No data[a]

Note [a]. Regrowth was so thick in many plots at this stage that they were not counted. See the biodiversity survey.

are very important sources of greens. Gnetum gnemon, which develops into a 5m tall tree if left alone, is another important dietary green leaf, is also planted at this time and is harvested for years later during the fallow.

Three other tree species which are planted into the garden sites at this stage as seedlings are Artcarpus altilis (breadfruit), Canarium indicum (galip) which produces nuts and Pometia pinnata (ton) a large tree which produce fruit very like lychee. The seedlings are collected from other fallows and carried to the new site.

Table 3. Most important edible species by garden stage.

Botanical name Common name wah yekeneneraka

seGreens and herbsAllium cepa var Spring onion 239 5 0Amaranthus hybridis Amaranthus 2734 726 0Brassica chinensis var Chinese cabbage 590 185 0Davallia sp. Fern 28 4 0Deeringia polysperma kumu 470 84 1Ficus copiosa kumu 66 34 0Ficus wassa kumu 241 108 0Gnetum gnemon var Two leaf 36 25 3Hibiscus manihot var Aibika 254 166 25Ipomoea aquatica Kangkong 65 0 0Lycopersicon esculentum Tomato 54 6 0Nustertium homalospermum var kumu 2092 784 0Solanum melongena Eggplant 12 13 1Solanum nigrum Black berried nightshade 230 173 0Unidentified kumu 1022 700 0Beans  Vigna spp. Common and snake beans 66 53 0Psophocarpus tetragonolobus Winged bean 118 26 0Cucurbits  

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Cucumis sativus var Cumcumber 134 14 0Curcurbita moschata Pumpkin 56 44 0Root crops  Colocasia esculenta var Taro 1397 864 22Dioscorea alata var Greater yam 318 209 50Dioscorea bulbifera var Potato yam 20 22 2Dioscorea esculenta var Lesser yam 1477 739 52Ipomoea batatas Sweet potato 21 186 371Xanthosoma sagittifolia var Chinese taro 617 390 226Bananas  Musa spp Banana 1032 911 270GrassesSaccharum esculenta Pitpit 81 184 608Saccharum officianale Sugar 146 108 10Zea mays Corn 277 27 0Fruit and nutsAnanas comosus var Pineapple 95 66 19Arachis hypogea Peanut 23 0 0Artocarpus altilis var Breadfruit 0 8 3Carica papaya Paw paw 92 124 11Cocos nucifera var Coconut 2 4 1Citrullus lanatus Watermelon 13 1 0Pandanus canoideus var marita 9 15 0Cash crops  Theobroma cacoa Cocoa 24 15 0Coffea canephora Robusta coffee 0 0 62Narcotics  Nicotiana tabacum Tobacco 586 294 0Areca catechu Betel nut 2 2 2Note: some species of minor importance have been excluded from this table.

Of the staple species, Colocasia esculenta (taro), Dioscorea esculenta (lesser yam or mami), and Xanthosoma sagittifolia (Chinese taro or taro kongkong, introduced in the 1940s) predominate in the wah stage. The other most important species in this stage is Musa (banana), of which there are a large number of cultivars. Many of the bananas planted at this stage continue to produce food through all stages and into the early part of the fallow.

As the cultivated site progresses from stage to stage, the species composition changes. The two main yam species, which are replanted in the second year, decrease in number, bananas remain about the same for at least two years, while the density of Ipomoea batatas (sweet potato) increases in density in the final stages. (Figures 7 and 8). Zea mays (corn or maize) and Saccharum officinale (sugarcane) are important and early producing wah stage crops which are reduced by the second year and gone by the third, but Saccharum esculenta (a tall edible grass known as pitpit in Pidgin) increases sharply in the final stage of cultivation when it is planted all over the garden site and left to fend for itself.

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Figure 7. Change in composition of root crop species by cultivation stage, Tumam.

As well as species composition changing during the gardening stages, the composition of cultivars of individual species also changes. The most important root crop, D. esculenta, illustrates this point (Table 4). The most abundant varieties planted in the wah garden, continue to be the most abundant in all stages, but a number of varieties, such as hau glame, are planted in greater numbers in the later stages of cultivation than in the earlier stages.

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Figure 8. Change in Saccharum species and Zea mays by garden stage

Figure 9. Rank-abundance diagram of domesticated species in the cultivation stages, Tumam.

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Rank abundance of domesticated species by garden stage

0

1

10

100

1000

100000 50 100 150 200 250

Rank

Abu

ndan

ce

w ah yekene nerakase1

Wah

YekeneNerakase

Agro-diversity is highest in the wah stage of the garden. That is the stage when there is a greatest abundance of species and cultivars. However the yekene stage is not very much less diverse (Figure 9). However by 28 months from clearing, diversity falls considerably as Saccharum esculenta is planted over the whole garden and only bananas are kept clear of vines and weeds.

Table 4. Change in abundance of Dioscorea esculenta varieties by garden stageLocal Name Abundance per ha

Wah Yekene neraksaehau mwarasenge 364 148 10hau sungulai 307 133 9hau mwarsepeli 178 115 8hau hap 79 4hau yarmindom me'pule 68 27 5wuye' molomole 60 40hau tombohosep 58 4hau yarmindom nukup 50 4hau pohi 45 2 1wuye'tingilip 29 6hau sopo 22 10 3hau maringesep tuwim 18 27 3bwa'kas 16 5hau bonara 16 5wuye' tingilip 14 7hau singwon 14 29hau sikoh 13 1hau yarmindom bwaipiye 12hau mwariyai 11bwa'tonoh 10 8 3hau minuhiyai 10hau sungwam 10 2hau minuhingmun 9hau buroro' 8hauwimbeyai 8 31 5bwa'hundup 7 3 1hau mwaringmon 7hau sikambe 6 14hau sipiriep 6 16hau yarmindom yai 6hau bulumbul 3 22hau glame 2 35hau yomwai 2 1hauwimbengmon 2 1hau hingene ngumun 2 3 1hau mariyuwah 2 2 1hau bukwi 1 29wuye' yaih 1 1

The pattern suggested in Figure 9 is reflected in simple measures of diversity (Table 5).

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Table 5. Agrodiversity by garden stage, Tumam.

Garden stage wah yekene nerakaseNumber of Species (S) 195 176 69Number of individuals (N) 14774 7381 1740

     Margalef Index 20.2 19.6 9.1Shannon Index 3.77 3.89 2.93

Biodiversity Survey Results

This analysis includes only woody stems. Further analysis will take place of the grasses, vines and other herbaceous plants when time allows.

The first part of the analysis looks at the fallow stages as they were identified by the PLEC expert farmers (Table 6). The years have been added to show the age range of the fallows in each stage.

An interesting patterns emerges, in which biodiversity appears to be greatest during the second stage of the fallow, the banande stage, between 10 and 15 years from clearing. This stage is characterized by the coming to maturity of a number of fast growing softwood trees species dominated by Leuceana (an tree introduced as shed for coffee and now used for cocoa as well), a large number of Ficus species, in particular F. damaropsis, F. gul, F. wassa, F. hispicoides and F. calopina, as well as Melanolepsis and Premna. Althoffia is a particular fast growing species that reaches to 15 m before it falls at around 15 years from the beginning of the fallow.

Table 6. Biodiversity by fallow stage (woody stems only). Tumam.

Year of clearing nerakase banande loumbure loutinginde rainforestUp to 5 years 10-15 years 15-20 years 20-50 years

Number of Species (S) 88 171 72 88 88Number of individuals (N) 510 4683 4656 5036 11758Margalef Index 14.0 20.1 8.4 10.2 9.3Shannon Index 3.63 4.64 3.46 3.53 3.53

The later stages are dominated by slower growing trees including Kleinhovia, Oreocnide, Leea, Artocarpus and Pometia.

The dominance of the Ficus genera is of particular interest (Table 7). They appear early in the fallow sequence and remain through two stages, but are not present after 40 years. They have been shown to be important in the maintenance of insects (792 herbivorous species of insects have been collected from 15 species of Ficus in New Guinea (Basset & Novotny,

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ms). Tumam hunters state that F. pungens, F. borycarpa, F. congesta and F. hispicoides in particular, are important for attracting game (bird, bandicoots and bats). The dominance of this genus would appear to be the outcome of a long period of adaptation to prevailing conditions, which are brought about and maintained by agricultural activities. This suggests that the agricultural system at Tumam has a long prehistorical depth.

Table 7. Ficus species observed in fallows, Tumam.

Botanical Name Local NameFicus ampelas hyungoroFicus arfakensis yulop tejembeFicus bernaysii yulop bwathapFicus botryocarpa yulop saraipingengumunFicus calopilina yulop tumbohengumunFicus congesta yulop saraipingeyaihFicus copiosa herepFicus damaropsis kokorohFicus gul yulop puhuFicus hispicioides yulop tumboheyaihFicus indigofera yulop tukwelFicus insculpta mwah hunduphurepFicus odoardi yuhu dundurFicus polyantha yuhuFicus polyantha behFicus porphyrochaeta yulop watorohFicus pungens yulop ngombolohFicus sp. wihsileFicus sp. yuhusolondeFicus spp yulop tukwaFicus wassa hundi

An examination of rank abundance (Figure 10) also show the greater richness of species in the banande stage. This difference aside, these simple forms of analysis do not distinguish the fallow stages particularly well.

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Figure 10. Rank Abundance of fallow stage woody species, Tumam.

The rank abundance diagram does distinguish clearly between the three rainforest sites examined and the fallow stages. Three sites is too few to properly represent the true diversity of the forest sites.

The final part of this report is given over to an examination of a cluster analysis of the fallow sites and forest sites, to see how well such an objective analysis reflects the Tumam expert view of the environment.

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Figure 11 Cluster analysis of fallow stages and forest sites, woody species only, Tumam.

Note: This cluster analysis was done by Andrew Taplin, Environment Australia.

The fallow successional stages identified by the Tumam PLEC experts is clearly recognizable in the cluster analysis (Figure 11). Most of the early stage sites fall out to the top of the diagram, the middle stages are grouped together in the middle and the forest sites are grouped together at the bottom. The bananade sites are once again, the most difficult to group together.

There are many reasons why the particular sites included in this analysis should vary from the ideal-type model put forward by the Tumam experts. The sample size is probably not large enough to statistically examine the influences of slope and aspect and we have no information on soils. But even within a site, successions proceed faster on then lower slopes where soils are deeper and wetter than on the upper slopes. Human interference, such as a fire, can also disrupt the successional regrowth and put the site back into a earlier stage.

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0.2880 0.4644 0.6408 0.8172 0.9936 1.1700 | | | | | |Nerakase( 1)______________ Neraksae( 5)_____________|______ Banande ( 11)_____________ | Banande ( 12)____________|______|__ Nerakase( 4)____________ | Banande ( 15)___________|______ | Banande ( 10)_________________|___|_____ Nerakase( 6)__________________________|_____ Nerakase( 2)__________ | Nerakase( 8)_________|_____ | Nerakase( 7)______________|________________|___ Banande ( 9)_______________ | Loumbure( 18)______________|______ | Banande ( 13)__________ | | Loumbure( 22)_________|_______ | | Banande ( 14)_________ | | | Loumbure( 23)________|___ | | | Tinginde( 28)___________|_ | | | Loumbure( 17)_______ | | | | Loumbure( 21)_ | | | | | Tinginde( 27)|_____|_____|_ | | | Loumbure( 19)_____________|__|___|__ | Banande ( 16)_________________ | | Loumbure( 24)________________|_____|______ | Loumbure( 20)__________________ | | Tinginde( 30)_________________|_ | | Tinginde( 25)__________________|_______ | | Tinginde( 29)_________________________| | | Tinginde( 26)_________________________|__|_____|____ Nerakase( 3)______________________________________|______________________Forest ( 31)______________________________________ |Forest ( 32)______________________ | |Forest ( 33)_____________________|_______________|______________________| | | | | | | 0.2880 0.4644 0.6408 0.8172 0.9936 1.1700

Section Five: Data Analysis 2

Other forms of analysis include, at Tumam, a demographic analysis based on census data and genealogical information. Data was also collected on cocoa production; and at Ogotana a household profile analysis, a food consumption survey and a survey of time allocation and food production.

Section Six: Sustainability of PLEC Work

The Cluster has made considerable efforts to sustain PLEC activities. A proposal has been prepared by the Cluster Leader to source funds from donor agencies in Papua New Guinea. A copy of the proposal was submitted to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) country office in Port Moresby which is managing the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Grant for small, medium and large scale projects on biodiversity and land degradation issues at smallholder farming systems. The proposal was submitted to the UNDP/GEF Small Grants National Programme Coordinator on 20 th December 2001 and will be screened by the Small Grants Programme Committee in late January 2002.

The PLEC PNG cluster research and demonstration activities were designed to promote biodiversity awareness and management in smallholder farming systems. It is anticipated that UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme will recognize research and demonstration activities conducted by PLEC PNG Cluster to compliment efforts by the Non Government Organizations (NGOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in promoting awareness for sustainable biodiversity management.

The biodiversity database for different land use systems in Tumam/Nghambole, Tari Basin, and Ogotana could be utilized with existing databases such as the PNG Resource Information System (PNGRIS), Mapping Agricultural Systems (MASP), and Forest Inventory Mapping System (FIMS) to generate a snapshot country map of similar composition of biodiversity in different land use systems documented in PLEC PNG demonstration sites.

Furthermore, there is potential to extrapolate or replicate landscape rehabilitation and fallow management demonstration activity developed with farmers at the Ogotana demonstration site. Demonstration activities would be a useful awareness vehicle to compliment efforts by the Office of Environment and Conservation (OEC) and the Forest Development Authority to promote sustainable biodiversity management in PNG.

In PNG there are no legal or legislative powers to enable state agencies such as OEC to regulate land use practices and biodiversity management. This is because approximately 95% of the land is under traditional ownership. This means that the custodians of biodiversity are the traditional land owners. Changes in land use practices will have to come from with the farming communities themselves. PLEC type activities can perform an

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important service by raising awareness and getting people to think about biodiversity management. Activities such as field days, community meetings, seminars and networking with line agencies, NGOs, and CBOs promote capacity building for local researchers, students, development workers, and community groups to promote sustainable use and management of biodiversity for a sustained livelihood.

The UNU-PLEC PNG Cluster has established a good network with line agencies such as OEC, the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), NGOs such as The Nature Conservancy, Conservation Melanesia, Ecoforestry Forum, Research and Conservation Foundation (RCF), and the University of Papua New Guinea Environmental Science Programme.

A copy of the proposal was submitted to the Port Moresby Water Supply Company, Eda Ranu, to be considered for funding under its water quality control programme in the Sirinumu Dam catchment area. The PNG Conservation Trust Funds which was funded recently by the World Bank and the PNG Biodiversity Conservation Network Secretariat will be approached for some funding.

Publications by the UNU-PLEC Papua New Guinea Cluster

Tumam and Nghambole Demonstration Site, East Sepik Province (Australian National University)

Allen, B. and Sowei, J.W. (2001). Activities at the PLEC site at Tumam Village, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, August 1999 to October 2000. PLEC News and Views 17: 34-39.

Basset, Y. & Novotny, V. How predictable is the species diversity of herbivore communities on Ficus spp. in Papua New Guinea? Part 1. Leaf-chewing insects. Journal of Animal Ecology (submitted)

Paijaka and Wenani Demonstration Sites, Tari Basin, SHP (Univerity of Tokyo)

Umezaki, M., Yamauchi, T. and Ohtsuka, R. (1999). Diet among the Huli in Papua New Guinea Highlands when they were influenced by the extended rainy period. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 37: 409-427.

Umezaki, M., Kuchikura, M., Yamauchi, T. and Ohtsuka, R. (2000). Impact of population pressure on food production: An analysis of land use change and subsistence pattern in the Tari basin in Papua New Guinea Highlands. Human Ecology, 28:259-381.

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Yamauchi, T., Umezaki, M., and Ohtsuka, R. (2001). Influence of urbanisation on physical activity and dietary changes in Huli-speaking population: a comparative study of village dwellers and migrants in urban settlements. British Journal of Nutrition 85:65-73.

Yamauchi, T., Umezaki, M., and Ohtsuka, R. (2001). Physical activity and subsistence pattern of the Huli, a Papua New Guinea Highland Population. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 114:258-268.

Yamauchi, T. and Ohtsuka, R. (2000). Basal metabolic rate and energy costs at rest and during exercise in rural-and urban-dwelling Papua New Guinea Highlanders. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 54:494-585.

Yamauchi, T., Umezaki, M., and Ohtsuka, R. (2000). Energy expenditure, physical exertion and time allocation among Huli-speaking people in the Papua New Guinea Highlands. Annals of Human Biology 27:571-585.

Radio Programs (National Research Institute)

Sowei, J.W., Tokomeyeh, C. Moris, B. and Liru, E. (2000). ‘Radio Didiman’ program for the United Nations University project on People, Land Management and Environmental Change (UNU-PLEC) in Tumam and Nghambole Villages, Drekikir, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. Radio East Sepik, National Broadcasting Commission. December 2000.

Sowei, J.W., Simbiwen, T. and Erepan, B. (1999). ‘Painim na Tokaut’ radio program for the United Nations University project on People, Land Management and Environmental Change (UNU-PLEC) in Papua New Guinea. National Broadcasting Commission.

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