living
Conservation
The villagers own 20 square kilometres of virgin rainforest, which has bubbling streams and teems with fauna and flora.
In the foothills ... clean streams (left) and Hogave village (above).
T
he picturesque village of Hogave is about 60 kilometres from Goroka in the foothills of the 3637-metre Mount Michael, the highest peak in the Eastern Highlands Province and the fifth highest in Papua New Guinea. Despite its isolation, Hogave is accessible by a three-hour drive from Goroka. As a remote highlands community, the Hogave villagers’ daily activities revolve around a subsistence lifestyle, but with a difference. The villagers own 20 square kilometres of virgin rainforest, which has bubbling streams and teems with fauna and flora that has attracted many biologists and scientists over the years. The founder and director of this Hogave conservation area, David Kima, was concerned
in the 1980s that the environment around the village was under serious threat due to the growing population whose subsistence activities were putting pressure on the habitat. The potential for commercial logging and mineral exploration was also real. Motivated by these concerns, he encouraged his extended family and villagers to work towards conserving the forest. The benefits of conservation – such as clean drinking water, soil stability and wildlife protection – were explained to the villagers. “It was not easy to convince the people that conservation is important,” Kima says. “However, years of raising awareness about conservation have resulted in acceptance of a policy of environmental care. After many meetings, the people understood the issues
and decided to take action. In fact, it took more than a decade for them to finally commit themselves to conservation of their forest and its wildlife.” After realising the importance of conservation, the initiative began as the chief and elders of Hogave entered into a memorandum of understanding in 1990 to conserve their inheritance. The villagers then adopted practices such as only cutting trees selectively and sparingly, gardening in the valley or in secondary-growth areas, and prohibiting the hunting of forest creatures. Later on, they also took on reforestation by planting hundreds of trees in secondarygrowth areas. They also discourage littering and destruction of the natural environment by imposing fines for offenders. May – June 2016
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