Wayne Melrose (BAppSc, ThDip, MPHTM, FACTM, FAIMS, MNZIMLS)
Tropical Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Unit, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville Qld 4811, Australia. Wayne.Melrose@jcu.edu.au.
The nation of Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea. It lies wholly within the tropics and is centred around 5oS and 145oE. The mean annual rainfall is 2000 mm, and the average temperature exceeds 25oC. Despite the high rainfall, there are often water shortages in Papua New Guinea because the rainfall is seasonal, with about 85% of rainfall occurring in the "wet" season, which can start anywhere between December and May, and range in length from 2 to 4 months. The total land area of PNG is 460,000 sq km and consists of coastal lowlands and a rugged, mountainous interior. The population of PNG is around 4.7 million and is increasing at the rate of 2.5% per year. The most populous area is the highlands with a population density of 18 people per sq km. By contrast, the lowlands have a density of 3 persons per sq km. Eighty five percent of the population live in rural areas but there is increasing urban drift, with people moving to the cities to find work (Attenborough and Alpers, 1992; Papua new Guinea On-Line, 2000). The total forested area of PNG is around 39 million ha out of a total land area of 46.2 million ha. Thirty three million ha is classified as virgin forest, making it the largest stand of such forest on earth (Mullins, 1994). The PNG government has classified 21 million ha as "protected forest" which occupies slopes too steep for logging. Much of the lowland swamp country soils are too poor to support growth of large trees, and the official estimate of productive forests is 18 million ha (Papua New Guinea Information Unit, 1989).
Current estimates of forest destruction are hard to come by, but in the late 1980's forest was being lost at a rate of 21,000 - 22,000 ha per year (Hurst, 1990; Mullins, 1994). Forest product production has increased from 300,000 cubic metres in 1969 to over 1.7 million cubic metres in 1989. Most of these exports are in the form of logs, so Papua New Guinea misses out on any "value added" component that would result if timber were milled locally. Foreign investors, mainly Japanese, Malaysian, Korean, and Chinese, dominate the timber industry. In the late 1980's local timber companies only had rights to one fifth of the available logging concessions (Barry, 2000).
Full Paper: Go HERE
http://www.tropmed.org/rreh/vol1_11.htm
Tropical Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Unit, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville Qld 4811, Australia. Wayne.Melrose@jcu.edu.au.
The nation of Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea. It lies wholly within the tropics and is centred around 5oS and 145oE. The mean annual rainfall is 2000 mm, and the average temperature exceeds 25oC. Despite the high rainfall, there are often water shortages in Papua New Guinea because the rainfall is seasonal, with about 85% of rainfall occurring in the "wet" season, which can start anywhere between December and May, and range in length from 2 to 4 months. The total land area of PNG is 460,000 sq km and consists of coastal lowlands and a rugged, mountainous interior. The population of PNG is around 4.7 million and is increasing at the rate of 2.5% per year. The most populous area is the highlands with a population density of 18 people per sq km. By contrast, the lowlands have a density of 3 persons per sq km. Eighty five percent of the population live in rural areas but there is increasing urban drift, with people moving to the cities to find work (Attenborough and Alpers, 1992; Papua new Guinea On-Line, 2000). The total forested area of PNG is around 39 million ha out of a total land area of 46.2 million ha. Thirty three million ha is classified as virgin forest, making it the largest stand of such forest on earth (Mullins, 1994). The PNG government has classified 21 million ha as "protected forest" which occupies slopes too steep for logging. Much of the lowland swamp country soils are too poor to support growth of large trees, and the official estimate of productive forests is 18 million ha (Papua New Guinea Information Unit, 1989).
Current estimates of forest destruction are hard to come by, but in the late 1980's forest was being lost at a rate of 21,000 - 22,000 ha per year (Hurst, 1990; Mullins, 1994). Forest product production has increased from 300,000 cubic metres in 1969 to over 1.7 million cubic metres in 1989. Most of these exports are in the form of logs, so Papua New Guinea misses out on any "value added" component that would result if timber were milled locally. Foreign investors, mainly Japanese, Malaysian, Korean, and Chinese, dominate the timber industry. In the late 1980's local timber companies only had rights to one fifth of the available logging concessions (Barry, 2000).
Full Paper: Go HERE
http://www.tropmed.org/rreh/vol1_11.htm
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