New ways to explore the Pacific’s last great wilderness
6 March 2007
Ambunti, Papua New Guinea
© Lydia Kaia / WWF PNG.
Young girls from Kamanjau village along the sepik River donned their traditional regalia including live baby crocodiles during the crocodile festival.
A new companion to help adventurous travellers experience one of the last great wildernesses on the planet, was officially launched during the inaugural Crocodile Festival held on 1-2 March.
The new community-tourism publication, ‘Sepik River - Nature and Community Tourism’, produced by WWF in association with the Divine Word University, is a guide to one of the most important centres of biological and cultural diversity in the world, the Sepik. Named after the largest river in Papua New Guinea, the Sepik is an idyllic landscape of pristine and lush rainforest, serene waters and cloud-topped mountain habitats, which spans more than 8 million hectares in northern Papua New Guinea.
- Member for Ambunti Drekikir, Tony Aimo.
The Sepik is both unique and vast and harbours an abundance of animal species to discover, including more marsupial species than anywhere else in the world; amazing bird life such as birds of paradise, kingfishers, herons, eagles, small parrots and cockatoos; reptiles, ranging from tiny lizards to enormous crocodiles; a large variety of snakes, including gigantic pythons and an extensive number of butterflies, including one of the largest known butterflies, the Goliath Bird Wing butterfly.
The lives, customs, beliefs and languages of indigenous groups are also linked inextricably with the geography of the Sepik. Visitors can experience first-hand the peaceful and friendly Melanesian culture of the region, including traditional ceremonies, accommodation, dances, songs, cuisine and woodcarving, which will allow travellers to immerse themselves in ancient cultures in ways that package tourism does not allow.
The Crocodile Festival provided a glimpse of this for invited guest as villagers along the Sepik river donned their traditional regalia and face paint to showcase cultural sing sings, their finest traditional artefacts and the Sepik way of life. The event was held in honour of the Crocodile (pukpuk), which signifies an integral part of the Sepik Heritage and now booming industry for many locals within the Sepik River Basin. The event themed “Luksave na kirapim wok bilong lukatim pukpuk” calls to recognize and promote the conservation of crocodiles. WWF and its partners hope to link science with culture in protecting the Sepik’s pristine environment through events such as the Crocodile Festival.
- David Peter, WWF-PNG’s Freshwater Programme Manager
The launch of the community-tourism publication represents a new initiative by WWF to promote community tourism as well as to conserve the riches of the Sepik region. The habitats and species that identify the Sepik as a wilderness of outstanding beauty in the Asia Pacific are increasingly under threat from unsustainable logging, mining and agricultural expansion, and community tourism will assist villagers to obtain alternative income while retaining their natural environment.
said Mr Peter.
Editor’s notes:
WWF has been working in PNG since 1995. Our work focuses on linking community action, science and effective policy to ensure the protection and sustainable use of forests, freshwater and marine resources across the island of New Guinea.
For further information please contact the media team:
Lydia Kaia, Communications Officer, WWF Papua New Guinea, telephone: +675 320 0149; fax: +675 320 0519
David Peter, Freshwater Programme Manager, WWF Papua New Guinea, telephone: +675 320 0680; fax: +675 320 0519