5 Feb 2018
New Britain's birds are among the
least known to science. A group of researchers ventured into the island's
unforgiving wilderness to find out how these species were coping with the loss
of their forest. They found that some had adapted - but many more need urgent
protection before it's too late.
Perched on the outer edge of the
Malay Archipelago, and sheltered from the vast expanse of the Pacific only by
the thin strip of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea’s New Britain boasts an
impressive diversity of fauna and flora. The island’s volatile colonial and
volcanic history have made it almost accustomed to upheaval. However, the most
recent disturbance is to its forest landscape, with over 20% of its
lowland forest being lost between 1989 and 2000. The culprits are palm oil
plantations and industrial logging, which are threatening to turn New Britain’s
rich biodiversity into a monoculture reflecting our consumerism – or worse, a
barren, deforested wasteland.
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