6th November 2009

As with most adventures one is about to embark upon there are moments of anxiety, excitement, concern and eagerness. Heading off to Papua New Guinea for the first time is no different. PNG is a land of different customs, traditions and in need of huge steps to be made to conserve the native wildlife and improve the living conditions for many village people residing in the remote mountain ranges.

Arriving at the TCA base in Lumi, I received an amazing welcome from the TCA reps from villages all over the moratorium area, who had come to attend a planning meeting the following day. Some of these village representatives walked over 10 hours to be there. No easy feat in these conditions, however these are some of the fittest people I have ever met! Following this I was then able to explore the grounds and see for the first time the Weimang (Golden-mantled Tree Kangaroo) and Yongi (Grizzled Tree Kangaroo), as well as other native creatures such as the Spotted Cuscus and Guria (Victorian Crowned Pigeon). These animals are housed at the base for educational purposes and help to provide a constant reminder of their wild conspecifics that TCA is working to save.

Meeting the team
The meeting held by Jim Thomas (Director - TCA) was a huge success, over 60 people attended to discuss matters such as climate change, the rural water supply project, distance sampling and the protein assessment surveys.

The following morning I set off with the two rabbit trainers, Vincent and Sebby, for a week long patrol to six of the Tenkile villages in the Torricelli Mountain Ranges. This is hard yakka... you know when you're at work and you feel like you are trudging through the day, well imagine this: 30+ degrees, 90% humidity, hiking up hills in the blistering sun... then a cool change comes along with rain, but this is rain like I've never seen before - it's like a blanket of water that then pools at your feet and makes it increasingly difficult to trudge through. Cripes. I'm not even going to talk about the leeches... it's all good though, I am feeling super fit and some of the sights and sounds are indescribable. There is something just magical about cracking open a fresh coconut to quench your thirst as you hear the beating wings of a hornbill overhead!

Arriving at these villages I felt so welcomed. Everyone looks out for you, they all know your name and want to meet you and you really feel that the people are genuinely appreciative that you made the effort to visit, especially as everyone keeps apologising for the conditions of the tracks, etc.

So far we have seen a few rabbit farmers and given them some husbandry advice, as well as completed many surveys on protein choices within the villages. Communication can sometimes be a little difficult; however so far I am coping with a mixture of broken English and broken Tok Pisin. I have some work to do learning the language, but day by day it's becoming increasingly uncomplicated.

One of the best things to come out of this so far is that there are several villages who have reported seeing more Victorian Crowned Pigeons (locally known as Guria) in the conservation and hunting areas than ever before. These reports are coming from new areas too, which is great news. People are also reporting more sightings of Muruk (cassowary) and mumuts (bandicoots).

You can see that people here really respect TCA and all that they have done for them. One of the things that you notice straight away are the water tanks that TCA have provided in all of the Tenkile villages. There is always clean fresh water, which not only helps a traveler, such as myself, but has also resulted in a reduction in illness reported in the villages and consequently the saving of money on medicines.

Jim has also been running some Carbon Trading awareness meetings that have been really effective in educating the locals. News doesn't get out to the villages much, which can be problematic; also if anyone does get a newspaper, they use it to roll their local tobacco. Which, mind you, I have tried and gained some serious culture points and respect from the men in the villages.

All in all I'm having a great time. On Monday morning we are heading to Sibilanga on a 6 seater plane with about 20 rabbits to distribute to some of the Weimang villages. It's about 75 km walking distance away and I'll be walking back through the villages with Vincent (one of the rabbit trainers). Wish me luck!

Until next time, lukim yu!
Michelle

For more information on TCA see the website: www.tenkile.com