Villagers celebrate the arrival of a portable saw mill to be used in an eco-forestry project in the Lake Murray area.
Greenpeace document the traditions and lifestyle of indigenous people in a remote forest community. It is communities such as this one which suffer the social consequences of deforestation in the region. Logging perpetrates social problems such as poverty as local people are robbed of the valuable sources that they depend on for food, clean water and medicine. Already logging companies have acquired 70 per cent of the available forest resource in Papua New Guinea.
At the request of locals, Greenpeace sets up the Global Forest Rescue Station (GFRS) to help the indigenous people with ‘boundary marking’ to protect their homeland. This will give these people more control over their land and is part of a programme of community solutions work which also involves other initiatives such as initiating self-reliance and small-scale eco-enterprises so that locals can establish their own businesses in the area.