Papua New Guinea conservation needs assessment

Yet PNG"s rich biodiversity is under immediate threat from unmanaged development and nonsustainable resource extraction. Volume 1 of this conservation needs assessment contains reports prepared by individual specialists on conservation issues and opportunities; topics discussed include environmental laws, Melanesian land and resource tenure traditions, the role of nongovernmental organizations, institutional issues, options for establishing a biodiversity data center, a proposed forest conservation project, and environmental policy. This volume also presents information from a 4/92 conservation needs assessment workshop, including consensus maps of biologically important areas, points of agreement among participants, issues that remain to be resolved, and recommendations. Volume 2 contains a biodiversity analysis, including detailed taxonomic reviews of Papua New Guinea"s flora, warm-blooded vertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and nonmarine invertebrate fauna; and ecological analyses of freshwater wetlands, coastal marine environments, and humid forests. Extensive bibliographies and species lists are included.