Woodlark Island (Muyua) is a large island of the coast of Papua New Guinea. It’s been isolated for a long time, so it has a lot of unique species. It’s also going to be the first virgin area mine in PNG for 10 years, according Kula Gold. But that’s not all – it looks like there is a timber concession recently awarded covering half the island. They haven’t started yet, but they may have more success then the palm oil company that had to abandon a plan to begin production there a few years ago. So who is going to win the battle for the future of the island? Maybe it’s more of a return to the past, with gold previously being mined there a hundred years ago. It’s actually crown land so the locals don’t have much say. And what do they want for their island? Information’s scarce – would be great to ask them.
Check out the great photo gallery by a PhD student from UNSW, Dr. Michael Frey, which the image above comes from.
tropicalism 