The first time the loggers came to Saipa’s rainforest village was in the 1990s. Located in Milne Bay province, Papua New Guinea, the territory is home to around 280 people but spans an area around twice the size of central London, with more than 15m trees. Papua New Guinea is a biodiversity hotspot, a place where harpy eagles cruise for tree kangaroos and possums, and vulturine ‘Dracula’ parrots gorge on figs high in the forest canopy.
Several families agreed to sell logging rights to their land back then but were paid paltry sums – only 50 kina (£9) each, far less than was originally agreed. The community said: ‘Never again’, but knew that they remained vulnerable.
“We feel proud of our relationship with the forest, but the life we live in the village is very difficult,” says Saipa. He and his wife and four children cultivate or forage much of what they need for daily life – abundant fruits and vegetables, a plant called sago that’s used as a roofing material, medicinal herbs for minor illnesses – but many necessities are out of reach. The only way to earn money for basic provisions such as rice, cooking oil or soap, is to travel six hours to the nearest town with peanuts or leafy greens to sell. Any other produce is too heavy to sustain the three-hour hike through the bush to reach the bus stop.
