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Tropical forestry and logging are complex subjects, encompassing a range of diffi cult issues, including land ownership, the sustainability of natural resources, the impact on climate change, the social and economic impact of logging on isolated and relatively untouched, subsistence sector communities, and the protection of the basic rights of the people concerned.

Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) forests and forestry have played an important role in the livelihoods of the people of the country for many years. Forests have provided a source for food, fruits and nuts, building materials, medicinal plants, habitats for refuge and a wealth of other services.

Agriculture is the most important activity carried out by the vast majority of Papua New Guineans. For most people, agriculture fills their lives, physically, culturally, economically, socially and nutritionally. Yet agriculture is the most undervalued and misunderstood part of PNG life (see Twenty myths about PNG agriculture, page 1). The reasons

Papua New Guinea (PNG) has one of the most significant areas of tropical forest in the world. These forests are, however, under threat from commercial logging, clearing of land for agricultural commodities, mining or the expansion of small-scale agriculture to meet the livelihood needs of the country's largely rural population.

The Papua New Guinea Resource Information System (PNGRIS) is a micro-computer-based georeferenced database containing information on natural resources, population distribution, rural land use, small-holder economic activity and land use potential (Bellamy 1986). It is compiled at 1:500 000 scale for approximately 5000 Resource Mapping Units (RMUs) covering the entire land area of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

PNG has a diverse and rich resource base for plants, animal and aquaculture genetic resources used for food and agriculture. These resources suppor the livelihood of the majority of rural population in the country. The safeguarding, maintainence and sustainable uses of this genetic diversity is essential for the current as well as livelihood security

Over the last 20 years, there has been an increasing interest and enthusiasm for biodiversity prospecting and the development of natural products throughout the world. The exploration of biodiversity for commercially valuable genetic resources has the potential to encourage conservation and to provide economic benefits to developing countries and their local communities. However, despite the interest and rapidly increasing number of biodiversity prospectors, there are no clear national policies or legislation in place to govern and regulate biodiversity prospecting in Papua New Guinea.

Food is made up of three major components – proteins, carbohydrates and fats – and each is necessary for growth and healthy living. Although all three provide energy, carbohydrates, which consist of starches and sugars, provide the highest proportion of the food energy (or fuel) that human bodies need to function. Protein, used for building and repairing the body, comes from animal products such as meat, fish, and milk, but also from grains and vegetable foods. Small quantities of fats and oils are also important in a balanced diet.

The history of agriculture in PNG is about 10 000 years old. This history is reviewed here in the context of 50 000 years of human occupation of the Australia – New Guinea region. 1 More is known about what has happened nearer to the present, especially since 1870, than about the distant past. Much of the early history (prehistory) of PNG was unknown until about 50 years ago, but since 1959 there has been a lot of research on the prehistory of PNG, with a major focus on agriculture.

Oil palm prices may hold up in the medium term, with strong demand from India and China. Yet, like other non-oil commodities, oil palm prices are likely to remain volatile, and to experience a long term relative price decline. (Chapter 3). World prices are not the main problem for small farmers in PNG. Three factors are likely to place a ceiling on the economic benefits for small farmers: (i) small farmers remain at the highly competitive end of a large grower market, with little market power, keeping them as ‘price takers’; (ii) a large monopsony (all

Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, is a tectonically unstable, uplifting shoreline ringed by emergent coral terraces.

We have dated corals sampled from the uplifted terraces of Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, that grew during the Marine Isotope Stage 3, to reconstruct sea-levels of the last glacial period from 30 to 55 ka (kiloannum). Mass spectrometric U-series dating methods resulted in high precision dates and could also be used to recognize diagenetically altered samples. The only quantitative test of open-systembehaviour of both uraniumand thorium isotopes involves the comparison of 234U/238U ratios, at the time of coral growth, with present sea-water values.