Partnering with the Hewa to Conserve Their Bio-Cultural Heritage: The Papuan Forest Stewards Initiative

Abstract

The biodiversity documented during Conservation International’s 2008 RAP survey underscores the importance of conserving the bio-cultural phenomena that is wilderness in New Guinea. However since these lands are the property of traditional landowners, any effort to conserve large tracts of wilderness must meet the needs of these landowners. In an attempt to combine conservation with development, the Hewa community has piloted an initiative called the Papuan Forest Stewards with the Hewa people living around Wanakipa station. The aim of the Papuan Forest Stewards initiative is to build environmental and cultural stewardship in the Hewa by helping them to “market” their traditional assets and knowledge through formal relationships with nonprofit research institutions. The “buyers” of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) are natural history museums, universities, conservation organizations or any governmental body charged with the management and protection of the environment. Communities who participate in the Papuan Forest Stewards initiative agree to become partners with these institutions to manage their traditional knowledge. “Buyers” pay for the opportunity to study the biodiversity found in the Papuan Forest Stewards communities. These buyers do not actually “own” anything. Instead they explore the region’s biological diversity and help the community to develop and manage any specimen collections that may result from their work.