Participatory Mapping on the Huon Peninsula, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea

Since late 2005, Native Lands has been involved in a collaborative mapping project with the U.S.-based Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP), the Department of Surveying and Land Studies at the PNG University of Technology (Unitech), and villagers from the YUS Local Level Government on a community mapping project of the region (YUS stands for Yopno, Urawa, and Som, the three language groups of the area). The land being mapped covers an extension of more than 65,000 hectares and encompasses 37 villages with a total population of over 10,000 people. It runs from sea level to more than 4,000 meters through jagged mountains and deep valleys. The objective of the project is to lay the groundwork for a community-run conservation area in what will be the first protected area to be recognized under PNG's 1998 Conservation Area Act. Three workshops and two field periods spanning more than six months have already been completed. The maps will be printed by the end of 2006.