Beautiful Baluan Beckons
by Nancy Sullivan

There is an alternative to logging and mining. It's called Wildlife Management, and landowners in varied parts of PNG are coming together to save their bush by gazetting Wildlife Management Areas as logging and mining-free zones. Undoubtedly the most spectacular and successful of these is the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, which covers verdant forest spanning three provinces, Gulf, Chimbu and Eastern Highlands, and everything from riverine lowlands to frosty high montane rainforest. This vast expanse of bush is so lush and dense and teeming with wildlife that it's value in natural wonders far surpasses any appraisal of its trees or mineral wealth alone. And perhaps more rare and wondrous yet--the landowners within this area, villagers in five villages within its boundaries, are all in agreement to conserve it. It is their heritage, their present and future sustenance and the basis for their cultural and psychological well-being. People from two language groups and divergent interests have come together to secure their joint future and their continued ability to use the forest as they have always done, with minimal outside interference, and with every hope to also bring sustainable development and services and kina into the area. They've joined Research and Conservation Foundation, based in Goroka, in managing something called an Integrated Conservation and Development Project, which aims to explore environmentally sound development projects in the area. So far these include the Wara Sera biological research station, a number of artefact businesses, small holder coffee farming and--now at its infancy--ecotourism.

I wanted to see what kind of ecotourism possibilities exist in CMWMA recently. My brief trip convinced me that Crater Mountain is the best--perhaps the last--place in PNG where you can walkabout in raw undergrowth; crest mountains to magnificent views of waterfalls spilling off a nearby cliff; follow tracks of wild pigs and cassowaries, and spy kapuls under the roots of old figs trees; watch four male raggiana birds of paradise display on a nearby branch as tens of females circle provocatively around them; see hornbills, sulphur-crested cockatoos, Lawes Parotia, Carola's Parotia, King bird of paradise, and bower birds; stand at a cave opening as hundreds--perhaps thousands--of Bulmer's fruit bats thunder out in the fading light of dusk; and wash in crystal clear mountain streams knowing you are far from ever being disturbed by strangers. These are precisely the things adventure travellers have looked for in PNG, and too often found elsewhere. Crater Mountain is certain to be the premiere ecotourism destination in our region before long. Now is the time for Papua New Guineans and resident expats to see it at it's freshest and best.

There are good Guest Houses in three places in the CMWMA--Haia, Herowana and Maimafu. I flew to Haia, in Chimbu Province, which is a lowland village, just above the Gulf Province border. It's got a lovely Guest House complete with mosquito netting, mattresses and towels for its visitors, and a brilliant riverbend for washing. From here, I took a guide and carriers walkabaut northeast two days, to visit the Wara Sera Research Station. This was a fantastic, very tough walk, through and across high rivers, along narrow mossy log bridges, and up steep slippery mountainsides. But my Haia companions were terrific with me, always holding my hand and helping me through each difficult pass. I felt alot better about slowing them down when we took on someone's wife and child--although I soon realised this woman with an infant in her bilum was still more agile than I could ever be. The first night the five of us slept in a beautiful Pawaian treehouse, perched over a steep hill above the Momo River, complete with the owner's family, their three dogs, puppies, a pig, two kids and a I think a neighbour who'd just stopped by, to hang out. We roasted sago and greens in bamboo, and talked endlessly about this notion of ëecotourism.'

Our second night was spent in a more basic bush house, as we were caught in a heavy downpour by noon. For eight or nine hours, we sat around the fire inside, the light dimming and rain pelting outside, telling stories. I'd brought a book with photos of some Lani men in Irian Jaya, wearing all sizes of penis gourds, contraptions that drove my companions mad with curiosity and embarrassment. How do they piss? How do they hold them on? As nating olgeta!! As malumalu tu!--Aaiiyo! Even when we all bunked down, the teenager amongst us could be heard giggling himself to sleep.

My Pawaian carriers turned back at Wara Sera, where I met three young Gimi men from Herowana who had walked down to meet me and bring me back to their village. These kids sang Wali Hits and talked rugby all the way. We struggled to remember the verses to that song 'Nancy' in Madang language, and laughed our way through bad harmony to Monica. Yu pasin siotpela skit na wokim sikin I skirap! In Haia I had met three men from the Bismark-Ramu conservation project, who'd come to see how the Crater Mountain people were doing it, and we all joked as I slid down the track that I was trying to hurry up and get to Madang, to see their wildlife project instead. Meri laik go pas long Madang!

It took two days to reach Herowana, a beautiful mountaintop village surrounded by blue cloud-capped ridges. Here the village kids showed me their tightrope act which they call Rop Kanda. They've been a big hit at the Goroka and Lufa Shows, astounding people with this supposedly traditional feat which, they say, once transported the Herowana across wide mountain valleys. Sounds alittle suss, I thought, and in fact, it turns out that the very difficult act was introduced by one of the Wara Sera researchers who had worked, of all things, in the Mexican circus. Now, that's what I call a cultural exchange in the extreme.

Don't miss CMWMA, it's an experience you'll never forget. Contact RCFs office in Goroka at 7323211 for more information. Air Niugini flies to Goroka, where you can get an MAF or SDA Aviation single engine flight into Haia, Herowana, and Maimafu on a regular basis. Day trips and overnight walks from each village are brilliant, and include waterfall walks, birding, and many cave sites. The Guest House in Herowana even has a flush toilet and shower. Herowana probably has the easiest walks around it; Haia and Maimafu walks would be rated difficult--but rewarding. (Scientists ask that you don't walk to the research station unless you're invited).