Non-Government Organization: **Greenpeace**

Summary of a greenpeace News Event

Written by Sarah Hogg

New Industrial Logging has just been released for the Ngo Greenpeace to read about. Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organization. This is the key feature that may save the rainforest because they do not use violence to deal with issues, but more confrontation with creative undertones. The deforestation plans are threatening a very rich and unique area of the Papua New Guinea tropical rainforest. This area, sometimes termed by scientists as the "Lost World of Western New Guinea” is an area that is incredibly vast in terms of the variety in spices; all discoveries which could greatly benefit our sick and over-populated world. The most recent trip scientists have taken to the “lst world” was in December of 2005. A team of U.S., Indonesian, and Australian scientists took an expedition to the island. Conservation International, a group familiar with Greenpeace, led the journey. These scientists found dozens of new species of flowers, fungi, frogs, and insects. The most exciting discovery was of an orange-faced honeyeater, the first new bird found on the island of New Guinea in more than 60 years. These small but very important findings are diminishing in frequency every single day.

Specifically mentioned in this article is the "garden of Eden." this section of earth has over hundreds of millions of species that have yet to be studied thuroughthtly by scientists or even discovered. The logging maps show that over 48 percent—almost half-- of Papua New Guinea’s forests have already been sold to countries for logging rights so that they can sell and export wood. The only way to solve this problem would be to actually get the Indonesian Government to stop selling off areas of forests. It is also unfortunate to read that 72 percent of forests in Indonesia have already been cleared. In Papua New Guinea, the area, which includes the “garden of Eden”, is very depressingly 60 percent. Forests, like animals and sea life have to have adequate protection, and it may just be that people see forests as nothing more than areas filled with trees.
So what has Greenpeace proposed to do about this dilemma? Well they have very recently launched a project in Papua, which allows for a variety of eco-enterprises to lend a supporting hand I protecting the forests. There is also a Global Forest Rescue station set up deep in the forests of Papua New Guinea. Volunteers there try to stop the forest workers and their attempts to destroy the forest.

One can only hope that the forests are around in the next twenty years, or ten...I would like to visit them...

--SaraH**