� TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY TIM LAMAN
A veteran photojournalist treks to a new protected area, a haven for birds of paradise and tree kangaroos found nowhere else on Earth
It was just after sunrise when our single- engine Cessna began to fly over themountainouswilderness
JOURNEY TOA PA �
�
of theHuon Peninsula, a rugged thumb jutting off the north coast of New Guinea. After an hour, the pilot made a tight turn and dropped past a thousand-foot-high waterfall into a narrow valley, landing on a strip of grass hacked out of rain- forest-covered mountainside.We had arrived at the village of Yawan. As soon as my gear was unloaded, the pilot was off again, leavingme a four-daywalk from the nearest road.
Luckily, the approaching villagers appeared to be friendly. Why had I chosen such a remote destination?Themountains of theHuon Penin-
sula are unique. Cut off by the deep Ramu Valley from central ranges that run the length ofNewGuinea, they have been isolated so long that several endemic birds and mammals have evolved—species found nowhere else on Earth. As a biologist and wildlife photographer with a special interest in tropical birds, I was keen to try and spot three bird of paradise species found only in the region. Iwas also hoping to pho- tograph a very unusual endemicmammal, theHuon tree kangaroo. What made my visit feasible—and why the villagers seemed so eager to help—
was ongoing work by a group called the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program. Headed by biologist Lisa Dabek of Seattle’sWoodland Park Zoo, and supported by Conservation International, NationalGeographic Society and other organizations, the programhas been working withHuon residents for more than ten years on the benefits of setting aside some of their land for conservation. The program is also working to improve education and health care in these isolated communities. Communicating with survival-level Melanesian Pidgin—and aided by a
young villager’s broken English—I soon assembled a crew of porters to help carry my equipment and twoweeks of food higher into themountains. The hike started with a steep scramble down into a gorge and across the raging Uruwa River on a rickety bamboo bridge. Next came a 4,000-foot climb up the other side of the valley. By the time we reached the ridgetops, we had entered a mag-
HIGH IN A RAIN FOREST TREE, male emperor birds of paradise gather together to display for females, which visit the site to select mates. A male’s spectacular performance includes making flutelike calls and hanging upside down from a branch.
| 36 | NATIONAL WILDLIFE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36