The Sounds of A Rainforest in Papua New Guinea

It’s a cold and rainy morning in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. The clouds have completely taken over this valley nestled between mountains and visibility is very low. The numerous bird species calling this cloud forest home can only rely on sound to communicate with each other.

As in most of Papua New Guinea, this land is owned by the local tribes and clans. They practice subsistence agriculture the way they’ve done it for many thousands of years. The soil here is volcanic and incredibly fertile, so anything they plant tends to grow well without the need for fertilisers or insecticides.
There is no such thing as monoculture here. Small plots are set aside for planting sweet potato, peanuts, coffee, banana, taro, pineapple etc. Coffee grows in the shade of banana trees, peanuts grow among pineapples, insects and birds live happily in the thick vegetation and little woodlands on this tribal land.
On the edge of the farm there is a little forest with a creek traversing it. This is where many Raggiana bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea raggiana) gather for their mating displays. This behaviour is called lekking, or displaying at a lek site. The males choose a few prominent branches on tall trees where they can do their display dance trying to impress the females. They accompany their dance movements with loud bursts of song.

Up until a few decades ago, people in the highlands would hunt birds (and the few mammals that live here) indiscriminately to use as source of food. The practice is still widespread, but conservation awareness is making inroads in this country that has not seen a lot of outside influence until relatively recently.

Things are slowly changing though. Landowners and tribal elders are starting to see the benefits of conservation and actively protecting wildlife. Children are encouraged to learn English and to identify potential Bird of Paradise leks. The small numbers of tourists that are brave enough to visit are rewarded with sightings of these very rare endemic species.

It will take a lot of work to protect Papua New Guinea’s land and wildlife from the dangers that other tropical countries have encountered, but there are good reasons to be optimistic.