Abstract• The Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has played a prominent part in recent negotiations for "rainforest nations" to be compensated for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation or forest degradation (DFD).• A new report "The State of the Forests of Papua New Guinea" claims that rates of DFD in PNG are much higher than have previously reported. It suggests more than half of PNG's remaining forests will have disappeared or be damaged beyond recovery by 2021.• We argue that this claim is incorrect. The report overestimates the area of intact primary forest in 1972 and the impact of traditional land use practices on forest cover. Much of what the RSLUP report considers as deforestation is part of a cycle of traditional clearance for farming, fallow and regrowth that has been occurring for hundreds of years.• The assumption that areas impacted by harvesting or shifting cultivation will inevitably degrade and become non-forest is also not supported by observation of cutover forest in PNG. A considerable proportion of cutover forest areas will recover carbon stocks after harvesting.• It is argued that traditional land use practices and forest recovery processes need to be considered in assessing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation in countries with complex land use histories such as PNG. Mots-clés :forêt tropicale humide / télédétection / carbone / dynamique forestière Résumé -Déboisement et dégradation des forêts en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée.• Le Gouvernement de Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée (PNG) a joué un rôle important dans les récentes négociations pour que « les pays à forêt tropicale humide » soient indemnisés pour la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre provenant de la déforestation ou la dégradation des forêts (DFD).• Un nouveau rapport « L'État des forêts de Papouasie-Nouvelle Guinée » affirme que les taux de DFD en PNG sont nettement plus élevés que précédemment signalés. Il suggère que plus de la moitié des forêts de PNG auront disparu ou seront endommagées au-delà de la récupération d'ici 2021.• Nous sommes d'avis que cette affirmation est erronée. Le rapport surestime la surface de la forêt primaire intacte, en 1972, et l'impact des pratiques traditionnelles d'utilisation des terres sur le couvert forestier. Une partie importante de ce que le rapport RSLUP considère comme de la déforestation fait partie d'un cycle traditionnel de dégagement pour l'agriculture, la jachère et la repousse ce qui s'est produit pendant des centaines d'années.• L'hypothèse que les zones touchées par l'exploitation forestière ou la culture itinérante vont inévi-tablement se dégrader et ne pas devenir de la forêt n'est pas non plus soutenue par l'observation des déboisement en PNG. Une proportion considérable des zones forestières déboisées récupérera des stocks de carbone après la récolte.• Il est fait valoir que l'utilisation traditionnelle des terres et les processus de régénération forestières doivent être pris en considération dans l'évaluation des émissions de gaz à ef...

In the late 1960s, Harold Brookfield and Doreen Hart were 'startled' by the order of magnitude differences in incomes from village cash cropping in different parts of Papua New Guinea (PNG). This paper traces these differences, back into a pre-colonial past and forward to the present and concludes, as Brookfield did in the 1960s, that severe environmental constraints, rather than market forces, are the primary cause of the pattern of spatial inequalities observable in PNG. Brookfield noted the existence of an 'acute dilemma' in 1960s development funding: should funds be invested where the returns will be highest, or where the need is greatest. This dilemma is as acute today as it was then. However, in the meantime, people from poor places are moving to better-off places, seeking access to markets for their produce and health and education services for their families.

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Anthropometric data from the 1982/83 Papua New Guinea (PNG) National Nutrition Survey were analysed to identify geographical patterns of child growth and investigate their relation to a wide range of environmental, dietary and socio-economic variables. Standardized growth scores for length-for-age (LAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ) and weight-for-length (WLZ) were calculated based on an internal PNG growth reference. Hierarchical Bayesian spatial models based on conditional autoregressive (CAR) priors were subsequently used to model spatial patterns in scores and their relation to different sets of covariates. The geographical differences were bigger for linear growth than for increases in weight. Growth was most reduced in parts of Milne Bay Province, Madang Province, the Torricelli/Prinz Alexander Ranges, and in the area occupied by Angan people. Socio-economic status was the most important factor determining variation in growth within populations. Differences in diet and, to a lesser extent, the physical environment were the main determining factor of differences among populations. Covariate adjustment accounted for more spatially structured variation in LAZ and WAZ than in WLZ. All variables indicating higher socio-economic status were correlated with better growth, as was a high consumption of imported and local high quality foods such as cereals, legumes, tinned fish/meat or fresh fish. This indicates that nutritional interventions in PNG should aim at promoting the consumption of such high energy and high protein foods as well as strengthening the general economic base of rural populations.