Monday, September 27, 2010

2010 Traditional Independence Celebrations of Papua New Guinea.


Papua New Guinea celebrates its independence every year on the 16th of September with traditional singing and dancing. This year the country saw its 35th year of independence. On this day we highlight our beautiful bilas, colors and the uniqueness of our people, both young and old, bringing out the extraordinary diversity of Papua New Guinea.
As is the norm, celebrations are held throughout the country with a celebration of beautifully painted faces, stunning headdresses, colorful traditional costumes and an array of tumbuna song and dance; each representing and telling a legendary story as each step, twist and jump has its own significance and value.

Watch our spectacular footage!! 

Sunday, September 26, 2010

New Karkum Conservation Area in Papua New Guinea Works for People and Sea Turtles




The creation of the first Marine Conservation Deed along the North Coast of Madang Province in Papua New Guinea was the result of nearly two years of community building and outreach.
Western Pacific Sea Turtle Campaigner Wences Magun tells the story in this article that was printed in the Port Moresby newspaper.  Read the Press Release.

 In this photograph, Karkum villagers sign the Conservation Deed, which is valid for 5 years. See the Conservation Deed.

International Coastal Clean-UP


On Sat the 25th, SEASMART organized a beach clean up on Ela Beach, Port Moresby's main beach area.  This was is honor of the Ocean Conservancy's International Coastal Clean Up Day. 



We focused on just a section of the beach, which was about 270  meters in length.



About 25 SEASMART staff and a dozen local volunteers combed the section of beach for about 3 hours.



By the time we had finished, we collected 105 bags of trash, enough to fill an entire flat bed truck!


The total weight of the trash was 1,073 Kg.  Over 1 metric ton!

Plastic bottles alone weighed in at about 85 kg.

Among the trash we found were:
Plastic Bags
Styrofoam
Shoes
Diapers
Condoms
Glass bottles
Tin Cans
A myriad of plastic and foil food packaging


Sadly, much of this trash washed in from the sea in just one day's time.  SEASMART is planning to pitch a proposal to the NCD government to get the funding required to keep Ela Beach clean.