Posted by: Caileigh Robertson, Communications
The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program - Papua New Guinea (TKCP-PNG)—Woodland Park Zoo’s partner non-governmental organization—was recently awarded the United Nations Equator Prize 2014. This highly-esteemed award honors TKCP-PNG’s initiatives in advancing local innovative solutions for people, nature and resilient communities.
Last year, Woodland Park Zoo’s flagship conservation program, TKCP, proudly established TKCP-PNG to manage TKCP’s YUS Conservation Area, a 180,000-acre area voluntarily pledged by local landowners to help protect the wildlife native to PNG’s Huon Peninsula. The YUS region (encompassing the Yopno-Uruwa-Som watershed) is home to more than 12,000 people across 52 villages, as well as many endemic and endangered fauna and flora—including the endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroo, the signature species at the heart of TKCP.
In recent years, TKCP-PNG and Woodland Park Zoo established a partnership with Caffé Vita, a Seattle-based coffee roaster, to bring alternative revenue to the YUS landowners and their communities. Through a direct trade agreement, YUS farmers have exported nearly 8 tons of coffee over three years to generate profits that benefit 11 local villages. The funds are reinvested in the community through education, health and development projects. As a result, farmers are providing their families and neighbors with necessary schooling, health education and a reliable income. TKCP Director and Senior Conservation Scientist Dr. Lisa Dabek is returning to PNG this fall with a team of Pacific Northwest doctors to develop health trainings, lead midwife workshops, and promote family health and nutrition in the remote YUS region.
Dr.
Lisa Dabek will represent TKCP-PNG during the UN Secretary-General’s Climate
Summit and the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples in New York in September
2014. Please join us in congratulating TKCP-PNG on their achievements and
positive impacts toward community-based conservation.
The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program - Papua New Guinea (TKCP-PNG)—Woodland Park Zoo’s partner non-governmental organization—was recently awarded the United Nations Equator Prize 2014. This highly-esteemed award honors TKCP-PNG’s initiatives in advancing local innovative solutions for people, nature and resilient communities.
We’re
very proud of TKCP-PNG’s commitment to creating a sustainable landscape to
support the animals, habitat, and indigenous communities of Papua New Guinea’s YUS
Conservation Area.
 |
| Tree kangaroo joey peers out from Mom's pouch. Photo by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo. |
Last year, Woodland Park Zoo’s flagship conservation program, TKCP, proudly established TKCP-PNG to manage TKCP’s YUS Conservation Area, a 180,000-acre area voluntarily pledged by local landowners to help protect the wildlife native to PNG’s Huon Peninsula. The YUS region (encompassing the Yopno-Uruwa-Som watershed) is home to more than 12,000 people across 52 villages, as well as many endemic and endangered fauna and flora—including the endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroo, the signature species at the heart of TKCP.
The
Equator Prize 2014 recognizes the great impact TKCP-PNG has made to the YUS
community through the YUS Conservation Area, the first of its kind in PNG. The
Conservation Area has become a model of locally-owned protected forests that
not only conserve wildlife but also focus on community health, education and
livelihood. Since the YUS Conservation Area’s establishment in 2009, Woodland
Park Zoo’s TKCP and TKCP-PNG have made significant improvements to the YUS
community, empowering local residents to self-sufficiently manage the
community’s environmental and natural resources. TKCP-PNG ensures that
the indigenous landowners and communities drive the efforts of land management
and play a leading role in planning, monitoring and managing the land use of
the YUS region.
 |
| The luscious YUS landscape in Papua New Guinea. Photo by Ryan Hawk/ Woodland Park Zoo. |
In recent years, TKCP-PNG and Woodland Park Zoo established a partnership with Caffé Vita, a Seattle-based coffee roaster, to bring alternative revenue to the YUS landowners and their communities. Through a direct trade agreement, YUS farmers have exported nearly 8 tons of coffee over three years to generate profits that benefit 11 local villages. The funds are reinvested in the community through education, health and development projects. As a result, farmers are providing their families and neighbors with necessary schooling, health education and a reliable income. TKCP Director and Senior Conservation Scientist Dr. Lisa Dabek is returning to PNG this fall with a team of Pacific Northwest doctors to develop health trainings, lead midwife workshops, and promote family health and nutrition in the remote YUS region.
 |
| Matschie’s tree kangaroo in Papua New Guinea. Photo by Bruce Beehler/Conservation International. |
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