Land is Life - Land Justice for Papua New Guinea

Wansolwara Success

Bismark Ramu Group has hosted a Pacific-wide gathering to affirm and celebrate unique Pacific identities.Top of the agenda was to protest against the dominant narrative, that development means selling of/ or exploiting our lands and our seas for the riches within.

Prominent academics from five universities around the Pacific participated in the "Wansolwara" conference at Divine Word University, Madang in Papua New Guinea (PNG), to discuss the importance of restoring Pacific identity. They told the gathering that the current model of development is about adopting universal ideals, it is about endless growth in which people and cultures are nothing less than commodities; and it is about not having moral limits to what we can do.

The gathering coincided with a celebration dance. The dance signified a protest against western influence of exploiting land and sea resources in the Pacific. The Bismark Group Coordinator and local host, John Chitoa, he said the celebrations of this unique Pacific gathering will be centred on reclaiming our Wansolwara: one people, one sea.

In other news...

Following the decision by the PNG Cabinet to cancel all Special Agricultural Business Leases (YAY!), it has sadly been necessary to keep up the pressure to actually get enforcement of Cabinet's decision on the ground. In many SABLs the loggers think it is business as usual. Bismark Ramu Group and ActNow PNG have jointly sponsored a further radio campaign to get the government to act. You can hear the ad here.

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