Fifty-two clans from Papua New Guinea's Manus Island have renewed a pact to protect the island's last remaining tract of indigenous rainforest.
The clans together own 43,000 hectares in the island's centre, and they've opted to conserve it rather than bow to the pressures of logging and mining.
They were mustered by the NGO, Wildlife Conservation Society, whose PNG director, Ambroise Brenier, says Manus Island is a biodiversity hotspot with species found nowhere else on the planet.
Dr Brenier told Jamie Tahana conserving it is important, especially when most of the island has been scarred by development.
Hear more in-depth story from the audio on Radio New Zealand interview with WCS Country Director Dr Ambroise Brenier.
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