One last chance: Tapping indigenous knowledge to produce sustainable conservation policies

Sustainable development projects that were supposed to insure the future of the earth's biological inheritance are currently being criticized for compromising biodiversity. Drawing on sixteen months of fieldwork with one of Papua New Guinea's most remote societies, this paper argues that more productive conservation policies will emerge when indigenous activities are viewed as disturbance and not as vehicles for establishing equilibrium with the environment. This research demonstrates that although the Hewa play a significant role in shaping this environment, their traditions are not always compatible with biodiversity conservation. Finally, policy recommendations based on indigenous knowledge research are offered.