Birdwatching

Analyses of satellite images have revealed for the first time the extent of deforestation occuring on the Island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, indicating that many more bird species are threatened with extinction than previously feared.

An eighth of lowland forest on the Island a stronghold for a number of birds found nowhere else on Earth disappeared between 1989 and 2000, largely drived by a rapid and uncontrolled expansion in global demand for palm oil.

The findings, published in the journal Biological Conservation mean that the total number of threatened or n'near threatened birds on the Island will almost double to 21.

Examining the satellite images of New britain, immediately by the clear and extensive loss of forest in many parts of the Insland, was particular severe in the flat coastal lowlands.

The authors of the paper then overlaid the maps of forest loss with known habitat preferenczs New Britain's birds. These analyses suggested that extensive habitat loss will have forced significant declines for 21 of the Island's birds species, bringing some to the edge of extinction.

The findings show that New Britain's endemic birds are being droven to extinction by our thirst for palm oil.....