Indigenous Peoples and Conservation Organizations

102 The Foi in Papua New Guinea
The Kikori ICDP commenced in 1994 and an
environment coordinator was recruited in 1995.
Lake Kutubu and its WMA became a focus of
work because of the uniqueness of its fish, its
high biodiversity values, and the intensive
nearby development. Environmental awareness
activities were conducted in all the villages
around the lake in 1995. Discussions with
communities and formal workshops in the villages
of Gesege and Yo’obo revealed the deepening
alarm among the Foi at what was perceived
to be a decline in fish size and numbers. This
concern was expressed most keenly by several
key clan leaders from Gesege, Tugiri, Yo’obo,
and Wasemi villages. The Lake Kutubu WMAC
echoed the concern, although some members
may have been more interested in pursuing compensation
from Chevron than finding methods to
conserve fish populations.
Explanations for the decline of fish stocks were
varied. Some people pointed a finger at the
petroleum development—although there was no
evidence to substantiate an impact apart from
localized sedimentation from road runoff. Others
discussed changes in fishing technology, and
increased population around the lake. If there
was no consensus about cause, the community
meetings made clear that the level of alarm was
acute and general. Fish were a prized food and
the major source of protein, and they were getting
harder to catch and smaller in size. Many
people, especially older male clan leaders and
women with babies, were concerned that their
children and grandchildren would not be able to
enjoy freshly caught fish from Lake Kutubu as
they themselves had.
When WWF held community meetings and
workshops to discuss this issue more fully, it
became clear that knowledge was scattered.
Individuals had a general idea of where fishing
was best and how much fish they typically
caught, but no one could quantify the catches,
frequency of fishing, or the fishing ranges of the
entire community. Although the men recognized
that women spent much time fishing, many
insisted that they contributed more fish to the
average household than their women did. The
women, on the other hand, believed that they
contributed far more fish to the household. The
differences in perception that surfaced at the
workshop at Gesege village finally made it obvious
that fishing had to be observed more closely
to see who was participating and where, what
methods were being used, and with what results.
The communities and WWF agreed to start a
program for monitoring subsistence catches and
profiling the characteristics of the fishery, so that
strategies for sustainable harvesting could be
developed. WWF was careful to dispel unrealistic
expectations. It would be vital to establish a
baseline against which any future decline in fish
catch and fish size could be detected.
4.3 Designing a Subsistence Fish Catch
Monitoring Program
The concept of a fish catch monitoring program
was discussed in detail with members of the
WMAC, and WWF held meetings in all the lake
villages to build consensus and participation.
Each community believed that it was important
for villagers to do the monitoring if the findings
were to be credible.
The pattern of settlement around the lake made it
impossible to monitor all canoe landing sites
simultaneously. To maximize the efficiency of the
effort, monitoring focused on the larger villages,
which also tended to have fewer canoe landing
sites. Villages were selected from all the major
zones of the lake. Only two of the major villages
on the lake were not sampled. Soro was omitted
because of community disinterest—perhaps
because many of the villagers were Fasu who had
chosen to work locally for wages rather than
spend their time fishing. Inu was omitted because
it was likely to duplicate the results from another
village that shares the same fishing habitats. Since
both villages had a large number of landing sites,
it seemed wiser to concentrate limited resources to
make sure that all catches from one were recorded
rather than partial results from both. Wasemi was
selected because of the interest and enthusiasm of
a number of key clan leaders.
WWF trained and worked with monitoring teams
of two to eight members from the five selected
villages. Monitoring was conducted for a total of
85 days. Monitoring began with a pilot study in
September 1995 in Gesege, Yo’obo, and Tugiri to
test and refine the methodology. Quarterly monitoring,
with at least three days per quarter, then
followed between January 1996 and February
1997 in all the villages. Larger villages such as
Wasemi had more monitoring days.