In 1999, a group of tribal Christians in Papua New Guinea (PNG) asked Restoring Eden founder, Peter Illyn, if he would come to PNG and host workshops on environmental stewardship as an important part of a Christian lifestyle to help them integrate a Christian land ethic with their traditional tribal values.

PNG is an island about the size of California, north of Queensland, Australia. It is one of the most biologically diverse regions left in the world, home to an estimated five percent of the biodiversity of the planet. Geographers claim that it is the third largest intact tropical rainforest.

The land has sustained the tribal people for thousands of years. The land provides taro, sago and wild pig. Fully 85% of the people still live a traditional lifestyle in remote villages, hunting, fishing and practicing ancestral subsistence farming. They live in tribal clans in thatched-roofed huts, many days from the nearest road. 

The North Coast regions of PNG were colonized by the Dutch and Germans, evidenced by the large presence of Lutheran and Catholic churches. The English and the Australians colonized Southern PNG, now largely converted to Anglican communities. The latest Census reported 96% of PNG's citizens have converted to Christianity. 

In 1975, when PNG became a nation, instead of being exterminated or driven off to reservations, the land was given back to the traditional tribal land owners, about 97% of the population. The Constitution declared that the country’s "natural resources and environment ... be conserved and used for the collective benefit of us all, and ... be replenished for the benefit of future generations." However, because the land is owned overwhelmingly by traditional owners, the state is not in a strong position to enforce the consitutional ideals.

Problems are arising...

As a new nation, burdened with heavy debt, there is great pressure from the government on the tribal landowners to allow clear-cutting or open-pit mining on their land. This eco-devastation has created great social distress as water sources dry up, soil erodes and species disappear. Instead of creating monetary wealth, the landowners find themselves poorer than they were before development. 

The land and the traditional way of life is facing a growing threat, both externally and internally.  Global fishing, logging and mining operations offer short-term cash in exchange for long-term ecological devastation. On the island of Bougainville, large-scale mining destroyed the Fly River, crippled the people dependent on the river, and led to a grassroots revolution. Internal exploitation has increased, as growing populations, combined with devastating new methods of hunting and fishing, has placed additional stress on these fragile ecosystems.

Restoring Eden's involvement

Restoring Eden, at the invitation of tribal church leaders, has traveled to PNG four times to host a series of one-day workshops in seminaries and Bible colleges throughout the country. Organized by Yat Poal of the Indigenous Christian Environmental Network (ICEN), these workshops have reached thousands of church leaders and clan chiefs. Together they will work with village communities to make wise and sustainable land development choices. 

Many tribal Christians throughout the world face a similar struggle to preserve the integrity of their land and their culture from the onslaught of environmental degradation. As Yat Poal declared to a group of westerners, "We have come from the stone age to the computer age in 60 years. You came and taught us about money, but you did not warn us about greed."