The Mt Michael survey, July 2009
A cloud forest diary
Join us in the cloud forests of Mt Michael. This is the highest mountain in the Eastern Highlands, rising to over 3,600 m asl. The Hogave clans own twenty square km on the SW slope and twenty years ago, this Christian community decided that their land would be a conservation area. Since then, they’ve not hunted the animals or felled any trees. In July 2009, a scientific team from the PNG Institute of Biological Research, supported by A Rocha and Conservation International, visited the area to make a two-week survey of the fauna and flora. Writers Barbara and Richard Mearns were invited to join the team and this is their diary:
