Wanang Conservation Area

WELCOME TO WANANG VILLAGE
AND WANANG RAINFOREST!

Village Community

Wanang is a small village (population ~200) near the Ramu River in Papua New Guinea, surrounded by vast lowland rainforests.

The village life combines traditional practice of shifting agriculture and the use of the rainforest for building materials, medicinal plants and hunting with the elements of modern life, including mobile phones and education in the Wanang Conservation School.

Fun fact: Wanang language, Magi, was linguistically analysed for the first time and recognized as a language in its own right only in June 2016 (more info here).

Cassowary

Rainforest

Fifteen years ago, when the entire area of Lower Ramu was designated as a logging concession, nine village clans formed Wanang Conservation Area and declared their forests off-limits for logging.

Wanang Conservation is a 10,000 ha village-based protected area of pristine lowland rainforest with more than 550 species of trees and shrubs, and 143 species of birds, 200 species of buttetflies and thousand of other plant and animal species.

Fun fact: Wananag was awarded UNDP 2015 Equator Prize for „innovative conservation“ (more info here).

Wanang conservation leader Filip Damen receiving the UNDP Equator prize in Paris in 2015

Visitors

Wanang community welcomes all visitors including tourists and researchers. We have facilities for you to stay and trained staff to look after you when you are enjoying village life or your rainforest adventure.

Wanang community: a portrait

Photo gallery: Wanang

Information leaflet on Wanang Conservation:
Wanang Conservation Booklet

The forest conservation has also brought the Wanang Conservation School, the first elementary school
in the entire area - video introduction.