An assessment of wildlife tourism prospects in Papua New Guinea

This paper examines wildlife tourism in Papua New Guinea (PNG) from both a demand and supply perspective. PNG, a developing nation, situated just north of Australia, is located in a ‘biodiversity hotspot’ and its wildlife comprises a large number of species or groups of species, including many which are endemic to the nation, that would appear, on face value, to be highly attractive to tourists. An assessment is made of the wildlife tourism prospects for PNG based on the sustainable use of wildlife concept. Analysis of characteristics relating to ‘wildlife tourism value’ of selected animal groups suggests that the best prospects for wildlife tourism lie with birds, marine wildlife and, perhaps, some terrestrial invertebrates. The paper also examines the potential impacts that wildlife threatening processes such as hunting, loss of wildlife habitat and, in particular, global climate change, could have on the future of wildlife tourism in PNG.