Creating the First Conservation Area in Papua New Guinea to Protect Tree Kangaroos

Abstract Protecting the endangered Matschie's tree kangaroo depends on protecting its habitat. This chapter describes the creation of Papua New Guinea's (PNG) first Conservation Area through the National Government's Conservation Areas Act of 1978. In 2009, the YUS Conservation Area (YUS CA) on the Huon Peninsula, Morobe Province, became the first protected area gazetted under this legislation, thus breaking new ground for tree kangaroo and biodiversity conservation in PNG. In 2020, the YUS Conservation Area was re-gazetted under the new PNG Policy for Protected Areas to incorporate the entire YUS landscape, again a first for the country. This chapter chronicles the engagement of local YUS landowners and communities, collaboration with multiple levels of government, the implementation of the Conservation Areas Act, and the process taken in YUS to reach gazettal and re-gazettal.