Lakemu Basin Essay, Research Paper

The people of the Lakekamu Basin love their old way of life and their forest. They don t want to lose their forest. What they want is their forest and a way to make money from it because they need to support their families. They want to be able to but the same things that people living in America or Europe buy. They want walkmans, flashlights, sunglasses, clothing, gasoline, batteries and other material possessions that we take for granted every day. They can t even see their relatives in other towns because they can t afford the plane ticket to go and see them. They not only want money but they also need the money. My team of conservationists would like to design a plan also known as an Integrated Conservation and Development Project or an ICAD. This project will help conserve the ecosystems of the Lakekamu Basin and the project will benefit the local people economically from the conservation plan so they will not feel the need to sell out to the large corporations who want to destroy the forest for timber and so they can dig for gold. These large corporations will be destroying some of the worlds most unique plants and animals. They would be killing tree kangaroos, cassowaries, birdwing butterflies, orchids, pigeons, cockatoos, cuscuses, foxes, lorikeets, pythons, birds, etc.

Some of our ideas are building lodges that are environmentally friendly. Another idea is building 4 separate sections with specific sale booths for each tribe. The sale booths could be used for commercial use or for tourist companies. There could be one price to enter all sections of the forest. There could be a 20-dollar fee to enter all 4 sections. There could be a photography competition with the entry fee; the prize could be a tree dedicated to the winner. Instead of photography competitions there could be boat race competitions. Since certain people need more money than others, there could be more privately owned airstrips, which could each give tours and transportation. Also to help protect the forest there should be a limit placed on each organism so that only 5% of that organism can be sold each year. The endangered species list should be shown to everyone so that the ecosystem can stay balanced, and so that the specific organisms on the list can be able to gain in population. Park rangers could be hired, or they could be given free stay at a lodge instead of being paid in money. People will also need to be hired to help train the indigenous people so that they can be able to manage the lodges and do other jobs well. If an international add campaign for people to go there was started then that would be helping the people of Lakekamu Basin and how the force will help the economy.