Unfortunately, I didn’t spend a great deal of time in Kantobo. I can ask the WWF staff about the people you mentioned.:-) In doing the ecotourism assessment of the Kikori River Basin for WWF, I traveled to numerous villages throughout the region (which encompasses both the Kikori and Southern Highlands Provinces). The most time I spent in one place was at the WWF camp, by the airstrip near Lake Kutubu and around Kikori. So, those people I got to know much better.

It would be interesting to hear about how the conditions in PNG were in the late 1990s. From my guess, not a whole lot has changed, but would still be interesting to hear your viewpoint on that aspect. One thing that HAS occurred recently, is the national government has now implemented tourism in their national strategy. On my first day in Port Moresby, I went with the WWF staff to meet with the government national tourism authority. They had just completed their first report on tourism to PNG in 2006. A very big deal and much needed statistics! The national government is also supporting and promoting a few regions, of course the regions most popular for tourism (i.e. Madang).

Another aspect I learned and observed, the provincial governments are not effective, thus not providing added support for ecotourism development. The local government level (i.e. village leaders), seem to be the ones really capable of spearheading projects. For example, in Tigiri/Fumagi (Lake Kutubu region), they have built a ‘cultural center’ where they will showcase and sell their traditional artisan work to tourists. I was very impressed with their work and well-constructed facility. Along the Kikori Delta in Omo Village, the local government official built a longhouse in order to accommodate visitors. He is very knowledgeable and has quite an entrepreneurial spirit. Those are just a few examples, but to share with you that there is a big interest and active role being taken among certain villages. Kantobo appears to be not quite so active in developing ecotourism in their village, but nearby Wassi Falls is definitely the major interest on behalf of WWF. Residents of Kantobo and the land-owner of the area around the falls would receive the benefits of bringing tourists to the falls.

But as you know, PNG is another world, which is the beauty of the country. But, things happen a lot slower so developing ecotourism will be a long process. WWF’s intention is to develop an ecotourism network in the KRP region within the next 2-3 years. I will highlight their progress as time goes on.

Thanks for sharing and I will let you know what I find out from WWF. Keep in touch and I hope you get to share the amazing experience of PNG with your daughter!

Lukim yu,
Rosalyn

All the best,

Doug and Laura Ritenour