RARE TURTLES - THE PIKU of PURARI

 

CHIEF AISI MAKANI HELPS SAVE PIKU

 

The pignosed Piku

WORDS & PICTURES courtesy of PEE KOO

These rare turtle only occurs in the Purari Delta in the Gulf of Papua New Guinea.

The pig nosed turtle features on the country's legal tender - as the 5 toea coin - but is sadly being worn out of the currency market.

Meanwhile, the real live turtle, locally known as Piku, is undergoing a transformation in its local habitat on the banks of the mighty Purari River.

Under threat from devastation and loss of its habitat, mainly caused by logging, a local NGO is engaged in the preservation of Piku.

Even local Korikis, the inhabitants of the vast swamps and river systems are assisting the conservation efforts.

Chief Aisi and his son Robert.

Two years ago, in a remarkable twist of fate, local village chief Aisi Makani and his young son Robert of the mighty Purari River in the wetlands of the Gulf Province, rescued some hatchlings from a bend in their river.

They live in Kaevaria village where Makani is the chief or 'Amua' in the local Koriki language.

Possibly into his late 50s, chief Makani has a village to run and a family to raise and some baby turtles to guard.

The Kaevaria are a breakaway hamlet from the main Mapaio village and belong to the Iare tribe.

The Purari River tidal basin is famous for many things, and its varied biodiversity is the heartbeat of life in the wetlands.

But changes in the socio-economic status of the once pristine riverlands is chiseling away at the landscape and threatening some of the marine and flora and fauna of the region.

Chief Makani grew up on the river. He knows every nook and cranny of the twisting wetlands, the biggest riverine delta system in PNG, that drains the central highlands mountain ranges.

The baby Pikus.

As chief, it is Makani's job to protect his environment. And educate his small village inhabitants on the dangers of losing their flora and fauna to loggers and even poachers.

With logging and oil and gas activities upstream, much of the river system is becoming affected as motorised barges become more frequent, dredging of river shallows disturb nesting sites and frequent travellers ply the waterway.

The Piku turtle population is diminishing each year. A major conservation effort is underway to save the turtle through a new NGO from the Piku program that has operated out of the University of Canberra since 2006.

The new NGO is called the Piku Biodiversity Network Incorporated (5-104750) or PBN for short.

Its purpose is to promote and enable biodiversity conservation in Papua New Guinea through environmental education, community-led conservation and knowledge generation, according to the PBN website.

Chief Makani has seen PBN scientists and researchers come up the river to his humble hamlet.

Makani and his son rescued the 13 eggs from a sandy bank after dredging by a logging company left them exposed.

After they picked up the eggs, 9 hatched while 4 died. The 9 were kept safely in a dish of river water under their house until they were old enough to be released.

These eggs were collected at a river bend where loggers were dredging for their tugs to travel up stream to collect logs.

The Piku turtle was once plentiful and usually laid eggs during dry season when water level is low and sand is exposed on the mudflats.

But now, these sandy banks are few and far between, making the Piku vulnerable.

Help save our wildlife. Help save Piku for our future generations. 

The underbelly of the Piku.