As head of Keidanren's Nature Conservation Project Study Group, earlier this year I took a group of Japanese business leaders on a week-long visit to the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea, after having completed study tours to Palau, Thailand and Vietnam. I chair the Committee on Nature Conservation, which was established in 1992 to implement the principles outlined in Keidanren's Global Environmental Charter. The committee's mandate is to support nature conservation projects undertaken by environmental NGOs in developing countries, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region, and promote international nature conservation, principally through the training of Japanese workers in nature conservation.
On this trip our focus was a first-hand inspection of a nature conservation project of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), an influential American environmental NGO, on New Britain, where some of the world's best-preserved forests _ considered the ``lungs'' of the planet _ and coral reefs _ considered the ``rain forests'' of the sea _ can still be found in pristine natural condition.
Despite some difficulties caused by the rainy season, our group managed to study the island from the land, sea and air. What we found convinced us of the enormous significance of the conservation work being undertaken on the island by TNC. New Britain still has vast expanses of rain forest, but this incredibly valuable natural resource is being rapidly depleted by development. Huge tracts are being destroyed for lumber and to make way for oil palm and coplar plantations.
Many international logging firms operating in the area have been strongly criticized by environmental groups and others for their environmentally irresponsible logging practices and their disregard of the urgent need to protect rain forest resources. Our group was pleased to find that the Japanese logging firms represented on the island _ which chiefly export to Japan _ are making significant contributions to local community development by promoting local employment, improving health and welfare services, building and maintaining police stations, hospitals, schools and housing. But most significantly, their systematic approach to logging and planned replanting during the last 20 years has helped prevent destruction of natural ecosystems and is now being studied by the Papua New Guinea government, as well as NGOs, as an example of sustainable forest development.
We also studied the island's coral reefs, which play an important role in the world's marine ecosystem, and found that the island's Kimbe Bay is home to more than 300 of the 700 species of coral known to exist worldwide. Coral reefs are said to have a greater potential to impact the environment than tropical rain forests do, especially in their ability to absorb carbon dioxide. We were very distraught to learn that soil erosion due to nearby logging has begun to suffocate the coral reef, making its immediate conservation a matter of greatest urgency.
Papua New Guinea has a population of only 4 million, although as a nation it is larger than Japan, and its main industries are agricultural _ foreign-owned plantations raise mainly oil palm and coplar trees, and forest projects and coffee beans are key exports. Some 85 percent of the population is poor, yet maintains a self-sufficient lifestyle in which money plays no part. Villagers in areas without export industries are severely disadvantaged and in one village we were told that more than half the children die by the age of three. One encounter we had really brought home the impact of the nation's poverty _ we met a woman who looked about 80 years old, although we learned that she was only 35 _ she had aged prematurely due to extreme poverty and giving birth to 10 children. The average life expectancy in the village was only 50 years, due to sickness caused by lack of proper food and medicine.
However, in spite of the general poverty, the nation's population is expected to double during the next 20 years, posing a very serious threat to Papua New Guinea's future. While increasing the nation's per capita income through economic development has become a top priority, it will not be possible to stem the tide of environmental destruction until the people understand the linkage between economic prosperity and nature conservation. The people of Papua New Guinea must now tackle the difficult task of balancing environmental conservation with economic growth.
TNC has proposed that ecotourism be developed as a new industry for the island of New Britain, which would combine nature conservation and tourism, channeling the funds generated into economic development projects that would improve the living standards of the people while preserving the environment. I think the committee should support this proposal. If nature conservation efforts are to proceed simultaneously with economic development efforts, it is essential that a cooperative approach be taken by all parties in developing new projects, including the government, NGOs, TNC, international and local business and the residents of Papua New Guinea.
On the final day of our visit, I met with the minister for the environment who expressed his hope that Japan would make significant contributions to the cause of environmental conservation in his nation, based on Japan's successful track record in solving its own pollution problems. Speaking as a member of the international community, I believe that Japan can and should make a major contribution to the field of global environmental conservation and I believe that Papua New Guinea is where we should begin.
My visit to this uniquely gifted and troubled country reconfirmed my belief that we humans must remember that we are only one among many life forms that make up the earth's unique ecosystem _ we must look at ourselves as part of the global family, along with animals and plants _ and acknowledge our interdependence. I believe that in the years to come, mankind must focus on the following issues, if we are to protect our environment:
Major corporations must face the fact that 100 years of unrestricted use of the planet's natural resources have bought economic prosperity and business success at a very dear price _ global environmental destruction.
Japanese industry should lead the world in making global environmental responsibility a top priority.