Michelle Cooper is a keeper at Melbourne Zoo looking after native mammals and birds, including our breeding group of Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroos.
In 2009 she successfully applied for a  Zoos Victoria Fellowship to work with the Tenkile Conservation Alliance (TCA) for a project on sustainable protein farming.

1st December 2009- 'Islands in the sky'

The plane never arrived- classic PNG so I am told... Now the seemingly easy task of arriving in Sibilanga after a 20 minute flight to distribute rabbits for the protein farming project is not only more difficult for us, but the poor little rabbits too!

We left around 5am the following morning, it was to be a long day ahead - 4 hrs 4WD followed by 4 hours uphill walk (with the last hour being a particularly painful incline to the top of the mountain where the airstrip is located). Ah the airstrip... yep, a plane would have been the easier option. At least the rabbits got off easy - we carried them up the mountain!

Arriving at the top of the mountain was amazing! The view, the relief and the hordes of people waiting for the meeting welcoming us as we arrived. After a quick rest and wash Vincent and I hit the ground running, as Jim had to continue on to Port Moresby that day I chaired the meeting for the TCA Representatives (and the other 80 or so interested parties in the room). My Tok Pisin was getting a little better at this stage so I tried my best to discuss the points on the agenda including Protein Farming, Rural water supply, GPS Mapping of the Conservation area, Distance Sampling and awareness on Global Warming and Carbon Trade. The meeting provided much discussion and debate and afterwards we distributed the rabbits to the villages and started surveying the villagers.

How much can you cover in 12 days through remote PNG you ask? Well, together Vincent and I:
- Visited 15 villages (both Weimang & Tenkile villages)
- Visited 2 more schools (discussing the initiation of a program between themselves, TCA and Learning Experiences at Melbourne Zoo)
- Walked over 75km through bush tracks: across rivers, down gullies, climbed up vertical rock/mud faces (thought I was going to collapse on several occasion but made it through, if only just)
- Interviewed over 300 villagers to discuss protein and hunting choices
- Interviewed Current and previous rabbit farmers to discuss successes and problems faced to improve the program
- Checked over 117 rabbits, providing practical training in sexing & husbandry
- Consumed countless coconuts & about 100 litres of water.

I cannot stress enough how open and giving the local villagers were to me. They gave up their rooms and slept near the fire for me to be able to rest. They killed and served up valuable farmed protein (and a wild pig!) so I would have enough energy to continue on my journey. They constantly showered me with fresh fruits and local tobacco as gifts and they never failed to thank me for making the trek through the unforgiving PNG terrain to see their village and the conditions in which they live. This combined makes it clear why Jim & Jean have devoted so much of their time to working with these people. Although there is the occasional dispute, the people never fail to appreciate the work that you do and the contribution you make to helping them help their wildlife for their future generations in the Torricelli. This is not to say this work isn't difficult. Trekking these mountains has been one of the most challenging experiences of my life (mainly due to the mountain top locality of every village on every subsequent mountain - I suppose when you are the landowners of an entire mountain where else would you establish your village but the top?) In saying that, this has also been one of the most rewarding experiences in my life.

Islands in the sky
When Tim Flannery labeled these mountain ranges as representing 'Islands in the sky' he was not wrong. When the clouds descend and the sun sets, it creates a scene where the mountain tops rise as islands laden in virgin forest, and are set apart from the silhouettes of coconut trees in the fore ground. As is the case with most amazing sights, photographs fall well short of being able to capture such an enchanting landscape.

Until next time,

Michelle