The New Guinea challenge: development and conservation in societies of great cultural and biological diversity : the conservation atlas; An amazing island; 100 Million years of earth history; mixing of the floras; meeting of the faunas; biophysical environments; Ecological communities; Biodiversity and Endemism; Culture and Politics

Abstract

The history of New Guinea started about 130 million years ago with the break-up of the great southern landmass called Gondwana. The Australian continental plate then drifted northwards somewhat isolated from other lands and carrying a unique collection of plants and animals. The present form of New Guinea developed as the leading edge of the Australian plate crumpled on impact with a complex of smaller plates and volcanic islands near the equator. Much of New Guinea formed far to the east in the Pacific Ocean before being swept west and welded onto the northern coastline.