Conclusions

PNG is an agricultural country and it is likely that its increasing population will continue to rely heavily on agriculture in the year 2000 and beyond. More land will be brought into production and it is in the dense population areas where population pressure is becoming a problem. Despite critical shortages of land that have been reported in the highlands, no systematic treatment has been undertaken to classify land-use related to population density. However, recent data from the Agricultural Land Use Survey for PNG suggest that several areas could face similar problems of land use. Therefore, a greater research effort is required to assess and evaluate land-use change and to relate it to population growth in PNG. Such a research programme will ascertain the long-term sustainability of the current agricultural systems in the country.

Figure 2

Figure 3 Land use intensity class

At present, the Land Management Project (LMP) based at the Department of Human Geography, the Australian National University, is identifying, documenting, mapping, and describing agricultural systems for the whole country. Data on agricultural systems are currently being incorporated into a computer database linked to mapping software which, when completed for the whole country, will supplement biophysical data already contained in the Papua New Guinea Resource Information System (PNGRIS). The LMP will produce information at provincial and national levels on many aspects of subsistence agriculture, which will enable detailed assessment of the processes of intensification and the long-term sustainability of subsistence agriculture in Papua New Guinea.