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Sacred leaf offers hope for Vanuatu's threatened forests
Vanuatu's traditional chiefs and locals use the namele leaf taboo to protect forests amid weak enforcement and illegal logging, preserving areas like the 2,720-hectare Vatthe Conservation Area.
- In Vanuatu, conservationists are invoking the traditional Leaf taboo to protect forests, effectively barring outsiders from sensitive areas like the Vatthe Conservation Area.
- Historically, Vanuatu tribes used the sacred Leaf to mark boundaries and protect peace agreements, a technique now repurposed by locals in Matantas to preserve their native woodlands.
- Traditional chief Bill Tavue patrols the 2,720-hectare site, where transgressors face fines of chickens or pigs, a traditional form of currency once used for "bride prices."
- Poverty and subsistence farming drive logging, making it difficult for the lone ranger to protect the Forests; locals allege Chinese loggers used dead-wood permission as cover for illegal cutting.
- Project manager Joses Togase notes conservationists seek funding through carbon credit programs to sustain protection efforts, with the Vatthe area now a candidate for UNESCO recognition.
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28 Articles
28 Articles
Coverage Details
Total News Sources28
Leaning Left3Leaning Right5Center7Last UpdatedBias Distribution47% Center
Bias Distribution
- 47% of the sources are Center
47% Center
L 20%
C 47%
R 33%
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