New Guinea Binatang Research Centre

01/08/2026

Congratulations to the Research and Conservation Foundation of Papua New Guinea on 40 Years of Conservation Leadership! 🌿🇵🇬

The New Guinea Binatang Research Centre warmly congratulates RCF PNG on its 40th Anniversary.

Since 1986, RCF has made an important contribution to biodiversity conservation, research, environmental education and community partnerships in Papua New Guinea. We are especially pleased to see this milestone celebrated through School Open Days, inspiring young people from across Goroka to value and protect PNG’s unique natural heritage.

RCF has also been a longstanding supporter of BRC’s research activities in the Highlands. Its welcoming and well-maintained guest house in Goroka has provided vital accommodation and logistical support for our field teams travelling to Highlands research sites and towards Kikori.

This support has been especially important for accessing the upper sections of BRC’s Mt Wilhelm altitudinal transect, which extends from lowland rainforest at 200 metres to the upper treeline at 3,700 metres above sea level.

We sincerely thank RCF for its friendship, hospitality and continued support for conservation and scientific research in Papua New Guinea.

Happy 40th Anniversary, RCF PNG!

23/07/2026

Remembrance Day | Lest We Forget

Today, we honour the courage, sacrifice, and service of all who defended Papua New Guinea during World War II.

We pay special tribute to the brave men of the Papua Infantry Battalion (PIB) and the New Guinea Infantry Battalion (NGIB)—the first indigenous Papua New Guineans to serve in organised military units. Their courage, resilience, and knowledge of the land played a vital role in the New Guinea Campaign and laid the foundation for the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.

We remember their service. We honour their legacy. Lest we forget.

21/07/2026

What are your thoughts?

🐢 In Papua New Guinea, Arron Culling and his coworker Mark bought two turtles from a food market for $50 and released them back into the ocean. 🌊💚

✨ The pair has rescued around 10 turtles this way. While many praised their kindness, experts also warned that buying turtles could unintentionally encourage the wildlife trade that threatens these endangered animals. 🌍

18/07/2026

📢 APPLICATIONS CLOSE SOON

A reminder that applications for the Accountant and Human Resources Officer positions with the New Guinea Binatang Research Centre are still open.

⏳ Only 13 days remaining
📅 Closing date: Friday, 31 July 2026 at 5:00 PM PNG time

Qualified and experienced candidates are encouraged to apply before the deadline. Please read the full vacancy announcement in the original post below for the position requirements and application instructions.

Help us reach suitable candidates by sharing this post with your networks.

10/07/2026

🌿 Can rainforest research from Papua New Guinea contribute to international science? Absolutely.

Deep in the lowland rainforests of Madang Province lies the Wanang Conservation Area, a community-led conservation initiative protecting more than 10,000 hectares of rainforest.

The forest is protected by the people of Wanang, who chose conservation and scientific research as an alternative to large-scale logging. Through their partnership with the New Guinea Binatang Research Center, Wanang has become one of Papua New Guinea’s most important sites for long-term rainforest research.

At the heart of this work is the Wanang Forest Dynamics Plot—the largest permanent plant-monitoring plot in Papua New Guinea and the only 50-hectare forest dynamics plot in the Pacific region.

A forest dynamics plot is a carefully measured area of rainforest where researchers map, identify and repeatedly measure trees and saplings. By returning to the same plants over many years, scientists can study:

🌱 How quickly trees grow
🌳 Which species survive or die
🌿 Where new seedlings and saplings appear
🌦️ How forests respond to droughts, storms and climate change
🦋 How the extraordinary diversity of PNG’s forests is maintained

The Wanang plot was established through an enormous effort involving local field assistants, botanists and researchers. Every plant stem similar to or greater than the size of an adult pinky finger was tagged, mapped and identified. Today, the project monitors approximately 188,000 individual trees and saplings.

But is this information useful beyond Papua New Guinea?

The answer is clearly yes.

Over the years, the New Guinea Binatang Research Center has received requests from 88 research teams across 17 countries seeking to collaborate or use botanical data from the Wanang plot. Research interest has been particularly strong from teams in China and the United States.

These collaborations allow Wanang’s data to be compared with similar forest plots across Africa, Asia and the Americas. Together, these studies help scientists understand how tropical forests store carbon, support biodiversity and respond to environmental change.

This shows that Papua New Guinea is not only home to globally important rainforests—it is also producing knowledge that can help the world understand and protect them.

Behind every measurement are the Wanang landowners, PNG field researchers and botanists whose long-term commitment makes this science possible.

🌏 Research collected in a remote PNG rainforest is helping answer questions of global importance.

10/07/2026

🆕 paper: Nutrition sensitive poverty and its correlates in Papua New Guinea: incorporating healthy diet targets into poverty measurement.

This paper provides the most expansive poverty assessment using the cost of basic needs approach in Papua New Guinea in 15 years. The authors compare a standard cost of basic needs poverty line where the food poverty line is defined by modest diets aligned with consumption patterns that meet a dietary energy (calorie) threshold.

🖊️ By Kristi Mahrt, Emily Schmidt, Peixun Fang, & Rishabh Mukerjee
🔗 Learn more here: doi.org/10.1007/s12571-026-01694-1
CGIAR Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

10/07/2026

🌿 WE’RE HIRING: Accountant & Human Resources Officer

The New Guinea Binatang Research Centre (BRC) is looking for two experienced professionals to strengthen our operations team in Madang:

✅ Accountant
✅ Human Resources (HR) Officer

BRC is one of Papua New Guinea’s leading biodiversity science and conservation organisations. Since 1997, we have grown from a small research team into a vibrant NGO of more than 70 staff, training PNG scientists, supporting rainforest and reef research, and working with communities, universities, government and international collaborators to protect PNG’s extraordinary natural wealth.

These roles are ideal for professionals who want their skills to support work that genuinely matters for PNG’s people, science and environment.

📌 APPLY ONLINE
All applications must be submitted through the BRC job application form:
https://tally.so/r/dWVVqV

Please prepare and upload:
• CV
• Cover letter
• Qualification certificates

⏰ APPLICATION DEADLINE
Friday 31 July 2026, 5:00 PM PNG time

Important:
• Please submit only once using your email address.
• After submitting, look for the on-screen success message.
• There is no need to email a second copy of your application.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted after the closing date.

📞 Enquiries only:
mobile: (+675) 7939 9892
email: [email protected]

BRC is an equal-opportunity employer. Qualified Papua New Guineans are encouraged to apply.

07/07/2026

New to science — and already in danger 🚨

🗄️ Some of PNG's rarest plants weren't found in the rainforest — they were rediscovered in dusty museum cabinets. 🌺

Pressed, labeled and shelved as far back as 1981, two flowers sat "in plain sight" for decades before scientists realised they were new to science: Cyrtandra menyamyana and C. wagauensis, found nowhere else on Earth but Papua New Guinea. 🇵🇬

The bittersweet part? As forests are cleared, some of these species may already be gone from the wild. ⏳

📖 Open-access in the Kew Bulletin (2026)

06/07/2026

🔍 How do scientists uncover a new species hiding in a museum drawer?

It comes down to tiny clues — the way petals are arranged (2+3 vs the expected 4+1), the texture of the calyx, the teeth on a leaf. Rehydrate a flower pressed flat in 1972, look closely, and a plant everyone had labeled Cyrtandra terrae-guilelmi reveals itself as something science had never named.

🌺Meet Cyrtandra menyamyana and C. wagauensis — two of PNG's newest species, confirmed from specimens that sat mislabeled for decades. 🇵🇬

📖 Open-access in the Kew Bulletin (2026)