Lake Murray is the largest

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. It is located in Lake Murray Rural LLG, Middle Fly District, Western Province at , which covers approximately 647 km²CSIRO PUBLISHING - Marine & Freshwater Research
/ref> and in the wet season increases to five times the size. It has a highly convoluted shoreline more than 2000 km long. The lake has been a source of nourishment for many of the local peoples. Freshwater

sawfish Sawfish, also known as carpenter sharks, are a family of very large rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw. They are among the lar ...

have been caught in its shallow waters to feed the

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include ...

s in a farming operation. Indigenous tribes of around 5000 people own the lake and the surrounding one million hectares of forest.
/ref> Lake Murray is known for a large population of peacock bass that were introduced by Indian merchants. File:Lake Murray PNG NASA.jpg, From space (false color)

Illegal logging

In 2003, logging company Concord Pacific was forced out of the area by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

and other NGO's. 100,000 hectares of ancient forest was degraded by the logging along the Kiunga-Aiambak road.

Greenpeace Global Forest Rescue Station (GFRS)

Lake Murray was the site of a

Greenpeace Australia Pacific Greenpeace Australia Pacific (GPAP) is the regional office of the global environmental organisation Greenpeace. Greenpeace Australia Pacific is one of Australia's largest environmental organisations. Origins and formation Greenpeace Australia ...

Global Forest Rescue Station. Forty volunteers from 25 countries worked with the local Kuni, Begwa and Pari tribes to identify and mark land ownership. The boundary marking was the precursor to a community based eco-forestry project. Ecotimber has since been harvested, shipped to Australia and sold with the benefit of Forestry Stewardship Council certification.

References

Murray Western Province (Papua New Guinea) {{WesternProvincePNG-geo-stub

Illegal logging

Greenpeace Global Forest Rescue Station (GFRS)

See also

References