By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
It was a historical moment for the National Forests Authority (NFA) when female foresters led the celebration of the World Forest Day at Kuriva in the Central Province.
Led by Chairlady Faith Burton, Chief Operation Officer Magdalene Maihua and Human Resource Manager Heta Yawas led their officers to plant 2400 seedings of trees in over 2.8 hactures to celebrate the 10th aniversary of the World Forest Day.
Ms Yawas who was the organizer thanked NFA Managing Director John Mossoro for supporting them to host the event.
And Chairlady Faith Barton said that “This year the theme for the International Forest Day is healthy forest for healthy people. “It means that the health of the people muchly depends on the forest. We have healthy forest we have healty people. With sound mind that will intend to contribute to increase health of our country . forest provides directly and inderectly health benefits to the people”.
‘A rich biodiversity forest it consist and provide eatable product that produce and contributes to a healthy diet such as fruits , mushrooms as well as vast medical herbs. We only have one earth so we need to take care of the forest resources . And so management of them is in order to take care of us . we must do our best to protect our forest for he future genaration. The world now needs our effords to protect our forest .
At PNG Forest Authority we are the custodian of the vast forest in PNG . And we have to do our best not only PNGFA but people of PNG as well. Today the world is confronting extreme enviromental change . its difficulties are dangeours for most individual and calls for forester and investing of effeutive featurers and to harm the planat. The Government through Vision 2050 challenges the forersty sector to plant 800, 000 hectures of trees by 2050. today we will be planting 2.8 hactures of land at Kuriva 2400 seedlings in total. And we are increainsg as as we go by”.
Meanwhile NFA Chief Operation Officer Magdeline Maihua reflected on her childhood days of growing in her Kwahue village in Yangoru-Sausia electorate , East Sepik Province . “As a child growing up in a primitive and a forest and jungle oriented village . I would say that my humble upbrining has always been strongly connected to the forests. Or at that time we only call it jungles. My enviroment was always primivite and has jungle close to our families and our plants and our little famly hamlets” .
And during those times we enjoyed going out having jungle games like collecting wild mangoes , bamboo shoots and mushrooms, nd breafruit shoots. And other junglr activities that we normally do. And we follow our older siblings and uncles and aunties. And we also enjoy our games like tracking bandicoots and wild animals . and one thing that reminded me of todays theme of forest and health is that in the 21st century , forest divert our minds to preserving forest for flora and fauna and for carbon sinks. But for the other side of the forest and health I want to talk abour today to mark this occasion is to talk about human health. . During my child hood days, forest or jungle we call it today have been our main theraphy for our emotionaly affected mothers and aunties and big sisters and girls at large. And to an extend of our grand mothers. Jungles have been the emotional physiological tools for them because, back in those privimitive times , they came under primitive domestic violence torture. their husbands and our fathers , uncles and grand fathers could badly bashed them up and with defaced and bledding faces. , they will leave early in the morning with no words of their going. Some times we would think that they are going back to their own villages to relax , pick up ther strength before they retrun back to our village,. But no . the main thing that I see is that they had gone to the rivers and their gardens passing through the thick dark jungles to reach their gardens. when evening comes we are at home and watching them staggering home with loads of goodies . those goodies are garden food, fruits with all with smiles , and they ended up in the kitchen and they cook food for the famlies. And to feed us. And hardly we hear them complaining about the pain , the agony that they gone through with our fathers , uncles and grand fathers . its like they have lost all the agonies in the jungles. When going to the jungle through the jungles And returning home liberated. ANd carbon sinks is properly similar to to resorting to to the preservation to our peace of our mind and health to our bones. Proverbs 14. 3 say that peace of mind adds up to a healthy body . it may seem that our mothers ,aunties had a long life despite undergoing tortures . But because of their attachement and connection to nature and forest , it was like going through a silent inititation and so restore their pshycological health , emotion and wellbeing and coming home refersh. topday we run to the hospital, therapist in saloon  to get ourslevs massage to relive pain but in those days ,our grand parants and mothers and our children’s grand parents , or aunties and big sisters they went to the forest to get initiated and what happens we don’t know as we are talking abour carbon sink today. you and I don’t see with our eyers . and thats how carbon is reduced. In these days we come from society where our father abuses our mothers. Grand fathers abuse our grand mothesr and uncle abuse our unnties and they go through a lot of emotion destress . and you see no signs of distress. But you don’t hear any mumurring from our aunties and mothers and grand mothers . One thing I saw is our mothers in those days is they live long lives. My mother live to be 95. she went though absue and my children great grand mother died at 103 years old in 2017 and she was badly abused by her husband ( my children great grand father) . One of my aunties died at 100 years old and she was abused in those primitive days. So we need to grow more trees that are condusive to our healthy air and health .Â
