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A free exhibition showcasing SSRP-funded research into the intersection between conservation and rural health in Papua New Guinea will be displayed at the Lewes Depot Climate Action! Festival. 

'SURFACES: Integrating medicine, conservation and climate action in Papua New Guinea’s threatened rainforests’, a multimedia exhibition curated by SSRP researchers Dr Jo Middleton and Dr Jessica Stockdale, will take place between July 5 to 17 at the Depot in Lewes. 

The exhibition combines photography, narrative and video to tell the story of an indigenous-led conservation alliance in Papua New Guinea.The alliance works to protect the health of local conservation communities and biodiverse tropical rainforest in the face of multinational logging. PNG’s tropical rainforest is the third largest remaining on the planet.  

However, logging companies offer jobs and road infrastructure to rural communities with limited access to healthcare, which decreases the remoteness of health services but drives deforestation in the process. 

SURFACES documents the important work of the conservation alliance at their health clinic in the Wanang Conservation Area, delivering healthcare to forest communities. The clinic has saved 150 km² of rainforest from logging and 1.5 million tonnes of carbon has been stored. 

The exhibition aims to be a source of inspiration for similar projects combining the interrelated issues of human health and environmental sustainability. 

At the show, there will also be an opportunity to donate money for medical supplies urgently needed by the health clinic. You can alternatively contribute to the online fundraiser. Everyone is welcome.  

Dr Middleton and Dr Stockdale’s SSRP-funded research focuses on the intersection between ecological conservation and human health in Papua New Guinea. Their work as part of the SURFACES project, led by Professor Alan Stewart, recognises poor health provision as a key driver for forest destruction in New Guinea. The health clinic at the centre of this exhibition was established as a solution to this issue.

You can learn more about the SURFACES project in our interview with Dr Middleton.