Reward for Nature Conservation: Tree Kangaroos, Cars and Scientists

The objective of this article is an analysis of ethnohistory of establishment of YUS conservation area in Papua New Guinea. Particular attention is devoted to the natives’ attitudes and expectations toward and from YUS conservation area. The article is based on the research, which the author conducted among the Nungonn ethnic group of the Morobe province. Attitudes and expectations are analyzed and interpreted on the basic survey executed among the Nungonns and via drawings made by the pupils of a local primary school in Yawan. Author argues that the natives dream for the kind of development, which is in a stark contrast to the conservators’ ideas of biodiversity protection.