WHY MELANESIA?
MELANESIA IS HOME TO 1,319 LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD
By one count, there are 1,319 languages in Melanesia, scattered across a small amount of land. The proportion of 716 sq. kilometers per language is by far the most dense rate of languages in relation to land mass in the earth, almost three times as dense as in Nigeria, a country famous for its high number of languages in a compact area.
Although consisting of slightly more than half of one percent of the earth’s land area, Melanesia contains a high percentage of the Earth’s terrestrial and marine biodiversity. Numerous studies have indicated that the island of New Guinea (the country of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia’s Papua province) and its associated archipelagos, and the major Melanesian islands (Consensus Report
Climate Change and Biodiversity in Melanesia: What do we know? <http://pacificscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/CCBM_Consensus_Report_FINAL.pdf>)
In addition to this large number of indigenous languages, there are also a number of pidgins and creoles. Most notable among these are Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, Solomon Islands Pijin, Bislama, and Papuan Malay.. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanesian_languages>
Melanesia, (excluding Western New Guinea), total population as of Thursday, April 22, 2021 is: 11,291,974. This number is equivalent to 0.14% of the total world population, with population density at 21 per Km2 (54 people per mi2), and total land area of Melanesia: 529,590 Km2 (204,476 sq. miles) <https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/melanesia-population/>, Melanesian contributes to majority of world’s languages and culture.
Melanesia’s 2,000 islands have a combined geographical land area of around 386,000 square miles (1 million square km) <https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-countries-and-territories-make-up-melanesia.html>
Total 19.2 % of the population in Melanesia is urban with median age of 22.8years.
MELANESIA HOSTS LARGEST BIO-DIVERSITY HOTSPOTS IN THW WORLD
1. largest remaining rainforest areas in the world in Papua New Guinea, where an estimated 7% of global terrestrial biodiversity occurs in less than 1% of global land area
2.
MOST PLACES IN MELANESIA ARE UNTOCHED AND UNDISTURBED BY MODERNISATION PROCESSES
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Melanesia is one of the richest biotic regions on the planet.
Melanesia is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, with unique species found from the world’s largest and highest tropical island. <https://www.wcs.org/our-work/regions/melanesia>
The islands of the Pacific region hold three of the 35 global biodiversity hotspots with large numbers of endemic species. <https://rune.une.edu.au/>
1,319 languages spoken by 0.14% of total world’s population, and live within 21per km2 witthin land area of 525,590 km2.
New Guinea’s third rainforests on Earth after Amazon and Congo with rainforests in smaller islands across Melanesia
Melanesia is one of the most biologically rich oceanic archipelagos on Earth, to isolated oceanic islands with outstanding proportions of unique species. <https://www.wcs.org/our-work/regions/melanesia>
(a) 2000 islands; (b) 1 million square km; (c) 7% of global terrestrial biodiversity in less than 1% global land area, (d) ……
We are here to guarantee those pristine nature and sea stay as pristine as they are and invite all humans to respect and protect those by declaring “No-Go Zones” for those territories: forests, landscapes, villages, islands, marine areas.