Lake Murray is the largest

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. It is located in Lake Murray Rural LLG,

Middle Fly District, Western Province The Middle Fly District of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea is a large, coastal district that forms the central area of the Fly River basin. It contains the Local-Level Government areas of: Balimo Urban, Bamu Rural, Gogodaia Rural, La ...

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 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 largest fish wi ...

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 even more loosely to inclu ...

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 Peacock bass or Brazilian tucunaré are large freshwater cichlids of the genus ''Cichla''. These are diurnal predatory fishes native to the Amazon and Orinoco basins, as well as rivers of the Guianas, in tropical South America. They are someti ...

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 Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

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, Australia's largest Environmentalism, environmental organisations. Origins and fo ...

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 Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

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

Illegal logging

Greenpeace Global Forest Rescue Station (GFRS)

See also

References