The international community is being urged to help protect Papua New Guinea's (PNG) precious but precarious ecosystem.
Logging, mining and unsustainable fishing have already damaged the environment, which is used a nesting place for millions of migrating birds.
But because decent wages are hard to come by, local people are attracted to jobs offered by international mining and logging companies.
"If Papua New Guinea is not protected, it's going to be a tragedy not just for local people but a tragedy for the rest of the world," said Jared Diamond, a UCLA professor, to the BBC.
"In many parts of the world, when you practise conservation biology, you are trying to save the last scraps of a large wrecked ecosystem. In Papua New Guinea, there are still extensively intact ecosystems."
A decade ago, the first known poisonous bird was discovered in Papua New Guinea and scientists believe there are many mammal species still to be discovered.
The Millennium Ecosystem Development group believes that climate change, tectonic disturbances, industrial exploitation of inshore marine resources and industrial waste products are also impacting on the natural environment.
