To Mine or Not to Mine on Bougainville: Linking Peace to the Environment

Abstract

Bougainville is still in post-conflict recovery mode. After a period of armed conflict, which began in 1989 with the closure of the Panguna copper mine, a peace agreement was finally signed in 2001 (O'Callaghan, 2002; Regan, 2002, p. 114). After the elections of May 2005, Bougainville became the first autonomous region within the state of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Since the fighting ceased, Bougainville has depended largely on aid to facilitate post-conflict recovery and reconstruction. However, this reliance is not a sustainable path to economic development. The people of Bougainville have up to 15 years under a new constitution to decide, via a referendum process, if they wish to remain part of the state of PNG or become an independent state in their own right (Regan, 2007).