page_title: 9 Mile, Lae
section_title: Atzera Hills Project
hierarchical_section_title: 9 Mile, Lae / National Agricultural Research Institute / Atzera Hills Project
caption_attribution_description: English: Panoramic photo of 10 Mile Store and Interoil Service Station, on Nadzab Road, Lae Papua New Guinea
context_page_description: 9 Mile is a large village in the Markham Valley of Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. It lies along the Highlands Highway 9 miles from the center of Lae between the foothills of the Atzera Range and the Markham River. The Atzera Range starts at Bugandi and runs adjacent to the Markham River has an elevation of 280 meters above sea level. northwest of Lae, 7 kilometres southeast of Nadzab. The landscape is typically lowland rainforest.
context_section_description: In 1978 the Human Ecology Programme of the Department of Minerals and Energy, assisted by the UNEP and Unesco (Man and the Biosphere MAB Project 11) and in co-operation with the Lae City Council, instigated the Atzera Hills Project, described as an ecologically sound management system to arrest the rapid deterioration and loss of productive capacity of 600 ha of Atzera Hills.
  The Atzera project folded after only three years despite efforts to train and raise awareness on the benefits of charcoal, the uptake in PNG households was minimal.
  Heavy rains in 2005 resulted in the Morobe administration highlighting the vulnerability of the city to the weather and recommending that a major rehabilitation programme be started immediately to reforest the surrounding hills behind the city to prevent soil erosion. This problem has been exacerbated as a result of the increased number of squatter settlements.
caption: The 10 Mile store and Service Station owned by the iPi Group of Companies on foothills of Atzera Range
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