Doug Laing - 'Wallace, Wilsons and Other Wonders of West Papua'

An enduring fascination in natural history and the life and times of Alfred Russel Wallace was more than enough to temp our speaker, Doug Laing, in October last year, to undertake his own voyage of discovery to this extraordinary part of Indonesia. Today’s presentation is based on that visit and will reflect on, and partly parallel, Wallace’s journey in New Guinea but ventures further afield to sample a little more of the island, its people, plants and birds – a land that Wallace intuitively knew was very different from the archipelago of the Malays where he had spent most of the four years before his return to England in 1858.

Doug is an ANBG Friend and Guide, birdwatcher when time permits and, after years of public service, much of it in the world of diplomacy and foreign affairs, still finds the idea of travel to exotic and not altogether comfortable destinations, like West Papua, to be an exciting prospect.