Ok Tedi gold and copper mining activity has brought extreme environmental destruction to the Fly River–Papua New Guinea’s second biggest river. The changes obvious in Lewada, a village nearby the mouth of the river. There is one new island formed about ten years ago just across the village. Every morning, when the tide is low, the river dries up, making the village totally cut off from the waterway. The sandbank sediment at the riverbed is very vast and dry, that children can play rugby and football right there. The sandbank sediment has made the river very shallow, dangerous to navigate, and caused high floods to the village when the king tide comes monthly.
Lewada, Fly River, Papua New Guinea, 2014