PNG to double its protected areas
27 Oct 2005
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - Some of Papua New Guinea's most valuable forests, wetlands and reefs could receive greater protection under a landmark initiative to nearly double the country's protected areas.
The PNG government has announced it will increase the country's protected areas by nearly 50 per cent after extensive consultation with local communities.
The decision means some of the most biologically diverse environments on the planet could receive far greater protection from the threats of large-scale logging operations, mining and overfishing.
PNG's Minister for Environment, William Duma, announced in the capital Port Moresby that the government's decision to gazette 12 protected areas was the most significant expansion of PNG's protected area system this decade.
The gazetted areas are in the PNG province of Madang, the Sepik River, Mount Bosayi in the Southern Highlands, and the TransFly area of Western Province. They will add a further 771,451 hectares to PNG's protected area system.
All of the proposed protected areas are on land owned by customary communities and will be set up as Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) with rules developed by the land-owning villages. WMAs promote sustainable use of wildlife and its habitats for subsistence and cash income, as well as strengthen land rights and cultural sites.
"We hope these proposed protected areas will help some of the country's least developed communities to improve their livelihoods," said Minister Duma.
"They are set up for many reasons, including increasing fish stocks, ensuring sustainable harvest of animals and forest products, clarifying land boundaries, drawing tourists, and protecting sacred areas.
"PNG currently has one of the lowest coverages of protected area of any country. Only 2.7 per cent of PNG's land area and 0.07 per cent of its territorial waters are included in protected areas.
"This announcement will help greatly in reaching our target of a representative protected areas system in PNG on land by 2010 and in the sea by 2012."
Director General of WWF International James Leape, who was in PNG for the Pacific Island Forum, presented the nominating communities with certificates of conservation leadership for their work in establishing the system of protected areas.
"This is an important step in protecting one of the world's great environmental treasures," said Mr Leape.
"PNG has the largest block of tropical rainforest in the Asia Pacific, the largest and healthiest wetlands in the region and some of the richest coral reefs on the planet. But these are under intense pressure from unsustainable logging and fishing.
"A global effort is needed to support the remarkable effort now underway to protect and manage PNG's environment and promote sustainable natural resource industries. WWF will be committing its resources to this and we call on governments and donors in the region and around the world to assist."
The protected areas announced at this event will be gazetted for the meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in March 2006 in Brazil.
The PNG government has committed to including 10 per cent of PNG's land in protected area zones by 2010. The 12 additions will bring the current total to around four per cent of PNG's land area.
More information
Visit the WWF South Pacific Program website for details.
