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PNG’s development strategy ‘visionary’

Wednesday 30 July 2014 | Published in Regional

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The world’s largest conservation organisation has described Papua New Guinea’s strategy for sustainable development as ‘visionary’.

PNG’s National Strategy for Responsible Development, launched in April by Planning Minister Charles Abel, aims to realign the country’s entire economic and development efforts – including mining and logging – around an overriding goal of sustainable development.

With its birds of paradise, tree kangaroos and other terrestrial wildlife, and its rich marine resources, Papua New Guinea is home to a staggering seven per cent of the world’s biodiversity.

Its mainland forests join with those across the border with Indonesia to create the third largest rainforest in the world.

Abel says it is imperative that national policies put greater value on those assets and he has chosen the world’s biggest conservation organisation, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to help him do that.

The IUCN’s regional director for Oceania, Taholo Kami, is in Port Moresby to discuss the strategy.

“Environmental issues are often on the fringes of development and in a time of rapid growth for Papua New Guinea in terms of extraction of minerals and energy and gas,” Kami said.

“They are also recognising through this that they’ve got other strategic assets, which is the term they are using for their environment, for their forests, for their water systems, for their incredible culture and diversity that they have.”

He says he’s looking forward to working with the government.

“How do they ensure that these assets are still there in 50 years time and in 100 years time, and that this boom is not one in place of the other?”

“We are keen on making sure that we can work with government and that we help partners in working through what we think is pretty visionary.”

The IUCN and local non-government organisations have been asked to help implement the strategy.

PNG is not yet a member of IUCN but Taholo Kami says negotiations are underway, and it’s the best shot PNG has of mainstreaming environmental protection.

“The most important thing from our side is that there is some vision from the leadership, from this government. I think it should be supported,” Kami said.

“They see the importance of biodiversity, the whole thinking about the boom impacting society and communities.”

The IUCN has 1200 member organisations, including 200 governments, and 11,000 volunteer experts and Kami says the Pacific needs commitment to utilise the organisation’s networks.

“What we are often not getting is commitment at the highest level. I think what we are finding in the Pacific, it is not just in Papua New Guinea, also in Vanuatu, in Fiji,” he said.

“We are seeing leadership with places like Palau, and Kiribati and Cook Islands.

“That is the kind of leadership and ambition in terms of doing something with conservation that we have never seen in the last 50 years since independence for many of these countries.”