The 2nd National Protected Areas Forum was held from 30 May to 3 June, 2022 in Port Moresby.
The forum, hosted by the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA), with support from UNDP, brought together over 100 stakeholders from national and provincial governments, representatives of communities which manage protected areas, development partners, NGOs and civil society representatives who participated in person and virtually, to discuss issues facing the management of Protected Areas in PNG. The forum, with its supplemental workshops and programmes, coincided with commemorations of World Environment Day, held on June 5th.
The week’s sessions were organised and led by local NGOs and community-based organisations (CBOs) and discussed pertinent issues facing the Protected Area community, such as the management of protected areas— understanding why good practices around data management and collection are important in protected area and conservation management, and on sustainable livelihoods— providing an overview of various initiatives across Papua New Guinea to bring sustainable livelihoods to protected area communities and conservation methods and practices.
The forum is an annual event and plays an important role in facilitating progress towards the implementation of the national Protected Area Policy. The event also provided the opportunity to share a digital toolkit that supports communities and organisations interested in establishing, managing and conserving PNG’s protected areas. The toolkit can be found at www.pngbiodiversity.org
