Papua New Guinea takes strides on improved forest management It is important to protect the forest because it is the life we are attached with, said Urumarave Village Chief Kelly Basebas after his community welcomed USAID LEAF to hold Papua New Guineas first training on forest biomass measurement. The training, held in July in Urumarave and Wagedave Villages in PNGs Madang Province, welcomed more than 30 participants from government agencies, universities and NGOs, and was part of a collaborative Ridges-to-Reef approach to managing Madangs unique natural resources, connecting management of terrestrial landscapes to the coastal systems. The training was tightly integrated with emerging standards and protocols currently being developed under PNGs National Forest Inventory. The Inventory and other forest-related policy and legislation were taken up at a subsequent USAID LEAF hosted national consultation. An overflow crowd of more than 120 stakeholders - including government agencies, NGOs, community representatives and private citizens - provided feedback on a USAID LEAF/UN-REDD review of PNGs current national forest policy and legislation; a critical next step to advance the countrys efforts to address climate change through legal reforms and improved governance. Results from the consultation were incorporated into the review, which can be found here. We want to move to REDD+ and carbon trading. Otherwise, we will lose a lot valuable resources from our forests, including medicines, food, and more, stated Robin Lavuru, Chief of PNGs Heloukaloura Tribe, in support of the review process. A round table discussion on the policy review will be held on October 16, 2014 to decide on which recommendations will be followed up on and the broadening of the consultation process. Elsewhere, USAID LEAF continues to provide technical inputs and support to a number of other policy initiatives at the national level, such as creation of a REDD+ action plan in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, payment for ecosystem services (PES) in Mae Sa-Kog Ma Biosphere Reserve in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and PNGs National Climate Change Policy. The PNG policy review and a report on Mae Sa-Kog Ma PES progress can be accessed through links in the New Resources section below.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 02:49:25 +0000
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