THE effect of the rise in sea level is now a very serious concern for outlaying islands and villages along the coast of Papua New Guinea.
Though concerns had been raised through reports nothing has been said of late about when and how to address the issue.
Porebada village in Central province and villages along the coastline of Siar and Bogia districts and neighbouring islands in Madang province are just a few that are now facing the brunt of rising sea levels or rather the effects of climate change.
Porebada, a Motuan village just outside Port Moresby, is quietly seeing one of its cemeteries being washed away.
According to a concerned villager, Karua Walo, the cemetery was used during the 1960s and 1970s until it was closed in the early 1990s due to the impact of the rising sea level.
“Back in the early 1970s, this cemetery was more than 20 metres from the shoreline.
“But now, as you can see, the shoreline has gone past the cemetery,” Mr Walo told The National at the site.
A visit by The National to Porebada last Saturday showed nothing of a cemetery but a shoreline and dried up seabed scattered with headstones and cement monuments surrounded by washed-up seaweed and algae which once marked the resting place of the dead.
The National team with Mr Walo also came across a human bone lying in the open where the waves had left it before the tide receded.
It was low tide when The National paid the visit, but just imagine if it was high tide - an underwater graveyard.
The sad side of this story, according to Mr Walo, no one in the community has come forward with constructive measures to save what remains of the cemetery.
“Despite the present shoreline being washed away along with the cemetery, nothing has been done to save it,” he said.
Despite the frightening impact and the rate at which the beachfront is being washed away, Mr Walo said one of the contributing factors was the cutting down of mangroves along the village’s seafront for building purposes and firewood, and the collection of sand to put under houses and backyards.
“Now with the rise in population, that means more houses are built and more sand and mangroves are collected and harvested,” Mr Walo said.
Sand and mangroves act as wave-breakers in places where the shoreline is not lined up with rocks. However, the latter also act as wind-breakers during stormy times.
Porebada is situated on a flat stretch of sandy coastline with most parts wetland as you move up from the beachfront - nothing of resistance to stop rising high tides and waves.
If people are not mindful of their actions then the village is heading for a catastrophe.
Mr Walo said although the rising sea level was noted about 10 years ago, the process was now faster than ever.
“By looking at this, you can predict what is likely to happen to our village in less than 10 years’ time,” he said.
According to Mr Walo, houses along the beach and the village’s primary school, located about 50m away from the beachfront, were also under threat.
“Previously, it was just news but now it’s happening right here on our shores,” Mr Walo said, adding the community and relevant authorities should address the issue immediately.
He revealed that what had become of the cemetery was a lack of foresight, initiative, awareness and action.
“If we are planning for future developments then, it is a must this issue of rising sea level must be addressed as there will be no point coming up with developments that will only be swept away by destructive tidal waves.”
Mr Walo appealed to the Porebada local level government leaders and leaders at the top tier to look into the matter and come up with urgent preventive measures.
Meanwhile, villages along the coastline of Siar and Bogia are also fast losing their beachfronts as a result of the impact of the rising sea level, which is accompanied by destructive huge waves.
Awar village in the Bogia district is facing a similar fate as Porebada.
According to a concerned villager, the rising seas are eroding their burial grounds leaving skeletal remains of dead people scattered everywhere.
“We are now reburying washed up remains on higher grounds,” the concerned villager told The National.
“Even though the remains of the dead are reburied, our sea, which we rely on for our everyday needs, is already polluted.”
Like Porebada and Awar, Siar is also losing its shorelines fast.
Chairman of Tab Island Marine Wildlife Management Areas and deputy coordinator of Madang Lagoon Locally-Managed Marine Areas (LMMA) network Tamlong Tabb said villages along the Siar seafront and neighbouring islands are now seeing the disastrous effect of global warming.
“Huge waves with extra-ordinary force are eroding stone walls that protect our beachfronts and palms, which act as windbreakers,” Mr Tabb said.
“And soon houses will be swept away and life lost if no preventive measures are taken as there is now nothing to stop the waves. The waves are nothing of any sort we’ve seen before,” he added.
Frighteningly, the next continuous direct strong winds, which comes with huge destructive waves, on these seafronts would see some houses having their post hanging lose, Mr Tabb said.
Both concerned Madang leaders are calling on the National Government and Madang provincial government, through the provincial disaster and emergency services division, to carry out case studies and draw down funds to erect proper seawalls along the seafronts to prevent further erosion.
They urged the relevant bodies to fast-track their concerns as time is running out fast.
Mr Tabb also stressed the need to build a seawall around Madang Lagoon as it is a marine protected area, “and as far as marine conservation and tourism is concerned it should be preserved at all costs”.
The rise in sea level is one of the obvious consequences of changes in the world’s climates.
Scientifically, the earth is getting warmer and causing icecaps to melt. The melted ice flows into the ocean and increases its volume, causing the sea to rise.
Generally, the cause of it has been blamed on the tonnes of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere daily by carbon fuel-powered manufacturing and processing plants around the world.
The world over has been hit by untold disasters in recent times with casualties amounting to thousands. Are all these related to this global dilemma?
A dilemma it is! A continual process that cannot be stopped but can only be prevented through effective regulatory measures and policies.
For Papua New Guinea, when such a thing will be put in place and for it to be implemented is for the relevant authorities to answer but like other parts of the world PNG is facing the brunt of the impact of climate change, especially, the rise in sea level.
According to an officer with the Department of Environment and Conservation, though PNG lacked the technology in assessing the impacts of climate change extensively, “the only realistic thing to do is to set up a policy to regulate and limit greenhouse gas emission”.
The officer revealed that “at the moment there is no specific response policy or measures in place” to address the impact of climate change or as in these cases the impact of rising sea levels.
“The only mitigation policy in place is the one under the Disaster Management Office to respond to emergencies arising from all forms of disasters.”
The role of assessing the impact of climate change and setting up of preventive measures has been moved to the newly established Climate Change Office.
“Before then, we did a very broad assessment on climate change in the country, which resulted in the first national communication report that identifies the impacts of rising sea level in terms of climate change,” the Department of Environment and Conservation officer said.
The department also put together a climate change adaptation strategy policy frame work, which is now with the Climate Change Office.
“This is no longer an environmental issue, it is an issue that will affect all aspects of our livelihood, therefore, all related sectors will have to come together with the Climate Change Office experts to come up with an effective response policy.”
Right now the best thing to do for places without seawalls is to stop collecting sand and rocks and cutting down mangroves and palms on seafronts. Instead plant new ones.