Cepa eyes rehabilitation for Varirata National Park

National

THE Varirata National Park in Sogeri will be rehabilitated to become a model park for the country, according to the Conservation, Environment and Protection Authority.
Deputy managing director Dilu Muguwa revealed this during an environment and conservation project awarding event by United States Agency of International Aid last week.
“Cepa wrote a submission to the Government to rehabilitate one of our major conservation areas in the country – the Varirata National Park,” he said.
“We are working with Jica, UNDP and landowners in Sogeri. We would like to make this a model national park before we replicate it to the rest of the country. The Minister for Environment and Conservation pointed out six potential protected area sites. There are six sites we would be working in the next four to five years to ensure that they become national protected areas.
“Papua New Guinea is considered a bio-diversity hot-spot. It has about seven per cent of the world’s bio-diversity species – a fact to be proud of.
“We see development partners, USAID, AUSAID, Jica, UNDP, and Global Environment Fund and Global Green Fund as very important stakeholders, in terms of collaborating with them to advance and promote environment conservation in the country.”