Dept keen on conservation

By JASON GIMA WURI
THE government is looking at creating a national protected area policy to help sustain the country’s unique flora and fauna.
Environment and Conservation Minister Thompson Harokaq’veh in Port Moresby yesterday said PNG contained a wealth of biodiversity when he released a discussion paper on such a policy for the country.
 “PNG is one of 18 mega-diverse countries which have a very high number of species,” he said.
“PNG contains more than 7% of the world’s biodiversity in less than 1% of the land area.”
The country’s biodiversity provided timber, food resources and medical supplies for a large proportion of the country’s population.
“Our biodiversity is under significant threat from major resource developments and a rapidly expanding human population and needs to be better protected.
“We have to change our consumption patterns and habits. For instance, we should be looking at alternative forms of energy like biogas, solar and wind energy as sources of energy of energy for cooking instead of depending entirely on fuel and wood.
“We should be looking at bricks and clay materials instead of depending entirely on timber to build houses. There is no policy and we are drilling everywhere,” Harokaq’veh said.
He said he was committed to the development of a National Protected Area System, (NPAS), which would make a major contribution to protecting PNG’s globally and nationally significant biodiversity.
 “I am keen to support the provinces and LLGs to protect areas of importance to local communities.
“However, my priority is to identify and protect nationally significant areas.
 “This document will provide a roadmap for use by my department, other agencies in the national government and all citizens on how we move forward in delivering on the NPAS.
“To achieve the goal of the NPAS will have challenges but it is critical that we start to move forward,” he said.
The release of this paper is the first step in the consultation process for development of the policy. “