Donor happy

 By LAZARUS BIRA

THE project on forest resource monitoring in addressing climate change was one the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) best and most successful projecats in Papua New Guinea, its chief representative says.

Shigeru Sugiyama praised the persistent hard work of individuals involved in making the project a success.

The K25 million project was initially implemented in March 2011 and scheduled to end this month.

It had enriched the Papua New Guinea Forest Authority with  resources and facilities to monitor rainforests and sustainbly manage it to address climate change.

Sugiyama said the rainforest had value to PNG as it contributed to the country’s economy through timber exports, biodiversity and helped lessen the effects of climate change.

“We are still faced with the issues such enduring deforestation and forest degradation,” Sugiyama said.

“Four years ago the government of Japan and PNG had joined hands through the Japanese aid programme on forest preservation to tackle some of the concerns.

“As a technical cooperation, we focused on capacity development to promotes change, technical improvements and long-term benefits by  strengthening the skills of Papua New Guineans.”

Sugiyama said the project duration of three years was very short but so many activities were covered in the short time through the Japanese way of time management. He acknowledged the remarkable commitment and outstanding performances of the people involved in successfully implementing the project.