No funds to manage conservation area, minister reveals

MINISTER for Environment, Conservation and Climate Change Wera Mori has told Parliament that there is no funding for the management of the Managalas conservation area in Ijivitari, Northern.
Mori said the Managalasi area had been managed by non-governmental organisations and donor partners.
“We need to make money available because our funding for managing such activities has been knocked back,” he told Parliament yesterday.
“There has been lack of financial support and our other sources of revenue, including levies imposed on logging companies to manage such areas, have been non-existent.
“Although we have written to the PNG Forest Authority, this has got to be addressed.” Mori said the world was now talking about protecting the eco-system.
With regards to the tracking of the Protection Bill, Mori said he would make it his business to meet with his management team to revise some of those issues.
“I will write to Governor (Gary) Juffa to inform him to what extent the tracking has been progressed, I will make sure to bring it to Parliament to enact that bill,” Mori said.
Mori, in reference to questions on the establishment of the Conservation Environment Protection Authority (Cepa) board, said it had been a problem with legacy issues.
“It has been cumbersome because the processes involved to appoint Cepa board members for need to be reactivated,” he said.
“This is one of the things that I’ve been working on and it will be a subject of my meeting with the senior management.
“Only this week, environment issues have been raised by governors for Morobe and Gulf and we have to pay attention and put money into such organisations that are going to monitor for us.
“We cannot keep asking and blaming loggers when we don’t have the necessary funding.”