Parliament to decide on making department an authority

 PARLIAMENT will decide in its next session whether the Department of Environment and Conservation will become an authority.

This was revealed during a two-day workshop for 15 maritime governors in Madang. 

It is to be called the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority.

The workshop is to discuss the Papua New Guinea marine programme from 2014-2017 about protecting and conserving the ecosystems in the coral triangle.

The workshop is a follow up on their meeting in Kokopo last year. 

The aim is to gauge provinces’ views in partnership with relevant departments on what their input are to assist non-government organisations involved in terrestrial and marine management initiatives.

The marine programme was created under the PNG Coral Triangle Initiative National Coordination Committee Secretariat, a section within the Department of Environment and Conservation.

Acting Secretary for Environment Gunther Joku said it was important that such a meeting be organised with guidelines formulating the policies for the marine programme.

“The fact remains that our ecosystems are at great risk with almost 85% of our reefs in the Coral Triangle threatened by human activities and further aggravated by the impacts of global climate change,” he said. 

“In recent years increased population has placed greater demands with food security and poverty being major challenges.

“No single ministry or level of governance or stakeholder can solve these problems alone. So the PNG Coral Triangle coordination committee within the department produced the first marine programme. 

“The programme began by identifying priority actions for all responsible agencies. The goal was to manage our marine habitats effectively”.