Protected areas workers attend forum

**Traditional dancers from the Trobriand islands of Milne Bay performing at the second Protected Area Forum in Port Moresby on Monday. The Forum will end tomorrow. – Picture supplied**

PEOPLE working in the protected area and biodiversity conservation space throughout the country are in Port Moresby for the second national protected area forum.
The forum, which started on Monday, would end tomorrow but other workshops and programmes will continue including the commemoration of the World Environment Day on Sunday.
Conservation Environment Protection Authority (Cepa) director for sustainable environmental programmes Kay Kalim said the forum was about bringing together the communities, civil society organisations and partners to share knowledge and find better ways to manage protected areas.
She said the first protected area forum was held last year along with the climate emergency forum for only two days.
“The forum now is mainly about introducing what we wanted to do for the protected area community,” she said.
“More or less we are using this avenue to share with all the practioners; the protected area policy and our implementation plan.
“We are partnering with everybody to implement the policy and plan. “We will be putting together what we call a protected area steering committee.”
Kalim said the committee would comprise all the practioners, donor partners, interested groups like community based organisations and people with same interest in doing protection including the national and provincial governments.