Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a country rich in natural resources, including gold, copper, oil, gas, timber and fisheries. Its economic exclusion zone of 3.1 million square kilometers is host to an abundant tuna resource and marine fisheries. The country’s tropical rainforest is the third largest in the world and is characterized by extraordinary biodiversity (more than five per cent of the world’s total). Thirty per cent of the country’s land mass is suitable for agriculture and the soils are generally fertile, with the climate and rainfall sufficient to support a wide range of crops for domestic consumption and export.

However, PNG's poverty has put intense pressure on the government to utilize natural resources to help make trade the engine of economic growth. The exploitation of natural resources, particularly timber has had significant environmental impact and makes PNG a significant contributor to global carbon emissions, while the exploitation of mineral resources (copper and gold, among others) has led to the pollution of rivers and threatens people’s livelihoods. The money generated from these activities has provided minimal benefits to local people. This, added to a steadily increasing population is putting the environment under threat.

Poor people in PNG are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and lack of access to clean, affordable energy services. These issues are also global as climate change, loss of biodiversity and ozone layer depletion cannot be addressed by countries acting alone. UNDP works with the government to help develop policies that protect the environment, achieve the Millennium Development Goals and those that depend on it for their livelihood, as well as strengthening capacity to address environmental challenges at global, national and community levels.

Programme Information:

An invitation: Achieving Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth in PNG, Agenda: Achieving Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth in PNG

Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Capacity Building Project: This project is helping DEC highlight and include environmental issues into the government's development priorities and policies. DEC staff are being trained to identify international environmental funding mechanisms, particularly the Global Environmental Facility, to assist PNG’s environmental planning and management to protect significant environmental assets. This project is on-going until 2012.

Factsheet | Annual Workplan | Project Document | Financial Disbursements and Funding | Achieving Environmentally Sustainable Economic Growth in PNG; Workshop Summary | Agenda

Community Based Eco-Tourism Development: Tourism development can involve many different types of businesses, projects, and targeted markets, but Community Based Eco-Tourism is not only the area of highest growth in the tourism industry, but it is also becoming recognized as the most effective way to harness the tourism business in a way that directs its economic benefits toward local people in an equitable and sustainable manner.

This project, which ends in 2009, is working with the Tourism Promotion Authority of PNG to investigate and prepare for a bigger 4-5 year Community Based Eco-Tourism Plan across three provinces.
Factsheet | Annual Workplan | Project Document | Financial Disbursements and Funding

Milne Bay Conservation and Development: The purpose of this project is support the conservation of Milne Bay’s marine biodiversity by integrating environment focused objectives into marine fisheries, eco-tourism and human security development strategies and programmes. The project will support community-based conservation management demonstrations, working in three designated zones that are representative of Milne Bay’s habitat diversity and different social settings. This project will be closing in 2009.