A PAPUA NEW GUINEA COMMUNITY FACING CLIMATE CHANGE - part 7

 

PART VII

Forest Authority involved in PNG climate change issues from day one

 

by Fay Duega

Public Relations Officer, PNGFA

 

As part of my participation in the four-day media training in April 2019 organized by the PNG REDD+ Programme led by Climate Change Development Authority (CCDA) with support from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) Project/UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), I was tasked to write about how my employer the Papua New Guinea Forest Authority (PNGFA) is involved in the climate change and REDD+ activities of Papua New Guinea, hence this write up.

 

PNGFA has been involved in this subject matter from the very beginning. Below is my interview with Mr. Goodwill Amos, PNGFA Manager for REDD and Climate Change, who was part of the PNG delegation to the Eleventh Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) in Montreal, Canada in 2005 where Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries: Approaches to Stimulate Action (REDDCASA) was introduced for the very first time.

 

Amos, a strong practising Christian said that God was present in the lead up and during the introduction of this proposed agenda in the COP11 meeting in Montreal, Canada in 2005.

“Initially, I didn’t know what RED or REDD+ was all about. “I had attended a funeral service in Pari village, Central province for one of my nieces and was driving back when I received a phone call from a staff of Dr. Wari Iamo, the then Secretary for the then Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC). It was a Wednesday and they told me that I was flying on Saturday to New York and onto Montreal to put this REDDCASA initiative on the agenda.

“After I hung up, just thinking about the long distance, I prayed in the car, saying, Lord I don’t want to waste my time to fly all the way to New York and onto Montreal to put this agenda up, but if it’s your will, then please give me signs that all will go well. Give me window seats on the flights from Port Moresby all the way to Canada.

 “I only had two working days to organize my American visa and travel allowance (TA). The American Embassy issues visas on Tuesdays and Thursdays only and it was Wednesday so I only had Thursday to get my American visa. The next day, I managed to get my visa. On Friday, I got my TA cheque from DEC located at Waigani at about 1.50pm and the Bank of PNG (BPNG) closes at 2pm. When I was driving down, I was praying and asked the Lord please, you know that the parking space at the BPNG will be a hassle so please organize a space for me. As I neared the front of the bank, a car pulled out and I pulled in. When I was walking to the bank, I looked at my watch and it was 2:10pm and I knew that the bank had closed. But when I went, the security guard opened the door for me so I walked in. Somebody was right behind me but the guard shut the door on him. I thought of going back and arguing for him but the guard might send me out also so I continued to the teller who were all free.

“That was Friday and I successfully got my American visa and organized my TA within two days, which I saw as God being in charge and taking control of the situation.

“The next sign for all to go well at the COP11 for me, was for the Lord to give me window seats all the way.

“On Saturday, for my flight from Jackson’s Airport, Port Moresby to Brisbane, Australia, I didn’t ask for a window seat. I left it in the Lord’s hands to direct the traffic officers. When I got on the plane and looked at my ticket, it was a window seat. I wasn’t excited. In Brisbane we changed planes for the trip to Sydney and I was given another window seat. From Sydney to Los Angeles (LA), a window seat as well. I wasn’t excited. From LA to New York, another window seat.

“The next day was the presentation of the proposed REDDCASA agenda at the PNG Embassy in New York. That was my first time to hear about this subject matter. RED and REDD+ did not come up until after the REDDCASA agenda was accepted at COP11. The presentation was done by PNG’s chief negotiator Kevin Conrad to Pacific Island countries also interested in this matter. Kevin spoke about how forests in developing countries like PNG will be kept to absorb carbon for developed countries who will then compensate us. After the presentation, I asked Kevin if he consulted our people and he responded that he consulted the government only. I then explained to him that the forests in PNG belong to the people so they need to be consulted. His response was: this was something that was moving very fast so he had to work with the government.

“However, I take my hat off to Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare who was the Prime Minister then. He made this work possible because at various meetings all over the world that he attended and spoke at, including the Pacific Islands Forum and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGMs), he always promoted this initiative.

“The PNG delegation to COP11 was headed by the then Minister for Environment and Conservation William Duma. The others included Dr Wari Iamo, Dr. Gunther Joku, the current Managing Director of Conservation and Environment Protection Authority, formerly the DEC, Bob Tate from the Forest Industries Association and officers from the PNG Embassy in New York, amongst others.

“The next day, we flew from New York to Montreal, Canada for the three-week COP11 meeting which was held from November 28-December 9^th, 2005. This time I was really excited to see where I would sit and again, I was given a window seat. The flight from New York to Montreal is about 30-45 minutes and I was so happy. I knew that this agenda would go through so in the plane I was punching the air saying, God you are too good. This is going to be a goer. When we arrived in Montreal, that’s where the actions started - the negotiations. The first two weeks were very hectic as we had to negotiate with like-minded parties.

“Two parties are needed for any agenda to progress further. In the first week, parties were turning us away. We asked Australia, Brazil and Bolivia to partner with us to put forward the REDDCASA agenda, but they all refused. It would take just one party out of the 194 parties (now increased to 197) present to disagree and the agenda would be thrown out. Costa Rica however agreed to partner PNG on this REDDCASA agenda and the proposed agenda became known as from PNG/Costa Rica.

“Parties refused to be part of the PNG agenda because they thought it would be knocked off. This was because previously, under the Kyoto Protocol, they were using Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) which looked at reafforestation and reforestation which dealt with plantation forests. Here PNG and Costa Rica - countries with forests were involving natural forests. We were saying, you can look at reafforestation and afforestation from plantation forests but we have this big natural forest absorbing carbon that should also be considered. However, people had their own views saying technically, it would be difficult to monitor all these things so they did not want to go down that path - until PNG and Costa Rica decided to put up the REDDCASA agenda at COP11.

“While big nations paid US$10,000 and had big offices with great facilities, PNG couldn’t afford such an office. However, I chose a remote place within the meeting venue which had everything at no extra cost. It was like God appointed the place for PNG. We didn’t have all those facilities but we had coffee, fruits and a nice big open space in a remote location, well placed to conduct meetings.

“The other members of the delegation were doing other stuff while Kevin and I concentrated on the negotiations. In the second week, Kevin asked me to go look for America’s chief negotiator. I walked out, went to a corner where he could not see me and prayed, saying: “Father, I am looking for the chief negotiator for the Americans, wherever he is, send him to me. The next minute, he came saying, PNG, I’m looking for you. And I replied, America, I’m looking for you too. I took him to Kevin who spoke to him on our behalf.

 “When he left, Kevin asked me to look for Australia’s chief negotiator. Same thing, I went to the corner where he could not see me and prayed, Lord, I’m looking for the Australian chief negotiator. Wherever he is, we need to speak to him. Next minute, he came our way saying PNG, we are looking for you, to which I replied Australia - we are looking for you too. America and Australia are the key people. The last party PNG needed to talk to was Tuvalu. It had only one delegate in Australian Ian Fry who represented Tuvalu.

 “Imagine trying to find the lone Tuvalu chief negotiator amongst over 10,000 delegates from 194 parties/nations. I knew Ian Fry but finding him amongst over 10,000 delegates is a mammoth task. Again, I asked the Lord for Ian Fry and a minute later, he came looking for us. I took him to Kevin, who negotiated with him and he eventually agreed.

“After the chief negotiators of America, Australia and Tuvalu left, Kevin asked, Mr. Amos, how did you bring these guys in record time? I said, you Americans have the latest laptops, latest mobile phones, latest everything, I use the one that has been there before time began – prayer. I just asked, and the Lord brought them to me. Kevin’s parents used to be missionaries in Wewak, East Sepik province so he understood.

“All the parties were against the PNG/Costa Rica agenda in the first week so as part of the negotiations, Kevin reminded them that at this specific meeting on this date, your prime minister/president agreed to this agenda. They then called home and got confirmation of what Kevin had told them. As a result of this, in the second week, different parties became our allies.

“One thing I liked about Kevin is, he’s a very good negotiator. That helped us to pull this through. He knew who to talk to and how to talk to them to get them on our side. The major players, the Americans and Australians were now on our side. Tuvalu, the tiniest of all nations, was also on our side.

“We had to talk to Tuvalu because it was initially against our agenda. We negotiated with Tuvalu to support our agenda in exchange for our support for their adaptation agenda. Tuvalu was talking adaptation while PNG was more into mitigation, both to do with reducing emissions.

“The third and final week we were ready to put up the REDDCASA agenda. It was the only agenda we were trying to push through with regards to mitigation. Other things were going on but this agenda with its negotiations were really hot.

“The place was packed with 10,000 plus delegates in their allocated party/nation spots. We were sitting behind Minister Duma. Then the Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin who was the chair of the COP11 began to introduce the proposed agenda. It was like God was present in the meeting venue. Ours was the only agenda so after the chairman introduced it, he looked around to see if any party would disagree by putting up their flag. Just one flag up will see it thrown out. It was like God held the hands of all the parties and everybody just froze. If somebody had dropped a pin, you would have heard it.

 “The Chairman and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin waited for over a minute and when no party moved, he came down with his small hammer like thing otherwise known as the gravel, hit the bench and announced “so be it”.

 “You should see the place as it erupted with cheers for PNG/Costa Rica. All the nations/parties stood up, it was like the engine of a 747 jet airliner starting. A very big roar went up, and they all made a big bee line to where we (PNG) were seated. When they were coming to shake our hands for putting up the agenda, Dr. Wari Iamo said, man, this is divine intervention. Dr. Wari said it, I didn’t say it.

 “That’s where it all started. From there, various workshops and COP meetings were conducted trying to refine things. From one ‘D’, we now have two ‘Ds’, and the plus (+) came on, after 11-12 years.

“We are now in the 14^th year since the introduction of the agenda in 2005. From RED with the single ‘D’ standing for deforestation, the Africans added the second ‘D’ which stands for forest ‘Degradation’, taking into account their many logging operations.

“The plus (+) is for conservation, enhancement of carbon stock to do with afforestation, reforestation, and sustainable forest management.

“PNGFA has been involved in climate change from the start. However, because of the Climate Change Management Act, the responsibility has been transferred to Climate Change Development Authority. PNGFA however still has a part to play because REDD+ is all about forests. CCDA is PNG’s mouthpiece on climate change issues and deals with policy issues while the action bit is done by PNGFA.

 

The PNGFA has a REDD and Climate Change Branch and many of the issues in addressing the effects of climate change and responding to international communique are undertaken by PNGFA. CCDA seeks the input of bodies such as PNGFA, and others where required.

The Conference of the Parties is the supreme body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. COP 11/CMP1 was the first COP that served as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP1) since their initial meeting in Kyoto in 1997. The event marked the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. COP11 came up with the Montreal Action Plan which is an agreement to extend the life of the Kyoto Protocol beyond its 2012 expiration date and negotiate deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

 

REDD+ is enshrined under Article 5 of the Paris Agreement which PNG ratified in 2016.

 

 

A PAPUA NEW GUINEA COMMUNITY FACING CLIMATE CHANGE part 6

 

A PAPUA NEW GUINEA COMMUNITY FACING CLIMATE CHANGE

Picture captions

TOP - Batalomew Waka pointing to a coconut stump submerged by the sea.

MIDDLE - Part of a road eroded by the rising sea level.

BOTTOM - Children in Pokili area running along the beach.

 

Part VI

Batalomew’s experiences on climate challenges

Batalomew Waka, 65 years of age, is a strong advocate for environment conservation and climate change mitigation efforts.

As a village elder and awareness chairman of the Pokili Wildlife Management (WMA) in the Vavua LLG of West New Britain Province, Waka movingly tells how climate change is affecting the communities of Makasili, also in the Vavua LLG.

Here, the local landowners who once lived in harmony with their seas and had beautiful shorelines in their home fronts, are now being forced inland by the rising sea level. For Waka and his community, this is a growing concern as a result of climate change.

“During my early days, we had never seen any changes like what you are seeing here today’, Waka expressed as he pointed to the shorelines where stumps of coconuts remained submerged in the sea.

“The sea level rise is claiming our land along the coastline from Makasili to Pokili including our freshwater catchment areas as we watch helplessly. We feel disturbed by the rising sea level. This is a daily experience we constantly endure with in our lives. It is painful but is real”, Waka expressed.

Similar sentiments have been expressed by clan members of villages situated along the Makasili area where huge parts of their land are increasing claimed by the sea.

Besides the rising sea level, communities in between Makasili and Pokili are also being confronted by other development challenges. One of which is the intrusion of unsustainable logging operations for palm oil developments. These operations remain a threat to their pristine forests and the habitats living there in. 

“As the sea is claiming our land, large tracts of forests are being cleared for palm oil development which also remains a serious concern for us all. Currently our waters are no longer clean because of huge soil erosion through forest clearance for palm oil developments. Our people have to go very far to fetch clean drinking water”.

“During the rainy seasons, there are soil erosions from where timbers are harvested which also pollute nearby rivers downstream”.

Waka’s account of plight endured through the impacts of climate change and unsustainable logging remains a need for concerted effort and dialogue among especially the Pokili Community which has a large tract of secondary forest together with the local LLGs, Provincial Administration and other relevant authorities.

Amidst the development challenges, the Pokili community remains adamant that their last tracts of forests are kept intact and are managed in a sustainable manner for long-term social, economic and environmental benefits. They have taken a bold stand by committing a huge portion of 10, 535 hectares as conservation area which has been recognized and registered as the Pokili WMA.

During a Climate Change and forestry (REDD+) Media Training field trip recently, organized by the Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA) with the support of UNDP/Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), Waka and a few elders in his village were captivated when introduced to the concepts of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation known as REDD+. REDD+ is a climate change mitigation approach through the reduction of forest loss which PNG is undertaking through implementation of improved policies and measures led by CCDA.

“I’ve learnt a little about REDD+ through a few workshops in in Kimbe and Port Moresby and I’ve found it very interesting.

“The principles of REDD+ were community beneficial and if that works well with us (communities) in promoting and sustainably managing our forests and environment, we are willing to support because our forests, seas and the environment are the essence of our lives’, Waka said.

Waka said, as the village elder and awareness chairman of the Pokili community, it is their wish to see that human induced activities resulting in their natural environment which includes, the land, the sea and the forest are stopped.

“Life feels incomplete without any of these three’, said waka emphatically. I see all these children (as he pointed to the children running along the beach) and I am always concerned about what the future holds for them in relation to these challenges”, said Waka concerningly.

In bringing these concerns to light, Waka expressed the need to have their plight communicated at different levels to identify better options in mitigating the risks posed by climate change and the development challenges faced by their community.

 

A PAPUA NEW GUINEA COMMUNITY FACING CLIMATE CHANGE part 5

 

A PAPUA NEW GUINEA COMMUNITY FACING CLIMATE CHANGE

Part V

ADVENTURES of WOOFY BROWN

 

This is crusty Mister Brown. He lives his life on the trot. Maybe with a woof, woof here and a hoof hoof over there.
He roams wild and free, between his house in Makasili and Vavua villages, wagging his tail in happiness and with his antenna pricked on high frequency to pick out trouble, especially from his number one opponent Mister Black.

After all, they both got the same interest at heart, the beautiful princess Missy White, who comes out to wash at Koimumu beach nearby only when the moon is full!

That’s when the tug-of-war between Brown of Makasili and Black of Vavua starts for the heart throb of Koimumu beach.

You will sometimes find Brown on the Pokili ‘bus rot’ on a steady trot heading for the bush land to try his luck on sniffing out some ‘wael abus’ (bush tucker) to share with amorous Missy White.

He is a sort of tough guy at this end of 'pasin west' country. Sometimes when his doggy tummy rumbles, he can sniff out a fireplace at the wag of his bushy tail.

Lofty met Mister Brown some time ago on the beach at Makasili, a village on the sandy shores of doggy bay. I was returning from the Pokili hot springs in Hoskins, West New Britain, a place Brown probably already knows all too well.

His furry brown shiny coat reminded me of my brown towel, which, by the way is affectionately known as Brownie.

And since my grandson Junior Paddy has a great love for dogs, Lofty just had to make sure Mister Brown got a morsel for his troubles, lest he report me on the woof dog com to the dog pound master dog handler Donald ‘woof woof’ Otto somewhere on the eastern half of the island.

Which brings me to our very own Mister Brown, which eventually became our first Hachiko.

We lost Mr Brown aka Hachiko the First early, awfully, quite accidentally, which was a very sad chapter in our doggy tribe.

We manage to raise six of them pups in Lae. They were all named Hachiko. So seeing Mister Brown on the sniff for a bite, Mister Lofty had to offer him a meaty morsel.

Dog is always man’s best friend. They are friendly, playful, smart, cheerful and will follow their master anywhere and everywhere.

Be nice to your animals, look after your cats and dogs and pigs, take care of your wildlife in the bush too!

A PAPUA NEW GUINEA COMMUNITY FACING CLIMATE CHANGE part 3

 

Fisherman Luke and his sons in Makasili.

Part III

THE FOREST GUIDE, RANGER & THE FISHERMAN

THE rain comes down. A steady welcome shower.

We have been walking in the forest for 10 minutes.

My guide touches my shoulder.

He nods his old head and cocks his ear. We listen together. I can hardly hear anything in the rain, but he asks anyway.

“Kerema, yu harim? Em tasol, pisim ya wael faul.” (Kerema, can you hear? That is the bird, the wild fowl).

My guide is Tony Taumu from Makasili village near Hoskins. Tony is a passionate man when it comes to conservation in his community.

On this day, he and other village elders shepherd us to the Pokili hot springs to show us what they are doing to preserve their heritage.

Everybody in the group has decamped for the car park half a kilometre away, after spending an hour at one of West New Britain’s most spectacular hot springs known as Pokili, deep in the forests of Hoskins.

It’s stunning and breathtaking natural formation. I’ve seen a sprinkling of hotsprings in life but this one is magnificent in its steaming lake.

We resume our walk through the forest. Tony knows every tree, every root, every soot and every herb. And every bird of the air and ground. He can tell you the local name just by its call. He is a bushman and an expert at wildlife. You have to admire his bushcraft.

Certain bird calls tell him where he is. Certain trees signal his location. Even the wind in the branches are a sign of what sort of weather is expected. Tony knows this forest like the palm of his hand.

He is a man of the forest, brought up to understand the law of the forest and its impact on the lives of his people. He and his fellow leaders also recognize the devastating effect of climate change on their people if the forest is lost to deforestation or degradation.

On this trip, organized by the UNDP under its REDD+ program and supervised by the PNG Government’s Climate Change Office, 20 young journalists are participating in an important step to understanding climate change and how the REDD+ works, mainly in developing countries.

The workshop was designed to give the local journalists an understanding of REDD+, climate change and global warming so they can effectively report when it comes to issues and news releases on REDD+.

West New Britain is also on the Pacific rim of fire and hosts a number of active and dormant volcano.

Not far from Pokili is Mount Pago, its last eruption recorded in 2012, an event that almost devastated the Pokili forestry and laid waste to some of the villages.

Four decades ago, a logging concession was awarded to a Japanese lumber company to log in the Hoskins area. However, when the leaders of 10 villages in the area realized the devastating effects of logging, they applied to the national government to stop logging in their part of the logging concession.

They were successful and the area was turned into the Pokili Wildlife Management Area, now managed by a committee headed by Manuel Kosi from Koimumu village.

On his committee are Taumu and Bart Waka. Working with them are five rangers who include Conrad Vavala and Gabby Porapora.

The WMA is huge and the work of the rangers is tiresome, cumbersome at most times, a challenge, says ranger Conrad.

Earlier in the day, as our 4 wheel drive lurches and sways over an uneven dirt road, Conrad tells me how he wanders in the forest tracking egg poachers.

Like Taumu, Conrad is an expert in bush craft and can easily detect time and movement of people in the bush by looking at foot prints, disturbed flora and attempts by poachers to cover their tracks.

“Some people steal eggs from other people’s land and so we have to keep track of who goes in and out of the forest,” he says.

The megapode eggs are larger than the normal sized chicken eggs. They are tasty and packed with healthy vitamins and enriched minerals. They make a good substitute for protein.

On the commercial local market, an egg, boiled or roasted over fire, sells fast for K2. A clutch of 24 eggs can fetch K48 in under an hour so the value of the egg is quite high and the demand increasing among indigenes.

But in this forest, with the 10 villages of Koimumu, Ubae, Lavege, Rapuri, Vavua, Tagaragara, Galilo, Karapi, Makasili and Gulerikau, the population is expanding gradually. At nearly 8000 plus people, there is added pressure on the land.

Each village is given a section of the forest to harvest eggs says Conrad. However, some people with limited source of income, especially palm oil, tend to stray into poaching.

Conrad says when he catches poachers, he reports them to the local village court, which recommends an option of a monetary fine or community work of cutting grass.

Most offenders opt to do community service along the Pokili road and tracks. The road needs serious upgrading, which was brought to the attention of the West New Britain Provincial Administrator Hosea Williamson.

A PAPUA NEW GUINEA COMMUNITY FACING CLIMATE CHANGE part 2

 

the Pokili hot springs near Hoskins in West New Britain.

Part II – Pokili: Last Forest Standing

We are standing under a huge shady tree beside the Pokili bush road. Our group is sizeable, most young journalists from the radio and TV.

A light drizzle has added to the humidity of the forest and the dampness hangs in the air.

Underfoot, the grass is wet and slippery. We city slickers from Port Moresby, Madang, Kokopo, even Kimbe, are certainly out of our element. This is sixth element greenery.

This is a tropical rainforest where a range of flora and fauna – some yet to be formally discovered – thrive in the biodiversity of life. Fortunately the dreaded mosquitoes haven't zeroed in on our city blood yet.

Appropriately we are on a Climate Change program, learning everything about REDD+ which, if the mosquitoes have any sense of acronyms, should spare us their itchiness for drawing blood, as REDD+ is not even a red blood cell.

REDD+ stands for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation plus conservation, sustainable forest management and enhancement of forest carbon stocks and we've being brought to this forest on a learning experience on how forests are important to rural communities.

Shoes and thongs are abandoned as we gather around the elders of the rainforest. The instructions are simple, stay on the path, stay with your guide and observe the local rules.

Then we trudge off into the jungle, bound for one of West New Britain's active and lively hot springs.

It is getting damp and sweaty. There is a fair bit of slipping and sliding. Seems like fun but you can't beat the feeling of being in a rainforest. For people so used to city life, the forest feels surreal, its weird sounds, its strange smell, its collection of odd tree life, even its bird life, all these add up to the excitement.

After half an hour of huffing and puffing, slipping and sliding, the rangers alert us to the distinct smell of sulphur, signalling we are close to the beauty of the Pokili hot springs.

The deep forest canopy gives way to light shrub and shortly we are greeted by a majestic lake of simmering, steaming water, its sulphuric emissions seemingly nauseous and its shore bubbling with  pulverised mud.

A breathtaking sight veiled in the jungle, protected by the surrounding forests of the Pokili wildlife management.

In the last couple of days, through a conference supported by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, UNDP involving various national and provincial stakeholders, we have been enlightened on REDD+ and its relevance to climate change mitigation.

The green forest and the lake of bubbly steam somehow strike me as contrasting in the natural scheme of life. One is green and full of life. The other is bubbly and hot, devoid of plant or animal life.

But the mere existence of the forest and the lake of fire are in essence, complimentary to the lives of the Nakanais.

You have to admire the tenacity of the Pulabe people in the Lavege, Koimumu, Rapuri, Vavua, Galilo, Makasili, Karapi, Gule, Rikau and Gavuvu villages, who are part of the extended coastal Nakanai tribe.

For over 40 years, they have tenaciously hung onto their belief that their last remaining rainforest is their source of lumber, food, medicine, shelter, gardening, and keeper of their lands and source of their water.

On an island where logging has chewed up vast area of rainforests, the Pokili WMA is one of the few remaining strands of virgin forests on the island.

And in it lies the hopes of the Pulabe people and their future generations.

 

A PAPUA NEW GUINEA COMMUNITY FACING CLIMATE CHANGE part 1

 

PNG journalists, trainers and guardians of Pokili.

Local environmental scientist Desmond Vargello and trainer from Vietnam Thy

Receding shoreline due to rising sea levels in Makasili village, Hoskins, West New Britain.

Part 1: POKILI – THE LONG ROAD

The dusty road is somewhat long and bumpy.

However, on the West New Britain map, it looks short and straight.

But the reality on the ground is different for the Hoskins to Pokili road in the Talasea district. For the Nakanai locals, it’s a backbreaking track they have had to endure for some time now.

From Hoskins, the road passes through Vovosi, Porapora onto Makasili than further into the forests of the Pokili wildlife management area (WMA).

Here the deterioration of the road is noteworthy. As is the case with many rural roads in PNG, there are crater like potholes everywhere. The significant contribution to road deterioration is lack of maintenance.

And CLIMATE CHANGE.

The Hoskins to Pokili road is a government road. It serves over 8,000 people in Hoskins LLG in the Talasea district.

From April 7-12, 2019, in Kimbe, the provincial capital of West New Britain, a group of young PNG journalists gathered at the Hotel Genesis to learn more about Climate Change, global warming and the impacts on communities around Papua New Guinea.

A key word on the big screen in their conference room was REDD+, which stands for Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation, reduction of emissions from Degradation of forests, conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests and Enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

At the local level, it was an effort to teach journalists on climate change reporting as well as understand REDD+ and have a real time appreciation on issues that relate to impacts on communities so their reporting can help locals recognize the real effects of climate change.

The conference was funded by the UNDP, organized by the Climate Change Development Authority and supported by the PNG Forest Authority, with input from the West New Britain Government’s Environment division.

The team included experts Ms Heang Thy from Cambodia, and Papua New Guineans, Ms Lydia Nenai (CCDA), Ms Deborah Meana (REDD+), Mr Samson Kupale (CCDA), Mrs Ethel Namuri (CCDA) and former Wantok Niuspepa General Manager Ms Anna Solomon.

Mr Desmond Vagelo, representing the West New Britain Provincial Government’s environment division, gave an insight into climate change and environment issues in the province.

But the real challenge for the whole team was the long road trip to Pokili along a scenic coast road that has already suffered from rising sea levels over the last decade which is attributed to the effects of climate change.

The road itself is the economic lifeline for the Nakanai people, who rely on it to transport their oil palm fruits, cocoa and coconuts and their garden produce to markets in Kimbe. Their prized catch is the exotic wild fowl or megapode egg, found in the Pokili WMA.

In Pokili is their other gem – the bubbly Pokili hot springs - the stunning beauty of this geothermal lake formation is beyond imagination. And in this steamy cauldron, an offshoot of the nearby active Mount Pago volcano, the megapodes thrive.

The road from Porapora passes the Moramora technical college, opened by former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill in 2011.

The degradation of the once scenic beach road from rising sea levels is clearly evident to the coastal Makasili and Vavua villages. The villagers there point out that the road has being washed away 3 times. We are travelling on the fourth section.

From Makasili, we head into the rainforest. Any semblance of a proper road ends here. This is 4 wheel drive country, with thick foliage, rainforest cover, birds, insects and dense undergrowth.

A newcomer can easily be lost in the forest, but we are not taking any chances.

This road on the map is the bush track leading to one of West New Britain’s most exotic steaming hot lakes.