Bumpy ride for conservation in PNG as lack of roads hinders activities

By Lucy EJ Woods - Mongabay

• Much of Papua New Guinea remains inaccessible by road and the existing roads are often in poor condition.
• While lack of road access has historically helped to keep ecosystems intact, it comes with both social and environmental downsides.
• Some communities are negotiating with resource extraction companies who promise to provide roads and other needed services. Lack of infrastructure also hampers efforts to monitor and protect the environment.
• Some NGOs, whose work suffers from difficult and expensive travel to project areas, call for carefully planned expansion of the road network.

The four-wheel-drive is king of the road in Papua New Guinea. Driving anywhere outside the capital, Port Moresby, is a whiplash roulette of swerving around zigzag crevices and blindsiding potholes.

When the Australian government, a primary source of infrastructure aid funding for PNG, evaluated PNG’s road management from 2007-2017, it found almost 60 percent of national roads to be “in very poor condition.”

This included sections of PNG’s sparse highways. Although the Pacific island nation is about the size of California, and has as many people as Switzerland (8 million), it has just three highways. These highways pass through PNG’s central provinces. None lead to, or from, Port Moresby, colloquially referred to as “Pom.”

This lack of road access makes it difficult for rural schools, hospitals and other services to receive supplies and staff. It also leaves the 80 percent of PNG’s population that live in rural areas stranded and isolated from essential services. “When people are sick, many people walk, and they die while walking to reach medical services,” says Kenn Mondai, executive director of local conservation NGO Partners with Melanesians (PwM).

The underdeveloped road systems also put environmental NGOs in a bind. Such groups rarely advocate for road construction, which is linked to forest fragmentation and biodiversity loss. In PNG, however, they find themselves backing the maintenance and construction of paved roads. Here, the lack of vehicular access is so acute it limits the abilities of environmental groups to reach remote rural communities and to conserve wildlife.

The scarce infrastructure “sure makes the job harder,” says Peter Dam from FORCERT, an NGO that works with forest communities in PNG.

The only way for NGOs to reach people, is “by plane or road,” says Kafuri Yaro, a conservation officer for WWF PNG.

The lack of transport choices leaves NGOs saddled with a heavy conscience and a steep bill: forking out for carbon-intensive jeeps to tackle the barely there, broken roads, or for even more carbon-intensive, expensive and sometimes dangerous helicopter and light aircraft flights.

“The biggest challenge we face is access to places by our officers,” says Mondai. “Most of our money goes on the travel logistics to get into the project areas, the fuel costs for the cars is very, very, high.” Mondai says the average cost of gasoline is $1.70 per liter. (It’s 85 cents in the U.S.)

PwM struggles to reach its projects in the 3,600-square kilometer (1,390-square mile) Managalas Conservation Area in Oro Province.

The journey from Pom requires a light-aircraft flight to the capital of Oro province, Popondetta, which costs around 1,600 kina ( $474) for a roundtrip. Then it’s a 100-kilometer (60-mile) drive over crumbling or non-existent tarmac in an off-road vehicle.

With gas and flight prices rising, NGOs require generous donations to fund the complex logistics required to navigate PNG’s roadless terrains. And these funds are disappearing.

Environmental NGOs face a multitude of issues in PNG, from kidnapping and death threats to a shortage of legal, scientific and management expertise. But Dam and Yaro both say funding pullouts are the primary, major cause of NGO troubles.

Papua New Guinea is home to dozens of endemic bird species, like this southern crowned pigeon. Image by Elodie Van Lierde, @elodietravelphotography.

Environmental NGOs in PNG are usually funded by external donors and philanthropists with interests in protecting PNG’s immense biodiversity. Recently, however, there has been “a shift” in these vital donations, leaving NGOs fraught, says Yaro.

In 2014, Greenpeace halted 17 years of activism in PNG, reportedly because of donors pulling out.

The local WWF office has also faced funding challenges, and decided to downsize, from several, well-staffed offices, to just two: one in Pom and one in Madang. “We were affected by funding. We’ve only had four staff since 2012, and really struggled the last five years,” says Yaro.

Local NGOs, including Eco Forestry Forum, and the Environmental Law Centre (founded by Goldman Environmental Prize winner Annie Kajir) have also scaled back or ceased operations in recent years. Today there is “a limited number of local environmental NGOs, and that is a bit of a concern, that the NGO movement has gone down,” says Dam.

When Dam began working in PNG with FORCET, back in 1985, “there were all these organizations that were doing the ground work,” says Dam, “it was almost a height of the NGO movement.”

But over the last decade, “they all fell over,” says Dam.

While there are many complex reasons NGOs can collapse, environmental NGOs in PNG “just don’t survive without donors,” says Yaro.

With conservation officers prevented from reaching places that need protection because of the lack of roads, and campaigns failing because they cannot fund the high logistics costs, illegal loggers take their chances. Logging in the perimeters of the protected Managlas Plateau is an ongoing challenge, Mondai says. PwM conservation officers “cannot reach the areas,” as adequate monitoring “can only be effectively done if the road is maintained.”

A road winds it way through a remote mountain village in PNG’s Jimi Valley. Image by Elodie Van Lierde, @elodietravelphotography.

Currently, as reported previously by Mongabay, the strategy for road infrastructure employed by PNG’s government, is to seek aid from logging companies, mining and other extractive industries.

Roads in PNG are “built purposely for logging operations. Because of this, we have seen faster losses in forest area, and degradation,” says Mondai. “Animals are disturbed and many disappear or go away, due to the disturbance from chainsaw engines, trucks and bulldozers.”

This includes bird species such as the cockatoo and hornbill, which require old, hollow trees to lay their eggs – the same trees that are removed by loggers. “It is sad. Birds like these are unique. They always use the same tree for breeding year after year,” says Mondai.

To conserve PNG’s protected areas and its endemic species, any road development plans, “must consider the forest and biodiversity,” says Mondai, who recommends planned, “specialized,” roads that meet strict environmental assessment standards.

Providing tailored, environmentally focused road access will open up alternatives to relying on the extractive industries for infrastructure in PNG.

“Roads provides choices – choices to refuse logging and mining,” says Dam.

Identifying where and how sustainable infrastructure can be developed to maximize benefits to people who need road access most, while still conserving the environment, is a key task for NGOs, Dam says. And despite the potholes along the way, he says the few NGOs that remain dedicated and persistent in PNG will continue working “to find the balance between the spiritual interests of the people, the social-economic interests, and environmental interests.”

Go to this link for more: https://news.mongabay.com/2019/06/bumpy-ride-for-conservation-in-png-as-lack-of-roads-hinders-activities/

PNG urged to improve disasters response capacity

Posted on Radio New Zealand

Papua New Guinea's new government is being pressed to build the country's capacity to respond to disasters.

The National Disaster Centre is making a submission to the cabinet of new prime minister James Marape.

It stresses the vulnerability of PNG to multiple natural disasters, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, cyclones and flooding.

Two earthquakes over magnitude-seven struck PNG last month - one in Bulolo distinct on the mainland, the other in the islands region between New Britain and New Ireland.

The centre's acting director, Bill Hamblin, said luckily these quakes didn't match the devastation of last year's 7.5 quake in the Highlands. But he said they were reminders of the need to be prepared.

"One of the things we're now working on feverishly is to improve our disaster capacity, for response and being prepared; putting in regional stores and supplies; pre-positioning non-perishable supplies; and having the equipment to move those supplies."

Dr Hamblin said that over the years the national disaster response capacity had diminished, for various reasons.

"So, it's now that we have a look at this, and we see the effects of climate change, we see more of these issues happening with landslips etc in the country," he said.

Dr Hamblin cited last month's landslide in Tsak Valley of Enga province, which killed eight people as a village was wiped out.

He also cited recent floods in Vanimo-Green which decimated food crops.

Bill Hamblin Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins

Go to this link for more: https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/391849/png-urged-to-improve-disasters-response-capacity

Test of a constitution & a civilisation: Take-outs from a palace coup

Marape’s rise to power was made possible due to the need for change and the opportunity for like–minded leaders to get behind him. This peaceful  political change is a plus for the country’s democracy.

By BONIFACE KAIYO - PNG Attitude

PORT MORESBY -Clearly, many factors are involved to bring about a palace coup, which is defined as a non-violent coup d'état carried out by people in positions of authority who themselves are part of the ruling regime.

James Marape’s rise to power was made possible due to the conditions amenable to political change that prevailed at the time he won office, an act he justified in highbrow terms designed to appeal to the emotions and patriotism of the public.

A threatened no confidence vote in Peter O’Neill was set to dethrone both him and his People’s National Congress. But O’Neill opted to resign as prime minister as the numbers against him grew.

For 50 days effective government was impossible. The legitimacy of the state was at stake.

So parliament voted for Marape with a thumping majority, and permitted a peaceful, evolutionary and civilised change of government in Papua New Guinea.

Take-away 1: Rise of Marape to replace O’Neill was a long overdue political change

The demise of O’Neill affirms that leaders come and go and underpins the view that to change the man at the top may be an effective way of changing government policy.

There were other kinds of political action on the table, ranging from waiting for the next election in 2022 to a fully-fledged coup d’etat. But the chosen method was a palace coup, an outcome achieved with minimum political casualties.

The danger of the past few weeks was that if the power vacuum was mismanaged the palace coup had the potential to develop into much more than the replacement of one set of leaders by another. There could have been more serious consequences.

Take-away 2: Pangu Pati has re-emerged after a long time in obscurity

Pangu Pati’s ‘Take Back PNG’ slogan may be an overstatement but it underpinned a deliberate effort to cause a change in the government direction and policies.

Marape has already taken the first step in winning leadership and appointing a new ministry. The second step is to target government policy which will form the platform and provide the agency of political change under his watch.

He can take the hint or cue from the historical experiences of the United States and the United Kingdom, amongst many other examples.

In both the post-World War II US New Deal and the program of the UK Labour Party, government economic and social policies resulted in far-reaching changes in the functioning of the political system.

In PNG, in the period around independence in 1975, Pangu Pati captured the imagination of a nation emerging from the Stone Age. The country’s leading vehicle of political culture has now re-emerged after a long time in obscurity.

Pangu Pati is now in a position to validate the new prime minister’s call for like–minded leaders to render change with him and make PNG the “richest black Christian nation on earth”.

The need for major policy change after the National Alliance and People’s National Congress years is summarised in Governor Gary Juffa’s original catch-cry adopted by Marape to ‘Take Back PNG’.

It addresses two factors. Firstly, Marape is responding to widespread pressures and demands that, if not satisfied by the system, may intensify and lead to violent political action.

Second, Marape is responding to the need to rein in unworkable policies of the previous regime and to reformat political, social, and economic goals to benefit all and not just a single class, an elite and the political leadership itself.

That said, many questions remain as to the effects of this dramatic political change for the country.

Take-away 3: Constitution enabled MPs to manage political change without violence

It took 40 years to find out, and the hard yards of those intervening years were often challenging for a nation with no prior national civilisation, but the guns, steel and medicine of Western Christian civilisation that blessed, or cursed, our shores meant the opportunity was there to make democracy, tolerance and the rule of law deliver for our people.

These values and tenets became embedded in PNG’s political system through the Constitution. This is a living document that has enabled our MPs to manage the need for political change without violence and bloodshed. This is a great achievement.

In other systems, change is often accomplished only through coups d’etat, revolution and other forms of internal warfare that invoke violence, death and loss of property.

Clearly Marape’s rise to power was made possible due to the need for change and the opportunity for like–minded leaders to get behind him and make it possible.

And now the first step has been taken and the political change that has occurred is a plus for the country’s democracy.

And, if it was indeed 50 days of instability, a palace coup and ‘mob rule without trial’, it was part and parcel of a process that permitted the peaceful and evolutionary development of PNG as a civilised society.

Papua New Guinea now has a chance to become the richest black Christian nation on earth.

Go to this link for more: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2019/06/test-of-a-constitution-a-civilisation-take-outs-from-a-palace-coup.html

Sheena’s writing journey: The hobby that became a way of life

Sheena Simololo - "When our traditions are translated to the written word, we are helping to preserve them"

By BEN JACKSON - PNG Attitude

Link here to Sheena Simelolo’s beautiful heritage story, The Kitoro

PORT MORESBY - Today Sheena Simelolo inspires a new generation of writers as an English literature tutor at the University of Goroka, but her own love of writing was sparked years before as a secondary student.

She was challenged by a teacher at Marianville Secondary School in Port Moresby, who had taken note of Sheena’s burgeoning literary interest and challenged her to put pen to paper.

“I started writing because of school,” Sheena said, “a defining moment was when I was in Grade 10 – my English teacher, Ms Rosa Kedarosi, made us write short fictional stories every weekend.

“She would either give us the beginning or the ending and it was up to us to complete the story.

“I was always interested in writing short stories – I was a great reader and most of my writing was inspired by the books I read.

“I loved reading books that were based on true stories or that depicted real-life situations.”

Sheena’s writing flourished and upon completing high school she decided to study for a Bachelor of Education, Language and Literature at the University of Goroka, where her passion transformed in to a way of life.

It was in her final year at university that Sheena first heard of the Crocodile Prize – the national literary awards – but was uncertain of whether to enter.

Nonetheless, she continued writing for her own enjoyment and became proficient at using fictional tales as a means to explore cultural and social issues.

After the completion of her studies, Sheena returned to Marianville Secondary – this time to teach year nine English and Social Science.

This was followed by a year-long stint at St Paul’s Lutheran Secondary in Enga and two years in Milne Bay teaching at Cameron High School.

In 2018, she moved to her present role in Goroka and this year, deciding the time had come to make her writing public, entered a short story, ‘The Kitoro’ ,in the Crocodile Prize’s Cleland Award for Heritage Literature.

The story is a reflection on her ancestry in the Rigo District of Central Province.

“Our unique cultures and traditions are mostly orally preserved – passed by word of mouth from generation to generation,” Sheena said.

“Writing is a new concept to our society.  When our traditions are translated to the written word, I feel it has a lasting impression and that we are helping to preserve our traditions.

“I wrote about how a young Rigo girl and boy would become a couple while performing the traditional dance called the Kitoro – my uncles told me it is a form of love dance.”

The piece struck a chord with many readers and received an overwhelmingly positive response, including from political science lecturer Bomai Witne who described it as “a very beautiful story of our purposeful art of dressing, dancing, building relationships and acknowledging the source of knowledge and inspiration.”

Sheena also believes that writing is a particularly important outlet for women in PNG.

In 2019, Abt Associates is sponsoring the Crocodile Prize Award for Women’s Literature, which will be given for the most outstanding piece of writing that reflects the distinct and diverse perspectives of Papua New Guinean women.

“It is very important to have a platform for Papua New Guinean women writers because most of us don’t have a voice,” Sheena said.

“Our voices are usually heard through our fathers, brothers, uncles, pastors…..

“We really are silenced, we are the scapegoats for the society’s wrongs and, thus, writing is a unique way to air our views and be heard as functioning members of our society.”

True to her instincts as a teacher, Sheena wants all young Papua New Guineans – women, men, girls and boys – to join her in documenting PNG’s past and present.

“I would like to encourage all young Papua New Guineans to make it their business to preserve their cultures and traditions by writing them down,” she said.

“Interview your grandparents or anyone who is knowledgeable about your way of life.

“Write the songs, chants, parables, fables and the way you build your houses, your canoes, make your gardens, go fishing – these are just some of the many things that you can document and preserve your cultures.

“If we don’t, we will become strangers in our land.”

Read Sheena’s story The Kitoro here

Go to this link for more: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2019/06/sheenas-writing-journey-the-hobby-that-became-a-way-of-life.html

Aussie researchers discover 'parachuting frog' in PNG

Litoria pterodactyla or the 'parachuting frog' (Stephen Richards)

NEWS DESK | Xinhua News Agency

BEIJING - A team of Australian researchers has discovered a new species of parachuting frog, hidden away in the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

The group of scientists from Griffith University and Queensland state museum also came across two other previously unknown frog species during their expedition around Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

There has an incredible diversity of frogs and a lot of those species have only been described for the last 10-20 years, senior curator at Queensland Museum Paul Oliver told Xinhua.

"The more you go back, the more you get to new areas, the more you find new species."

Officially named Litoria pinocchio and Litoria vivissimia, the other two look similar to regular tree frogs, however, the previously unknown creatures have a small spike protruding from the tips of their snouts.

The third newly found frog called Litoria pterodactyla or the parachuting frog has an entirely different distinction.

"It's a big green frog with lots of webbing on its toes," Oliver explained.

“They live high in the forest canopy and if they want to move they will just jump into the air and they spread their fingers and toes, and then they can control their descent."

While this is the first recorded sightings of the three species, Oliver said, that doesn't necessarily mean they're rare.

"There are lots of forests where they occur and in the areas where they live there are not many people, so there's not a reason to feel like they're going to lose their forest home in the future, so we would guess that their population is secure."

"But the honest answer is for each of the three frogs, we've seen them only once. So we just don't know."

Go to this link for more: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2019/06/aussie-researchers-discover-parachuting-frog-in-png.html

My journey as a writer – Part I

By CAROLINE EVARI - PNG  Attitude

PORT MORESBY - Not knowing where my journey in writing would take me, I kept brushing away the idea of getting my long overdue collection of poems published. One reason: Fear.

Fear that people may not like my poems. Fear that I may not have the money to pay for publication. Fear of what other people would say about me.

I had a colleague who discovered my talent in writing and introduced me to the Crocodile Prize literary competition in 2013.  The journey from then gave me a whole new perception.

When I realised that people liked my writing, I became so determined to improve.

As I told in my recent interview with Betty Wakia, ‘Choose to rise above every circumstance,’ I tried networking with other writers.

It wasn’t easy because I had a demanding job, but I made every opportunity count. I wrote for websites, blogs, participated in writing prompts and created my own blog.

One of my favourite poems I submitted to the Spillwords website, ‘Slow Down’, is targeted at workaholics and busy-bees who stress themselves day in and day out as if their trying to save the world. I used to be like that too.

Through the Crocodile Prize and Keith Jackson, I was introduced to Rashmii Amoa Bell and ‘My Walk to Equality’, the first ever collection of PNG women’s writing.

My story of how I was once a village girl, ‘Run hard - & don't look back until you achieve your goal’, inspired a good number of readers and that was another wake up call for me.

I wanted to inspire more people, especially young girls and people who travel to city in search of education and better life. I wanted to show them that you don’t have to follow the crowd all the time.

You can step aside, choose your own path, take your own journey, and write your own story.

The publication of my poetry collection, ‘Nanu Sina: My Words’, is by far my greatest achievement in my writing journey.

Apart from the publication of children’s story books I authored for Library for All, ‘Nanu Sina’ is very much my sweat and toil. If you ask me how I feel about it, my response would be, ‘it’s like I am living in my dreams’.

I want the same experience to be felt by more and more young people. I want them to know that you don’t necessarily have to be so smart and intelligent to be able to achieve something in your life. It takes courage and determination to pursue your dreams.

The little steps you take each day get bigger and bigger. And, for anyone who has a passion for writing, do develop it.

There is a great need for Papua New Guinean writers. School libraries need books that tell stories about our cultures, traditions, legends, myths, values and beliefs. Becoming a writer should be one of your dreams.

I had the privilege of sharing my stories with the kids at Koro International School at the school library last Wednesday. The response from the students was impressive and they wanted to know if there are other Papua New Guinean writers.

I will be reaching out to school principals in the coming weeks to do a similar presentation to all schools in Port Moresby.

You never know where your passion can take you until you start paying attention to it. Find it, embrace it, take the risk and run with it.

Go to this link for more: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2019/06/my-journey-as-a-writer-part-i.html

Making donations of books to empower our children

By JORDAN DEAN - PNG Attitude

PORT MORESBY - Education is the only way to save the world.

If you want to combat incurable diseases, get a medical degree. If you want to defend people’s rights, go to law school.

If you want to discover new drugs, get a PhD in pharmacology. If you want organisations to work better, get an MBA.

A good quality education helps children reach their full potential; however for thousands of children in Papua New Guinea, access to educational books is a myth.

So meet three amazing ladies who initiated book donation drives to help educate underprivileged children.

Mary Fairio is a researcher with a passion for kids and a desire to make a difference in her West Papuan community living at the Rainbow refugee camp.

This is a temporary settlement given to the West Papua community until a permanent area is identified for them.

Like other settlements in Port Moresby, it is under-resourced, under-privileged and poverty stricken. Many of the kids are not able to attend primary school. Others who attend school have limited access to reading books and resources.

Mary and a few colleagues from the National Research Institute have started a program aimed at creating a safe and conducive environment for the refugee kids to do their homework and, importantly, to read books.

I’ve given them some of my children’s books published by Library for All and also pledged to donate a carton of books for the program.

Leilani Konjib is a student at the University of Papua New Guinea. Together with her friend Vinzealhar Nen, they’ve initiated the Henatu Durua book drive. Henatu Durua means ‘help our children’ in the Koita language of Central Province.

Schools along the Wau - Bulolo Highway lack proper facilities and Ms Konjib plans to start a small library at a school located in the Bundun area of Bulolo District, which is a good four hours’ drive from Lae city over a very poor road.

In her efforts to raise money, Leilani sells cupcakes at UPNG when she is not attending lectures. The money raised will be contributed to purchase new books and stationery. I’ve assisted by donating three cartons with over 100 reading books to the Henatu Durua book drive.

I admire these women and applaud their efforts. I wish more people with big hearts would go out of their way to bring knowledge and empowermen t to underprivileged children, especially in rural areas.

Go to this link for more: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2019/06/making-donations-of-books-to-empower-our-children.html

Plea to Marape: New PM asked to reinstate sacked whistleblower

Brian Alois - "a Papua New Guinean of integrity, a person of whom the country should be proud"

By KEITH JACKSON - PNG Attitude

PORT MORESBY – “Dear Prime Minister,” wrote Martyn Namorong in an open letter on Monday. “Please reinstate Brian Alois or, even better, appoint him as the secretary for works so we taxpayers don't get ripped off.”

Now in case you don’t recall this matter, Alois was suspended by the Works Department last year after he blew the whistle on how the Papua New Guinea government was being cheated on inflated road contracts.

At the time, Alois was the Momase regional works manager and also president of the PNG Institute of Engineers.

Speaking as Institute president at a national planning summit, he had highlighted how the government was paying well in excess of what it should for road construction and maintenance projects.

In doing so, he mentioned a 300-metre stretch of road in the National Capital District which had cost K80 million to construct.

In the audience was works secretary David Wereh and a number of government ministers and departmental heads.

Within hours Brian Alois had been suspended from his job. More than a year later he remains sidelined.

“He should be a national hero,” Lae journalist Sylvester Gawi wrote of this case. “Brian Alois is a Papua New Guinean of integrity, a person of whom the country should be proud.”

And PNG's first female engineer, Finkewe Zurenuoc, said, “He spoke on our behalf. He knows what he is talking about. Let the truth be told. The truth does hurt.”

Now Namorong, who had attended the conference in Lae where Alois spoke, has taken up his cause directly with James Marape.

“Brian presented on behalf the Institute of Engineers of PNG and not as an individual,” Namorong wrote.

“His presentation was based on a paper commissioned by the Institute [and] he was presenting at the invitation of then planning minister Richard Maru.

“Brian's crime was for being a messenger of the truth about PNG's road contracts as uncovered by PNG's engineering peak body.”

Paul Barker, director of the PNG Institute of National Affairs, commenting on Namorong’s letter this week, commended Alois as a “capable and honest talent that PNG cannot afford to miss out on.

“His message on overpriced contracts must be heeded and addressed,” Barker said.

Martyn Namorong has done the people of PNG a service in reminding them of this great injustice.

As Namorong says, prime minister Marape should ensure that Brian Alois is reinstated.

And, more than this, perhaps Marape needs a restorative justice commission to investigate this and similar cases and ensure that fine people like Brian Alois are compensated and restored to appropriate positions as PNG seeks to leave behind its history of official corruption.

Go to this link for more: https://asopa.typepad.com/asopa_people/2019/06/test-for-marape-new-pm-asked-to-reinstate-sacked-whistleblower.html