Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a total land area of 462,000 square kilometers (km2), making
it the largest Pacific island country. Its exclusive economic zone at 3.12 million km2 is the
world’s second largest. The country’s sparsely distributed population of only 7 million
makes PNG’s population density of approximately 9 people per km2 the lowest in the South
Pacific.
PNG’s principal marine and coastal ecosystems include 13,840 km2 of coral reefs, 4,200 km2
of mangrove swamp forests, and extensive seagrass beds. The country is home to at least 500
The Tonda Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is the only Ramsar site in the south Pacific region outside Australia. It was declared a Ramsar site on 23rd March, 1993 because it is believed to support internationally significant populations of both resident and migratory shorebirds and waterbirds and is probably an important staging point for shorebirds during migration between eastern Australia and the breeding grounds in eastern Russia.
Vol 1. Policy Statement to Promoting a Viable Population and Environment within the Paradigm of Responsible Sustainable Development.
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is committed to the establishment of a network of protected areas to fulfil
national and international commitments. The primary objective of this assessment was to provide an updated
set of conservation priorities by integrating Terrestrial and Marine Programme of Works on Protected Areas
Papua New Guinea is committed to the establishment of a network of marine protected areas to fulfil national and international commitments. In order to assist this, the conservation priority areas analysis identified a range of areas of high conservation interest in the PNG marine environment, based on the principles of comprehensiveness, adequacy, representation and resilience (CARR). The analysis collated available national-scale data on biodiversity features and biodiversity surrogates.
By 2050 the population of New Britain will be more than 1.9 million people, more than three times the current
population. In addition, the looming threat of climate change and, in particular, periods of drought and sea
level events will pose further challenges. The foundation for a climate resilient future for New Britain will be to
ensure the ecological integrity of the land and sea, in order to continue the provision of ecosystem goods
and services which can support the growing demands of the society and the economy. A key climate change
PNG government want a responsible sustainable use of the natural and cultural resources of the country for the benefit of the present and future generations. The central theme of this new development road map presented by StaRS is to shift the country’s socio-economic growth away from the current unsustainable growth strategy that it is following and towards a road map that is truly responsible, sustainable and able to place PNG in a competitive, advantageous position into the future.
This is the final report prepared by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) for submission to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Papua New Guinea Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) in relation to the 2016–17 assessment of the management effectiveness of Papua New Guinea’s protected areas.
The WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society Program) is the longest established international conservation NGO within PNG, and has been undertaking conservation work in the country since the 1970s. The vision of WCS PNG is: “Gutpela sindaun, gutpela solwara, gutpela bus”, which translates to, “Empowered people with healthy forests and seas”.
Between May and August 2007, the lead author conducted surveys of retail outlets in nine regional centres across eight provinces in Papua New Guinea. The aim was to gain a contemporary overview of the country’s trade in marine turtles and marine turtle products.
This report provides some of the thoughts or points to consider in setting up MPAs (marine protected areas) and LMMAs (locally managed marine areas) with the local communities in Milne Bay Province
Rapid Marine Biodiversity Assessment of Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea—Survey II (2000)
Biodiversity Conservation of terrestrial and amrine ecosystems
Climate change and migration
Bismarck Sea rapid assessment
oil palm
National Ocean Policy 2020
This report stems from a simple observation: that since Independence in 1975, Papua New Guinea’s economic and social development outcomes have not matched people’s aspirations or government promises. Indeed, despite the abundance of its riches, PNG lags behind its Pacific neighbours on many important development indicators.