Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) has been one of the fastest growing economies globally this century with average growth rates above 6%. This rapid growth has been driven primarily by the expansion of foreign investment within the natural gas sector and high prices for PNG’s central exports many of which are transported to rapidly growing Asian economies. This growth has built on a long history of natural resources being at the centre of the PNG economy with exports and employment dominated by mining, natural gas, logging and agriculture.
In urban areas, responsibility for providing piped water and sewerage services in the nation’s capital, Port Moresby, lies with Eda Ranu, and for the remaining provincial and district towns with Water PNG (formerly the PNG Water Board). Service provision to these areas are estimated to be 89% access to safe water (little change from 87% in 1990), and 57% access to safe sanitation (down from 89% in 1990)1. Access to services in urban areas struggle to keep up in the face of rapid urban population expansion.
In September 2001, the National Executive Council (NEC) directed the National Department of Agriculture and Livestock (NDAL) to develop a medium term National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP). Accordingly, NDAL, having consulted all stakeholders and the wider community within the agriculture sector, formulated the plan
with technical and financial assistance from the GoPNG and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations under the Technical Cooperation Program (TCP No. 3003A).
From Wealth to Wellbeing: Translating Resource Revenue into Sustainable Human Development Papua New Guinea
Oil palm prices may hold up in the medium term, with strong demand from India and China. Yet, like other non-oil commodities, oil palm prices are likely to remain volatile, and to experience a long term relative price decline. (Chapter 3)
Report for the Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights on the economic prospects for small farmers in PNG’s oil palm industry
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.
This Protected Areas Policy Implementation Plan (PAPIP) aims to guide organizations, agencies and resource owning communities of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to collaborate and harmonize their sustainability efforts towards developing new protected areas (PA) in PNG.
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
The island of New Guinea has an exceptionally high biodiversity, and a large proportion of its fauna and flora is found nowhere else on Earth. Charismatic species such as birds-of-paradise, echidnas and tree kangaroos are widely known and often have great cultural significance for local communities in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Less well known is that the flora and smaller fauna of PNG are not only incredibly diverse but remain poorly documented, and numerous plants and animals that are new to science are being discovered every year.
Update on the 2nd National Communication Report for PNG to UNFCCC downloaded from www.unfccc.org
The Papua New Guinea Government submits PNG’s first Biennial Update Report (BUR1) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The report follows the BUR guidelines for developing countries according to paragraphs 39 to 42 of Decision 2/CP.17 and its Annex III.
Coupled climate and sea-level changes deduced from Huon Peninsula coral terraces of the last ice age
Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, is a tectonically unstable, uplifting shoreline ringed by emergent coral terraces. The terraces were formed during episodes of rapid sea-level rise when corals constructed large, discrete coral platforms that were subsequently uplifted. Uranium series ages of four prominent Huon Peninsula last glacial (OIS 3) coral terraces coincide with the timing of major North Atlantic climate reversals at intervals of 6000^7000 yr between 30 000 yr and 60 000 yr ago.
An analysis of cultural change and generation gaps in the local community of the Nungon ethnic group in the state of Papua New Guinea will be the subject of the study. This ethnic group came into contact with Europeans for the first time in the mid-1930s. The pace of cultural changes within the community has been gradually increasing.
In days gone by some of the Motu-speaking peoples around Port Moresby used to go on annual trading expeditions to the Gulf of Papua. There they would exchange with the inhabitants of that area pots and other valuables for sago and canoe logs. These expeditions were called hiri, and were not only spectacular in terms of the number, nature and size of the sailing craft involved and the cargoes they carried but also very important economically and in other ways to the Motu and others directly or indirectly involved.
Peatlands are common in montane areas above 1,000 m in New Guinea and become extensive above 3,000 m in the subalpine zone. In the montane mires, swamp forests and grass or sedge fens predominate on swampy alley bottoms. These mires may be 4–8 m in depth and up to 30,000 years in age. In Papua New Guinea (PNG) there is about 2,250 km2 of montane peatland, and Papua Province (the Indonesian western half of the island) probably contains much more. Above 3,000 m, peat soils form under blanket bog on slopes as well as on valley floors.
Two of the unanswered questions of Papua New Guinea prehistory are: (1) whether agriculture was present
in the mid-Holocene not only in the highlands but also in the lowlands and Bismarck Archipelago and (2)whether the presence of agriculture might have been influenced by interaction between these regions. This paper addresses these questions through an analysis of prehistoric stone mortars, pestles and figures, which hold information on both style and function.
This chapter provides a brief description of Papua New Guinea, its past and present climate as well as projections for the future. The climate observation network and the availability of atmospheric and oceanic data records are outlined. The annual mean climate, seasonal cycles and the influences of large-scale climate features such as the West Pacific Monsoon and patterns of climate variability (e.g. the El Niño‑Southern Oscillation) are analysed and discussed.
The project Mangrove Rehabilitation for Sustainably Managed Healthy Forests (MARSH) commenced on October 1st 2012 and ended on September 30th 2015. The project was initially supposed to be implemented over five years in Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In the first quarter of Year 3 the donor decided to change the focus from community based to national interventions for greater impact and to limit the rest of the activities of the third year to PNG alone. The project life span was thus shortened and there was nothing started in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.