JFA go international in Papua New Guinea

JFA are excited to announce an international partnership with Coral Cay Conservation, a UK based NGO. Coral Cay Conservation has recently been awarded a grant from the Darwin Initiative (www.darwin.gov.uk) to undertake the ‘Waria Valley Community Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods Programme’, in Papua New Guinea. JFA will provide the technical expertise associated with tropical rainforest conservation, biodiversity assessment and community based consultation.

The Darwin Initiative is a grants programme that aims to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of resources around the world. The Initiative is funded and administered by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). This project will be supported by the Darwin Initiative for the next three years.

Coral Cay Conservation (CCC) and JFA will work in partnership with the people of the Waria Valley (PNG) through their development arm organisation, the Morobe Bris Kanda (MBK), and additional partners, to initiate alternative sustainable livelihood options through conservation of community forest resources. The aims of the proposed project include biodiversity assessments of the forest resources of the Waria Valley (including inventories of two traditionally important timber species: Campnospermum brevipetiolata and Hernandia ovigera); development of a GIS-based decision support system; implementation of community vegetation nurseries for restoration work; the initiation of alternative livelihood schemes (including small scale forestry and eco-tourism); coupled with environmental education, training and local capacity building programmes within the target communities. This project aims to achieve local sustainable development based on benefits derived for local land owners from local forest biodiversity. The Waria Valley is situated in the Morobe district, on the eastern side of the main island of PNG. This area is currently under threat from logging concessions and unsustainable resource extraction.

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