Status of Biodiversity Protection
The effort by the PNG government to protect biodiversity has resulted in 44 existing terrestrial protected areas using the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) categories. These protected areas account for 1.6% of the total land area. A study of biodiversity identified a further 398 areas as candidates for conservation. This would increase the total protected areas to 16.8% of the total country area.
Included in the PNG protected area list, but not formally recognized by IUCN is the terrestrial Wildlife Management Area (WMA). WMA is an Integrated Conservation and Development Project (ICAD), which seeks to conserve biological diversity by involving landowners. The idea behind the project is that income generating activities, from the biological diversity would encourage people living in these areas to conserve, because such projects would link the value of these resources to living standard and also access to markets. The progress of WMA’s is yet to be evaluated.
Papua New Guinea's first conservation area, the YUS Conservation Area, was established in 2009 on the Huon Peninsula, Morobe Province.
Apart from local conservation efforts, PNG is also a signatory to international conventions and treaties. These international treaties include ". The International Plant protection Convention (1951),The Convention on the prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and other matter (1972); The convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES); The RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (1992); Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. PNG is also in partnership with other nations in the Oceania region and is a signatory to the regional convention, The Convention on Conservation of Nature in the South Pacific (APIA Convention).
PNG has two listed RAMSAR sites: Lake Kutubu and Tonda Wildlife Management Area.
Read more about this topic: Conservation In Papua New Guinea
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