The Endemic and Flagship Species Workshop kicks off at Lamana Hotel in Port Moresby today co-hosted by PNG CEPA and Mama Graun and sponsored by ExxonMobil PNG Ltd. The objective of the workshop is to bring together stakeholders with an interest in the newly established Protected Area Policy, to become aware of each others' activities and how they can benefit under the new policy.

Papua New Guinea is a megadiverse country, recognised explicitly as a critical and important resource under Goal 4 of the PNG Constitution. This is formal recognition of the support of biodiversity ofr the culture of the people of PNG, their traditions and livelihoods since humans first settled in PNG about 50,000 years ago.

Overall protection of PNG's biodiversity is the responsibility of the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) but this is a shared responsibility with other government agencies such as the National Forest Authority, the National Fisheries Authority, the Climate Change Authority and indeed the whole PNG community.

PNG joined the global community by signing on to the Convention for Biological Diversity which commits to protect and use biodiversity in a sustainable manner. As part of its commitment, PNG formulated and launched the National Biodiversity Strategy and Policy in 2007, but uptake has been very slow, uncoordinated and lacking in both funding and capacity.

PNG Mama Graun Conservation Trust Fund is helping to mobilise stakeholders to be effective partners with government in effecting biodiversity policy. This workshop is part of this initiative.

UC is represented by Carla Eisemberg, Yolarnie Amepou, Fiona Manu and Arthur Georges of the Piku Team.