International
Climate Initiative (IKI)

Creating the YUS Conservation Area

As of: January 2020

Objective and activities

The project involved the creation of the first official protected area of Papua New Guinea, covering 76,000 ha in the YUS region on the Huon peninsula. Municipalities and local communities were directly involved in decision-making processes and in the administration and sustainable management of the protected area. Moreover, in cooperation with local universities, methods were developed to measure carbon balances, monitoring strategies and indicators were elaborated, and the impacts of climate change on biodiversity were studied.

State of implementation/results

Project completed

• The following results were achieved during the implementation of the project: - Establishment of the first conservation area in Papua New Guinea by the provision of own land to the participating communities and their successful participation in the established management of the Conservation Area - Development and establishment of a YUS Landscape Plan, which also includes a Conservation Area Management Plan and 5 Land Use Plans at village community level - Establishment and promotion of community based management of the Conservation Area - Establishment and implementation of an environmental and socio-economic monitoring system - Preparation of carbon footprints / studies in Cooperation with (local) universities, as well as support of research activities on the impacts of climate change on biodiversity - Dissemination of gained experiences and lessons learned to establish further conservation areas in Papa New Guinea and in the region