Papua New Guinea has announced two new Marine Protected Areas covering more than 1.5 million hectares in the New Ireland Province, in a major conservation effort for critically endangered sharks, rays, and turtles.

Published 12 months ago

Source:  Wildlife Conservation Society

According to a news report from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) more than triple ocean protections in one of the most biodiversity-rich countries in the world, marking a major leap forward for the country and the planet on the road to achieving the global “30×30”* target.

The two new MPAs in Lovongai and Murat Local Level Government (LLG) jurisdictions in New Ireland Province were designed and created in a massive partnership between Indigenous Peoples, national government authorities, and local nonprofits including the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Ailan Awareness Inc, and Lolieng Sustainable Programme.

The project spanned nearly seven years and involved extensive free, prior, and informed-consent processes involving more than 9,000 people from upwards of 100 different communities who had a voice on everything from the boundaries of the protected areas to governance rules.  This made the project one of the first and most ambitious community-led MPA wins since governments and the global community committed to 30×30* in 2022.

Papua New Guinea is one of the last places on earth where populations of critically endangered sawfishes can still be found. The two new MPAs include the country’s first-ever rules protecting sawfish and their relatives, the critically endangered rhino rays, making these also the first MPAs in the world with specific measures designed to protect the most threatened groups of sharks and rays.

The Murat MPA includes full protection for marine turtles, dugongs, whales, dolphins, and (in five of the six wards) all other shark and ray species – rules and details that were agreed upon across dozens of communities, languages, and cultures.

In coming years, Papua New Guinea’s Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) believes that there is a huge potential to join or extend these two MPAs to cover an ever-wider area including “the Morgado Square” – an area to the northwest of New Ireland where some restrictions are already in place to manage tuna populations.

*In 2022, nearly 200 nations finalized the “30×30” global target to protect 30% of the world’s ocean and land areas by 2030.

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Related News:

• Papua New Guinea Triples Ocean Protection, Announcing Two New Marine Protected Areas (WCS)
• Papua New Guinea Triples Ocean Protection, Announcing Two New Marine Protected Areas (WCS)

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Related Links:

• Wildlife Conservation Society
• WCS 30×30 Ocean Accelerator
• Papua New Guinea Conservation and Protection Authority

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