ExxonMobil PNG (EMPNG) Limited was recognised by the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum for its outstanding environmental initiatives in its project areas.
This was part of the Chamber of Mines and Petroleum conference held recently in Port Moresby.
The Environmental Award specifically recognised the importance of the efforts taken and featured within two EMPNG biodiversity publications. The first volume summarises scientific biodiversity surveys completed at Wau Creek, Uro Creek and Lake Kutubu while the second serves as a field guide for the identification of flora and fauna at Hides Ridge and the Agogo Range near Moro.
Environmental Advisor Colman Otmar, who received the award on behalf of ExxonMobil PNG, said: “I would like to thank the Chamber of Mines and Petroleum for recognising the work we are doing to protect and conserve PNG's unique biodiversity through this award.
“As a Papua New Guinean, I am extremely proud to work for an organisation like EMPNG, who supports this passion wholeheartedly and has the commitment to safeguarding this unique biodiversity.”
He said Papua New Guinea has exceptionally high biodiversity, and a large proportion of its fauna and flora are found nowhere else on Earth. It is home to 5 to 10 percent of the world’s plant and animal species, in a space that is less than one percent of the Earth’s land surface, the country has quite a unique and very precious environment.
“We are thoroughly committed to operating in PNG in an environmentally responsible and thoughtful ways as these books makes evident,” Otmar stated.
“EMPNG also believes in the importance of building the capacity of Papua New Guineans so we can play a substantial role in protecting our environment today, for our children’s tomorrow.”
EMPNG continues to invest in various programs that not only help to protect the environment today but also to educate and up-skill Papua New Guineans so that protection and conservation will continue for generations to come.
(EMPNG receives Outstanding Environmental Initiative Award from National Planning Minister, Sam Basil)