The UN Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the PNG National Fisheries Authority is designing a new initiative aimed to improve the condition of fisheries and their habitats in the Arafura Timor Seas region.
The project is expected to help recover and sustain fisheries, restore degraded habitats for sustainable provision of ecosystem services, reduce land-based and marine sources of pollution, protect key marine species and adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
The project is scheduled to start from September 2016 through to 2019 with support from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), is a regional collaboration between Australian, Indonesia, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea, the countries which share the boundaries over Arafura and Timor Seas have common trans-boundary issues.
The project’s goal is to have an economically and ecologically sustainable marine fisheries area in the Arafura-Timor Seas region for the benefit of communities through conservation and sustainable management of marine-coastal ecosystems.
The Arafura Timor Seas region has some of the most biologically diverse marine ecosystems. However, it has been increasingly under threat due to unsustainable fisheries activities resulting in decline and loss of living coastal and marine resources, biodiversity and key marine species; increase of marine and land-based pollution such as marine debris, sediments, oil spills and more.
“As part of our work to assist in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UNDP is delighted to support the sustainable management of coastal and marine resources in Papua New Guinea in partnership with the National Fisheries Authority. This work will contribute to improving the quality of lives of the people living in coastal regions and helping to protect and preserve the country’s natural resources” - said Roy Trivedy, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative.
The first mission led by NFA with experts from UNDP resulted in a positive outcome and identified key issues including capacity development, the need to enhance artisanal fisheries in South Fly District of Western Province and illegal fishing. These findings informed further design of the project proposal.
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