The Tuna Bay mangrove habitat at Taurama in Port Moresby will undergo rehabilitation in four months.
Rehabilitation will be carried out by the Coastal Fisheries Development Agency (CFDA) following a cleanup campaign and assessment.
The cleanup campaign was done on the weekend by locals living in the area, PNG Defence Force soldiers and officers from CFDA.
The program was initiated by CFDA in partnership with the Office of Climate Change and Development (OCCD), NCDC Waste management, University of PNG and Nambawan Super.
Soldiers continued the cleanup this week to prepare the five to ten hectares of mangrove habitat for assessment which will be carried out immediately by CFDA scientific officers.
Islands regional coordinator for CFDA Paul Kandu said that the study will identify which types of species are conducive for this particular area including the study of the soil temperature.
“Once all assessment is done then we will be ready to start the replanting process.
“The assessment will take quite a while because there will be several studies .
“We are planning to do this campaign annually as it is a good initiative in terms of sustainability and community awareness on taking care of the environment,” said Kandu.
Plans are underway to carry out this initiative in the New Guinea Islands Region.