Activities in Papua New Guinea

The first Joint Coordinating Committee was held for the Capacity Development Project for Operationalization of PNG Forest Resource Information Management System (PNG-FRIMS) for Addressing Climate Change. The JCC took place in the Boardroom of the headquarters of the PNG Forest Authority (PNGFA) in Port Moresby on 19th September 2014. The project commenced on late August in 2014 and will conclude in 5 years as a technical cooperation project between PNGFA and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The objective of the first JCC was to approve a five year operation plan and the first annual work plan as well as to facilitate inter-organizational coordination.

Participation in the JCC included officers from PNGFA, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) under UN-REDD Programme, JICA PNG Office and Japanese experts of the Project. The JCC heard congratulating remarks on the commencement of the Project and high expectation for its outcomes by referring to an exceptional success of the preceding project ‘The Capacity Development on Forest Resource Monitoring for Addressing Climate Change in Papua New Guinea' (2011 – 2014).

At the beginning of the JCC, the Chair, Mr Kanawi Pouru, the Managing Director of the National Forest Service of the PNGFA congratulated the commencement of the Project and expressed his appreciation for the continuing cooperation by the people of Japan and the government of Japan. Mr Pouru then stressed the importance of using appropriate forestry information essential to relevant stakeholders including government agencies, people in PNG, industries, the NGOs, and civil societies.

The Co-Chair, Mr Noriyuki Ito, the Representative of JICA PNG Office expressed his satisfaction in seeing commencement of the new forestry Project in addition to the preceding project that was concluded six months ago with an exceptional success. He then pointed out that the importance of pursuing sustainable forest management is increasing in PNG because the majority of people in this country are still dependent on the forests for the goods and services for their livelihood.

The JCC then reviewed the progress of the project activities, approved operation plans, and tentatively set the schedule of the second JCC in the middle to end of July 2015. The Chair reiterated his expectations for the new Projects outcomes and formally closed the JCC.