Title
Protecting Against Coastal Hazards in Manus and New Ireland Provinces Papua New Guinea: An Assessment of Present and Future Options
Author(s)
S. Narayan; R. J. Cuthbert; E. Neale; W. Humphries; J. C. Ingram
Published
2015
Abstract
This report summarizes a field exercise conducted in Manus and New Ireland Provinces of Papua New Guinea to assess coastal hazards and provide an overview of the possible solutions, opportunities, barriers and constraints for sustainable coastal protection and climate change adaptation. The report makes recommendations for facilitating sustainable coastal development based on interviews with local government officials, stake-holder workshops and field visits. Coastal communities in both Manus and New Ireland Provinces are highly and immediately susceptible to chronic and episodic coastal hazards, namely, erosion from waves and currents, frequent tidal inundation of low-lying villages and heavy episodic flooding from extreme surge events. Due to their reliance on the reefs and coastal environments almost all coastal communities live right on the shoreline and frequently within the inter-tidal zone, increasing their susceptibility to coastal hazards. Some communities on the northern coasts of the two provinces still experience the drastic impacts of an extreme surge event on December 10th 2008, commonly referred to as the “2008 King Tide”. Coastal communities situated behind reefs and close to mangrove forests benefit substantially from the protection (among other) services that these habitats provide. In general, the need for solutions that preserve the coastal environment rather than damage it is universally recognized among local communities. However, awareness of the value of the coastal protection services of these habitats is low. There are currently no measures to protect against flooding, though communities generally show a high degree of adaptation to low-intensity flooding. Coastal protection measures – engineered or natural – are invariably aimed at erosion control. Solutions that use local materials and for which local capacity exists – such as dry stone stack seawalls and/or mangrove afforestation are the easiest, quickest and most cost-effective in the short term. Seawalls of stone and timber are a popular measure for protecting important individual assets that are immediately threatened. Where the biophysical environment is suitable and the space is available, mangrove afforestation and conservation are viable longer term coastal protection alternatives that also provide other ecosystem services. Coastal issues are a low priority at both provincial and local government levels. At local levels, awareness of different coastal protection options and their benefits and drawbacks is generally low and capacity to design and execute them effectively is lacking. Local NGOs play a critical role in providing communities with the capacity and training to develop project proposals and apply for funding. There are no national or provincial level laws that regulate development in the coastal zone. The most direct entry point for influencing coastal development in Papua New Guinea is through the Organic Law, which allows land-owning clans at the level of the Local Level Governments (LLGs) to enact legislations in their districts. The main recommendations from the exercise are to extend and improve upon existing training, awareness and capacity building programmes in coastal communities. Incorporating issues such as identifying hazards, implementing effective solutions and monitoring changes will help provide local communities the means to identify potential problems early on and plan ahead in terms of coastal management. Other recommendations include using examples of best practices from elsewhere, such as the analyses being carried out within the Science for Nature and People (SNAP) Coastal Defenses Working Group and the Building with Nature project in Indonesia.
Keywords
coastal hazards, Manus, New Ireland
Full Citation
Narayan S, Cuthbert RJ, Neale E, Humphries W, Ingram JC (2015). Protecting Against Coastal Hazards in Manus and New Ireland Provinces Papua New Guinea: An Assessment of Present and Future Options. Goroka, Papua New Guinea: Wildlife Conservation Society, Papua New Guinea, 1-40.

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