Protected Areas in the New Guinea TransFly

Three New and Unique Protected Areas in Papua New Guinea

New protected areas that have been set up by the initiative of local people are raising hopes for the protection of the TransFly

Location

Western Province, adjacent to Tonda Wildlife Management Area.

Purpose

The 3 new Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are being established by customary landowners in the vicinity of Suki and Morehead, South Fly District, to provide refuge for biodiversity as well as the maintenance of culturally and economically important habitats and natural resources.

Tonda extension WMA will extend the existing reserve by about 100,000 ha and is an important site for international ecotourism. Wereaver WMA extends north along the border with Indonesia and protect the headwaters of the Torassi River and important monsoon forests.

The largest, Aramba WMA, contains massive expanses of monsoon forests and wetlands and is being established by the Aramba people.  Each of these WMAs contains sites of cultural significance and totem species.

Management and Support

Responsibility for management of the WMAs lies with the WMA committees who are elected by the local landowning community.  Monitoring, technical advice and assistance are now being provided by WWF with support from WWF-US, WWF-UK, WWF-Australia and the European Commission.

TransBoundary Protection

At the heart of the TransFly, a 2 million ha transboundary protected area complex will ensure that the sustainable management of water and natural resources for the benefit of people and biodiversity is gradually growing.

Working with governments and communities in both PNG and Indonesia will secure shared watersheds and resources and almost 20% of the unique and globally important TransFly ecoregion – a massive contribution towards the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) commitments by both countries.