Papua New Guinea (PNG) has a land area of about 462 840 square kilometers with a small population of about 7 million people. It occupies 1 percent of the world‘s land area and has about 6 to 7 percent of the world‘s total biodiversity which is equivalent to 400,000 to 700,000 species from an estimated 14 million species on earth thus globally recognized as one of the four mega-diversity areas of the world. It has 5,000 lakes, extensive river systems, 5,000 miles of mangrove swamps (1.5 % land area), and 8,000km2 of ocean, including 4,000km2 of coral reefs (NBSAP, 2007).
Located within the Coral Triangle, a region recognized for its unparalleled coral reef biodiversity, PNG boasts of some of the most unique, endemic, and also endangered marine habitats, invertebrates, vertebrates, coral reefs, seagrass and mangroves.
It boasts to have the second-largest nesting site of the critically endangered Leatherback Turtles located on the Huon Coast in Morobe Province with sporadic sites in Madang and other maritime provinces.
To ensure that these resources remain intact, PNG signed the Treaty on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992 and ratified it in March 1993. Under this obligation PNG must fulfill 3 CBD Objectives which are: (1) Conservation of biological diversity. (2) Sustainable use of its components; and (3) Fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources
This means that PNG, like most countries of the world, has committed to a number of binding obligations in the Articles of the Convention.
Of most direct importance to the Policy is Article 8 on ‘in-situ biodiversity conservation, which commits PNG to establish and manage a system of protected areas, and to ensure that traditional lifestyles linked to the land are also protected. Many of the other Articles are relevant to protected areas in PNG, including those about monitoring and identification of biodiversity values (Wickham et al., 2010).
Target 11 of the Aichi Biodiversity Target under CBD’s Objective calls for all governments who have signed the CBD treaty and ratified it to ensure that: “By 2020, at least 17 percent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 percent of coastal and marine areas especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystems services of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures are integrated into the wider landscape and seascape;”
In addition, Target 12 points out that: “By 2020, the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained.”
Target 12 is MAKATA’s core business in light of saving, protecting, restoring, and sustaining populations of critically endangered leatherback turtles in ways that also improve the lives of indigenous local communities who share the beaches these gentle creatures come to nest.
PNG also ratified the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITIES), in 1976 which meant that Papua New Guineans are forbidden to trade endangered species such as sea turtles.
Achieving these obligations is not easy in PNG. This is because 97% of PNG land is customarily owned and only 3 to 4 % is State owned. The traditional customary tenure system in PNG is recognized by the country’s constitution and national laws. This gives landowners freedom to determine how they wish to manage or give access to others to use their land, water, and sea resources upon which they are heavily dependent.
A traditional contract was established between the Dawang Clan in Mur village of Rai Coast District, Madang Province, and MAKATA to support their adaptive sustainable community-based resource management plan using Conservation Deed. We have completed most of the steps of this plan, with a few issues to resolve before launching it. Any funding support will help us achieve this outcome.
By WENCESLAUS MAGUN
At MAKATA, we believe that by working in partnership with relevant stakeholders, even if it is painstakingly slow, we can achieve biodiversity conservation or adaptive sustainable resource management and use process in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
But we cannot achieve this on our own. We need your help!
Through your in-kind donation, funding support, and or other forms of material, technical, logistics, and even spiritual support, we all can achieve these commonly shared values.
With this help, we can also contribute to influencing communities we work with to take on overall development planning processes to achieve PNG V2050 through its PNG DSP 2010-2030 thus working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the multinational agreements PNG has signed and ratified.
So what are these international obligations that PNG has signed and ratified?
Tokain community members at Kagur hamlet during the sand mining Warden Hearing on 23 September 2020.
In 1990, at the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), PNG joined 177 other
countries in accepting the earth charter known as the “Rio Declaration on
Environment and Development” - an environment bill of right delineating the
principles for economic and environmental behavior of people and nations.
The Rio Declaration is a
statement of 27 principles that the States agreed to implement at the domestic
level in dealing with environmental and development issues. (PNGBSAP, Work Draft
1, September 2005).
At UNCED, PNG also made a
commitment to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use by adopting:
1. The
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD);
2. The Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCC); and
3. Agenda 21 (PNGBSAP, Work Draft 1, September
2005).
The adoption of Multilateral
Environmental Agreements (MEA) and other treaties and the Rio Declaration,
Agenda 21, the Forest Principles, the Johannesburg Declaration and the
Johannesburg Plan of implementation (JPOI) by PNG manifests the country’s
willingness to join hands with the global community in tackling many of the
world’s environmental problems. By
international standards, PNG has shown strong enthusiasm in the field of
international environmental law–making (PNGBSAP, Work Draft 1, September
2005).
PNG’s obligations in relation to three United Nations multilateral
environmental agreements, and progress towards meeting these obligations, were
assessed in 2010 (Wickham et al., 2010).
These are the Convention on Biological Diversity, United Nations Convention
on Combating Desertification, and the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change.
Kimadi clan members of Murukanam village, Sumgilbar LLG, Sumkar District, Madang stood in absolute solidarity in defending their natural resources and the environment from any of the potential threat from sand mining.
In addition, PNG is a signatory to the International Convention on
Wetlands (Ramsar) and the Convention
Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World
Heritage Convention) since 1997.
World Heritage Sites are places that have outstanding universal values,
either natural or cultural or both. To be accepted as World Heritage sites,
they must be nominated by the Government of PNG and then assessed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
When sites are inscribed on the World list, countries commit to
undertaking “the appropriate legal, scientific, technical, administrative and
financial measures necessary for the identification, protection, conservation,
presentation and rehabilitation of this heritage”(UNESCO), 1972, p.3).
There is currently one existing World Heritage Area in PNG, Kuk Swamp in
the Western Highlands Province, while another seven proposed areas are on the
“tentative” list.
PNG is also a signatory to
the Convention on the Protection of Natural Resources and Environment of the
South Pacific Region (PNRESP). As a signatory to this Convention, PNG is required to
protect and preserve rare or fragile ecosystems and depleted, threatened or
endangered flora and fauna, as well as their habitat (Article 14). As part of
this obligation, PNG must establish and effectively manage protected areas.
We thank the Bismarck Ramu Group (BRG), one of our local NGO partners for conducting sand mining awareness at Tokain village, Sumgilbar LLG, Sumkar District, Madang.
According to PNGBSAP, 2007
report, almost all the Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA) require
corresponding domestic commitment to make the treaty work.“Thus, in the case of CBD, PNG is required
to:
Create a
system of protected areas to conserve biological diversity (Article 8);
Develop
mechanisms for the prevention and introduction of control or eradication
of alien species which threaten ecosystems (Article 8);
Develop
systems for the preservation and maintenance of knowledge, innovations and
practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional
lifestyles relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biological
diversity and promote their wider application through appropriate legal,
policy and administrative arrangement (Article 8j);
Protect
and encourage customary use of biological resources in accordance with
traditional and cultural practices (Article 10);
Develop
incentives measures for the sustainable use and management of the
countries biological resources (Article 11);
Promote
research and training (Article 12);
Promote
and strengthen public education and training in biological resources
management (Article 13);
Introduce
mechanisms to strengthen impact assessment and minimizing adverse impacts
on the country’s biological diversity (Article 14);
Develop
strategies that promote access to genetic resources (Article 15);
Identify
and strengthen strategies to access and transfer technology (Article 16);
Introduce
legislative, administrative or policy measures to regulate and manage
biotechnology research and benefit sharing (Article 19); and
Strengthen
partnerships to promote access to financial resources (Article 20 and
21).”
Mirap villagers joined the rest of the villagers in Sumgilbar LLG to ban sand mining along their turtles nesting beaches.
The report added that: “Most
of the JPOI goals trace their origins to the Millennium Declaration of 2000.
It was perceived that the
implementation of JPOI will also lead to the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).Amongst eight other goals is: Goal 7.Ensure Environmental Sustainability.”
These sets of international
environmental obligations require concerted and affirmative action by national States to achieve them.
Our work aims to translate some
of these international commitments into domestic action. This truly requires working in partnership
with all relevant stakeholders in PNG as well as by nation States that have
made these commitments.
We know from more than 10
years of working with local communities in Madang, that there is very little to
show for PNG’s active participation at the UNCED in Rio and its membership to
relevant MEA and other international conventions at the domestic level.
In PNG we are faced with a
paradox or a dilemma.
On one end we
strive to fulfill our international environmental obligations through
appropriate biodiversity conservation and sustainable development aspirations. Yet,
on another end, we are forced to exploit our natural resources to fulfill our
Vision 2050 through the PNG Development Strategic Plan 2010-2030.
In order to fulfill the V2050 and PNGDSP
2010-2030 goal to attain a “high quality of life for all Papua New Guineans,”
we are vigorously exploiting our country’s biological and mineral resources for
economic growth.
Great Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare launched The TURTLES RETURN book in June 2018 after it was published by Sir Peter Barter.
By WENCESLAUS MAGUN
There is a much greater need in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to establish and sustain adaptive community-based resource management areas in light of the PNG government's failure to establish a sand mining policy and legislative framework.
PNG has a land area of about 462 840 square kilometers with a
small population of about 7 million people.It occupies 1 percent of the world‘s land area and has about 6 to 7
percent of the world‘s total biodiversity which is equivalent to 400,000 to
700,000 species from an estimated 14 million species on earth thus globally
recognized as one of the four mega-diversity areas of the world. It has 5,000
lakes, extensive river systems, 5,000 miles of mangrove swamps (1.5 % land area), and 8,000km2 oceans, including 4,000km2 coral reefs
(NBSAP, 2007).
Madang Land Use Plan courtesy of TNC
Located
within the Coral Triangle, a region recognized for its unparalleled coral reef
biodiversity, PNG boasts of some of the most unique, endemic, and also
endangered marine habitats, invertebrates, vertebrates, coral reefs, seagrass, and mangroves.
It
boasts to have the second-largest nesting site of the critically endangered Leatherback
Turtles located on the Huon Coast in Morobe Province with sporadic sites in
Madang and other maritime provinces.
To
ensure that these resources remain intact, PNG had signed the Treaty on the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
in 1992 and ratified it in March 1993.
Under this obligation PNG must fulfill 3 CBD Objectives which are:
1.Conservation of biological
diversity.
2.Sustainable
use of its components; and
3.Fair and equitable sharing of
benefits from the use of genetic resources
This means that PNG, like most countries of the world,
has committed to a number of binding obligations in the Articles of the
Convention.
Of most direct importance to the Policy is Article 8
on ‘in-situ biodiversity conservation, which commits PNG to establish and
manage a system of protected areas, and to ensure that traditional lifestyles
linked to the land are also protected.Many of the other Articles are relevant to protected areas in PNG,
including those about monitoring and identification of biodiversity values
(Wickham et al., 2010).
Target 11 of the Aichi
Biodiversity Target under CBD’s Objective calls for all governments who have
signed the CBD treaty and ratified it to ensure that: “By 2020, at least 17 per
cent of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10 percent of coastal and
marine areas especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and
ecosystems services of protected areas and other effective area-based
conservation measures are integrated into the wider landscape and seascape;”
In 2014, Yamai villagers in Rai Coast District, Madang Province released this leatherback to sea following MAKATA's advocacy efforts. Picture by Simon Warr.
In addition, Target 12 points
out that: “By 2020, the extinction of known threatened species has been
prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline,
has been improved and sustained.”
Target 12 is MAKATA’s core
business in light of saving, protecting, and restoring populations of the
critically endangered Leatherback Turtles in ways that also improve the lives of
indigenous local communities who share the beaches these gentle creatures come
to nest.
PNG
also ratified the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITIES), in 1976 which meant that Papua New Guineans are forbidden to trade
endangered species such as sea turtles.
Achieving these obligations
is not easy in PNG.This is because 97%
of PNG land is customarily owned and only 3 to 4 % is State owned.The traditional customary tenure system in PNG is
recognized by the country’s constitution and national laws.This gives landowners freedom to determine
how they wish to manage or give access to others to use their land, water, and
sea resources upon which they are heavily dependent.
Tuesday, September 27, 2022
Papua New Guinea: MAKATA’s sand mining
experience
By
WENCESLAUS MAGUN
Before
it's too little too late to save our remaining intact pristine sand from being
mined I call on Prime Minister Hon. James Marape and his government to
establish sand mining policy and legislative framework.
Last night (27 September 2022) in a zoom conference
with activists from the Asia region I was saddened to hear their stories of how
corrupt, unregulated, unethical, immoral, repressive and unfriendly sand mining
has affected their environment and social conditions in their respective
countries.
Whilst we do have our own challenges their stories raised alarm bells!
If we do not learn from their experiences and seriously address sand mining
policy and legislative framework, we could go down the same path they are
experiencing or even worse given the climate of corruption we have in our
country.
Below is my presentation to participants from the Asia region in a zoom session
on 27 September 2022.
Abstract
• In the absence of sand mining policy and legislative framework, Papua New
Guinea (PNG) Government continues to entertain sand mining in the country;
• Sand mining has now become a frontline industry;
• Many sand mining activities are taking place illegally especially in rural
areas.
• There is no record to show how many of these companies are operating both
legally and illegally;
• The government agencies responsible to regulate this industry have failed to
ensure this happens;
• This document points out some of the multinational agreements PNG has signed
and ratified that in light of sand mining;
• The paper further shows how these multinational treaties link to PNG’s
Constitutional Goals 4 and 5, Vision 2050, policies, laws and the Medium Term
Development Goals III that points out challenges that PNG must take up to
protect its environment and biodiversity;
• It shows synopsis of steps taken by Mas Kagin Tapani or MAKATA a local
community based organisation and stakeholder partners took that successfully
stopped the Niugini Sands Limited a Singaporean company from getting its
Exploration License in February 2021 by pressuring the Company and the PNG
government in its campaigns;
• The paper shows that the Niugini Sands Limited had applied to the Mineral
Resources Authority to get its Exploration License to mine sand in Sumgilbar
Local Level Government (LLG), Sumkar District, Madang but wrote to MRA to
withdrew its application as a result of this campaign;
• In addition, the paper shows the players who supported MAKATA to stop this
sand mining activity in Madang and those who supported the company;
• It further points out the proposed Orokolo Bay sand mining project at the
mouth of the Kikori River, and or at Muro in the Gulf of Papua to be developed by Mayur
Resources Limited, an Australian mineral exploration and energy company;
• This mining activity is going to be a large-scale sand mining project; and
• The paper then shows what worked, what didn’t and recommended next steps
gained from lessons learned through this campaign journey.
Session I: Context review
Figure 1: Tenement Area for Sand Mining
Exploration in the Sumgilbar LLG of
Sumkar District, Madang Province.
This area covers an estimated area of 51 kms
in length and 10 kilometers from the beach to
the sea and from the beach inland.
Picture: Courtesy of MRA Tenement
Manager/Registrar,
Mr. Stanley Nekitel.
What is the
situation? What is the conflict?
·Sand mining although new to PNG is forming the frontline mining
industry;
·Many are taking place illegally, particularly in rural settings;
·There is currently no record on how many;
·Limited by no information from relevant government agencies and
other entities;
·PNG does not have any policy or legislative frameworks at this
stage to guide sand mining industry in the country;
·This policy and law must clearly define what type of sand mining
the developer intends to do;
·If it’s for minerals, the policy and law must state clearly the
different minerals found in sand and their monitory value;
·The developer MUST clearly state what kind of mineral it wants to
extract so that it pays its due in tax and related costs based on the types of
minerals it intends to extract;
·Any other minerals such as rare metals found in the sites must
also be identified and taxes and related benefits to the government and other
stakeholders are agreed upon and met;
·This is to avoid further tax and other benefits evasion by
developers based on past and present mining experiences in PNG;
·The policy and law must also clearly state what types of benefits
all the different stakeholders will get;
·The policy and law must point out what types of environmental,
social, cultural, and related damages will take place and give directives to
developers to mitigate and or reduce these threats;
·The policy and law must direct developers to conduct educational
awareness prior to Warden Hearings;
·The policy and law must direct developers to provide Environmental
Impact Assessments and Monitoring and Evaluation reports post mining, during
and after its mining activities;
·The policy and law must direct developers to provide Exit plan or
life after sand mining for the environment and livelihood of villagers
affected;
·The policy and law must capture audit reports for all sand mining
activities both for minerals and construction or civil work;
·The Mineral Resources Authority and related government agencies
must have lists of who is doing what, where and the start and end dates for
their activities in terms of sand mining in PNG;
·The locations of these proposed sand mining activities are
positioned in very fragile marine ecosystems, habitats to endangered species,
food sources, prone to climate change impacts and culturally sensitive areas
for the local inhabitants;
·We have joined the global community at the local community level
to fulfill international goals and Treaties PNG Government has signed and
ratified;
·These include the IUCN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 14.5, 14.7, Life Below Water and 15, Life
Above Water; United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), United Nations
Law of Sea (UNCLOS), PNG’s Ocean Policy 2009, PNG’s national Constitutional
Goals 4 and 5, Vision 2050, the National Strategy for Responsible Development
(STaRS), PNG’s commitment to the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs,
Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF), PNG's Enhanced Nationally Contribution
2020, and other related policies, legislations, and multinational agreements;
·We are also addressing a priority area of the Medium Term
Development Strategy III (MTDS III), Vol.1 Section 3.2.1 which points out
challenges that PNG must take up to protect its environment and biodiversity.
Who are the players involved in the extraction of the sand?
·The only two sand mining activities that got the governments
attention or got the attentions of other major stakeholders are the:
(i)the previously proposed shoreline sand mining in Madang’s Sumgilbar
LLG, which Niugini Sands Ltd, a Singaporean company had applied for Exploration
License was successfully stopped by us in February 2021 by pressuring the
Company and the PNG government in our campaigns; and
(ii)the proposed Orokolo Bay sand mining project at the mouth of
the Kikori River, and or at Muro in the Gulf of Papua is proposed to be developed by Mayur
Resources Limited, an Australian mineral exploration, and energy company.
·This mining activity is going to be a large-scale sand mining
project if endorsed by the Government of Papua New Guinea; and
·The Orokolo Bay and or Muro sand mining project is currently under discussion and it’s on our campaign radar simply because PNG does not have a specific sand mining policy and law.
Figure 2: Late Sir Angmai Bilas welcomes TIRN's Executive Director Todd Steiner, his wife Dr. Lynette and TIRN's Program Director Peter Fugazzotto to Madang to establish the STRP.
Who is funding sand extraction?
·The proposed shoreline sand mining in Madang’s Sumgilbar LLG, was
funded by Niugini Sands Ltd, a Singaporean company; and
·The Orokolo Bay sand mining project belongs to Mayur Resources
Limited, an Australian mineral exploration and energy company, will be
part-funded and operated by Chinese Titanium Resource Holdings Limited, a
company registered in Hongkong.
Who were/are your allies, supporters, and opponents during
your struggle?
·Our allies or supporters included:
·Donors:
·Past - Global Greengrants; late Sir Peter Barter (former Madang
Governor, Health Minister, and philanthropists; late Judge Nicholas Kirriwom;
Gildipasi Community Based organisation;
·Present – Turtle Island Restoration Network (Research), Global
Greengrants Funds (Sewing Training) and the Coalition for Human Rights in
Development (Community Outreach & Media Campaign);
·Stakeholders included:
·Four Local Level Government’s Ward Members and their respective
communities, Gildipasi Community Based Organisation from the proposed sand
mining areas in Sumgilbar LLG; and
·Chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of PNG and SI and Archbishop
of Madang Archdiocese his Grace Eminence Archbishop Anton Bal, the Caritas a
charity organization for the Catholic Church, the Catholic Professionals, and
the media both local and international.
Opponents
·President of Sumgilbar Local Level Government
Council in Sumkar District of Madang Province and other influential Ward
Members who were influenced by cohorts, collaborators and proponents of the
sand mining industry;
·Certain communities whose Ward Members were in
favor of sand mining activity to take place who are mostly living in the
hinterlands within Sumgilbar LLG; and
·We did not get any support from the Madang
Government nor from the local politicians;
Synopsis of challenges we encountered included:
·On 23rd September 2020, at Kangur hamlet during
the first Warden Hearings, I was assaulted as I walked up to deliver my talk;
·But I did not fight back;
·The former Gildipasi president, Mr. Peter Bunam threatened to hit
me saying, “What has MAKATA given to my community and you are now trying to
stop sand mining from taking place here?”
·Just to give you some back ground information;
·His big brother and his immediate family have a Land Owner company
that has partnered with Wood Bank and Pacific Region, a Malaysian logging company
and are doing logging in the far north coast area which covers our project
sites;
·This land owner company led the Warden Hearings;
·The name of this land owner company is Yangmur Limited;
·Yangmur land owner company partnered with a local Chinese business
woman who goes by the name of Ms. Belinda (not her real name of course). Her
real name is Miranda;
·Together they collaborated with Niugini Sands Limited to
bring sand mining into Sumgilbar LLG;
·These group of business partners have invited all the Sumgilbar
Local Level Government Ward Members to a restaurant in Madang, called Hidden
restaurant and had a meal with them;
·We do not know what transpired during that meal;
·What we do know is that, soon after that the President of
Sumgilbar and a few of his Ward Members collaborated with these bunch of
business people to bring sand mining into Sumgilbar LLG;
·Furthermore, when Mr. Peter Bunam was president of the
Gildipasi Civil Society, MAKATA presented K5,000 to him in hard cash to start
up a Village Lending Scheme or village banking;
·Mr. Bunam failed to acquit these funds and give a report to
MAKATA;
·This stopped a donor in US from continuing to support MAKATA;
·A fight almost broke out between resource owners who were for the
sand mining and those who were against it;
·With police presence all forms of physical and verbal abuses were
contained;
·I also received verbal threats from a Sumgilbar LLG Ward member,
Mr. Paulus Mukoi, after the Warden Hearings;
·At the Government level, the Mineral Resources Authority’s
Tenement Registrar, Mr. Stanley Nekitel was all in favor of sand mining;
·Mr. Nekitel refused to accept our Objection Letter nor did he
welcome our request to conduct further Warden Hearings;
·He argued that due to Covid-19 he was not willing to send his
officials back to the communities to conduct a second Warden Hearing;
·He was in the process to submit the technical report from his
officers who conducted the Warden Hearings at Talidig Government
Station and at Kangur Hamlet on the 23rd of
September 2020 to the Mining Advisory Council to either
accept and endorse their findings and or reject it and listen to our Objection
and Complaint letters;
·But time was in our favor;
·Before the Mining Advisory Council members met to
deliberate on the technical report from the Warden Hearings team from the
Mineral Resources Authority, Niugini Sands Limited wrote
to Mr. Nekitel and asked to withdraw their Application for Exploration
License number 2664;
·Niugini Sands Limited’s request to withdraw their Exploration
License number 2664 was accepted by the deputy Tenement
Registrar Mr. Patrick Munouluk on 26th of February 2021 at
12:10pm PNG time.
Figure 3: Late Sir Peter Barter discussing developmental issues of Madang with Mr. Wenceslaus Magun
Session II:
Lessons learned
How did you
lobby and campaign against sand mining in your country? What are
some of the efforts you are taking to address the issue of illegal sand mining
in your country?
Synopsis
of events leading up to stopping sand mining in Madang
·A Singaporean based company, Niugini Sands Ltd with
an office at Kunai Street in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea from mining sand in
the Sumgilbar Local Level Government (LLG) area;
·This company was recently registered with PNG’s Investment
Promotion Authority (IPA) and had applied in April 2020 for
an Exploration License (EL) number 2664 with the Mineral
Resources Authority (MRA);
·Sumgilbar LLG is where our Sea Turtles Restoration Project sites
are located in Sumkar District, of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea (PNG);
·We have been working with the local communities there to save,
protect, increase and sustain the populations of the critically endangered
Leatherbacks and other sea turtles from a new emerging threat, that of sand
mining
·MRA’s Tenement Manager/Registrar Mr. Stanley Nekitel had issued a
Notice to the Madang Governor on September 1, advising him of Warden Hearings
to be held at Talidig, Megiar and Tokain on September 23rd 2020;
·On 22nd September 2020, following receiving
this information, we sent an Objection letter to Mr Nekitel,
the Registrar of Tenements at the Mineral Resources Authority, objecting to
issue Exploration License to Niugini Sands Limited, a
Singaporean Company, which was late because of the late notice reaching us;
·On 16th November 2020, we did a follow-up letter
and asked Mr. Nekitel to ‘defer Mining Advisory Council consideration
of the EL Application and to direct further awareness and
Warden Hearings,’;
·We copied both letters to the Managing Director for Conservation
and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA), the Managing Director for Climate
Change and Development Authority (CCDA), the Attorney General and Secretary for
the Justice Department, the Madang Provincial Government, and the Madang
Governor;
·On 27th November 2020, we received the ‘Response
Advice’ from Mr. Nekitel, advising that MRA did not agree with our
request and proposes to proceed with the technical report to the Mining
Advisory Council for its consideration and appropriate advice to the
Minister;
·On the 03rd of February 2021, we submitted
a letter to the Attorney General, Dr. Eric Kwa requesting him to ‘Request
to Defer Mining Advisory Council Consideration of Niugini Sands’ Application
for Exploration License for Sand Mining on the North Coast of Madang and for
MRA to conduct further Awareness & Wardens Hearing and Constitution Section
57 Application’;
· “We now enclose for your information, a copy of our response
advice to MRA that we have commenced a Constitution Section 57 Human
Rights Enforcement Application to enforce the Section 51 Right to Information
and Section 59 Right to Natural Justice right to a fair hearing.”
“We enclose a copy of the Constitution Section
57 Application by way of service upon you, as a Respondent party to the
application.
“We request that the
State provide appropriate legal advice to MRA that it should not be overly
hasty in progressing this EL Application without giving the local, potentially
to be affected people, further and ample opportunities to be heard on their
views about the proposed exploration activity in their front and backyard sea
and land areas.
“We would request that you advise MRA that there
is no government policy on the proposal to explore to mine and export sand, nor
is there any legal framework for properly monitoring and supervising the
potential environmental impact of this unique mining activity being proposed in
PNG for the first time.
“In the meantime, to avoid unnecessary constitutional
litigation which has the potential to embarrass the State, we
would defer the prosecution of the Section 57 constitutional
application on the basis that the State gives advice to MRA
and that MRA will conduct further awareness Wardens Hearing on dates, time and
locations to be agreed upon with us, as we have requested.”
What would
you describe as your major achievements as a result of your work and campaign?
Niugini Sands Limited
Withdrew it’s EL Application
·On the 26th of February 2021, we
received a letter from Patrick Monouluk, deputy registrar for
the Mineral Resources Authority that they “havederegistered the Application
for Exploration License number 2664 on the 26th February
2021 at 12:10pm PNG time, on request from the proponent of the
application.”;
·We stopped Niugini Sands Limited from doing its Exploration
activities to mine sand in the Sumgilbar Local Level Government area of Sumkar
District, Madang Province, where our primary sea turtles project sites are
located using the Global Greengrants Fund;
·But the battle rages on; and
·We want to ensure that there is policy, law, and
regulation on sand mining established.
What strategies of your struggle
worked and what did not? Why?
Strategies
that worked include:
·Secured donor funding;
·Networked
with existing CBOs, and interested stakeholders;
·Engaged former Madang Governors late Sir Peter Barter and former
Chief Justice Sir Arnold Amet;
·Sought legal advice from prominent lawyers Mr. Paul Harricknen
president of the Catholic Professionals, late Judge Nicholas Kirriwom, late
James Wanjik and others;
·Involved the Catholic Church in Madang because most of the
communities in the proposed sand mining site are mostly Catholics;
·Engaged more than 5,000 villagers representing 10,563 local
inhabitants within the Sea Turtles Restoration Project sites and in the
neighbouring villages in Sumgilbar Local Level Government of Sumkar District
Madang Province, Papua New Guinea, who stood in solidarity and fought off this
new sand mining threat;
·For the first time, the Madang Chamber of Commerce, Caritas – a
Catholic charity organisation in Madang, Madang Catholic Archdiocese’s
Archbishop Anton Bal, the Catholic professionals - PNG Chapter, Community Based
Organisations, late Judge Nickolas Kirriwom, Sir Peter Barter, retired Chief
Justice and former Madang Governor Sir Arnold Amet, joined MAKATA and the local
resource owners to stop this threat;
·Late Judge Nickolas Kirriwom donated money to support the campaign
which was used to hire cars and travel into local villages to place red banners
and advocate against sand mining in local communities;
·Sir Peter Barter assisted with additional cash to produce
educational awareness materials which we shared in the local communities and
offered us free rooms and meals in his hotel for our meetings;
·Gildipasi Civil Society group within the Sea Turtles Restoration Project
sites came to my assistance further by meeting other travel costs;
·Members of the Gildipasi group played a key role at the grassroots
level to deliver all the educational awareness materials we produced and
uploaded onto flash drives sponsored by Sir Peter Barter and distributed them
to all the villages along the proposed sand mining impact communities;
·They further mobilized villagers from the proposed impact
communities to meet at Tokain village on 27th of November 2020
and expressed their concerns to the media, to their respective Ward Members as
well as signed their Affidavits and presented them to our Counsel, Sir Arnold
Amet;
·The Madang Archbishop Anton Bal also got his parish priests to
back us up;
·Caritas Madang also played a key role by using their members in
each village to share whatever educational awareness materials and information
I shared with them and used their own educational awareness materials to their
members in the local communities;
·I gave talks on NBC, and FM100 Talkback shows, and on EMTV, and
NBCTV;
·In addition, I advocated on social media and other media outlets
both in PNG and abroad and actively informed, educated and empowered our target
audiences to stand in solidarity to stop sand mining in Sumgilbar LLG;
·Retired Chief Justice Sir Amet met all other meeting costs in Port
Moresby, and in Madang and spent his own time and resources to provide free
legal advice;
·He represented me at the Tokain village using his own resources to
gauge the villagers’ views on sand mining in order to represent us in Court;
·He then represented us in Court and helped me write letters to MRA
and the Secretary for the Attorney General and Justice Department, Dr. Eric
Kwa;
·With his support we met Dr. Eric Kwa and hand delivered him our
Objection Letter of which a copy was given to MRA;
·In the process of handing a copy of this letter to Niugini
Sands Limited they wrote to MRA and withdrew their Application
for Exploration License number 2664 on the 26th February
2021 at 12:10pm PNG time; and
·Above all with the grace of God we achieved our goal.
·
Figure 6: Bos blong NBC Redio Madang, Mr. Makalai Bel i toktok wantaim Mr. Wenceslaus Magun long wok blong STRP long Madang.
MEDIA:
·Both local and
international media got involved.See
media links below:
oStories
from Post Courier, Wantok newspaper, FM100, NBC and other local mainstream
media outlets in PNG are not included in this list.
·Go
to pages 167 to 171 of Laudato si' Reader (second edition) and read my story
titled, "Protecting Papua New Guinea's Environment Inspired by Laudato si'
" in the latest Laudato si' Reader from the Vatican. You may download a
free copy if you like or inbox/WhatsApp or email me on: magun.wences@gmail.com
for a copy.
·Our success story in
stopping Niugini Sands Limited from getting Exploration
License number 2664 from the Mineral Resources Authority to mine sand
in Sumgilbar LLG gained access to an international audience, particularly Caritas
New Zealand who then linked me up with the Vatican Press.
·Representatives from the Vatican Press asked me
for a story which I did titled “Protecting Papua New Guinea’s Environment
Inspired by Laudato si’.
·Continue to empower key
stakeholders on the legal, social, economic, cultural, and environmental
implications and impacts of sand mining;
·Lobby with local MPs to
get the Government to establish a sand mining policy and legislative framework;
·Continue to raise funds,
submit proposals; and
·seek internal and
external support to achieve our next objective.
Figure 8: Lavelai villagers in Buin in the AROB saving this leatherback from poachers and releasing it back to sea.
Who benefitted?
·More than 10,563 villagers including men, women, people living
with disabilities, old folks and children from Murunas to Tokain village
covering a distance of 51 km in length and other stakeholders in Madang, have
benefitted tremendously from this campaign;
·Business houses in Madang who are members of the
Madang Chamber of Commerce, villagers from other coastal districts of Bogia,
Rai Coast, Sumkar and Madang teamed up and supported our fight and as a result
they are all now benefiting from it;
·We started the process to establish a sand mining policy,
regulation and law on this issue following this campaign;
·The outcome of this activity has multiple
positive effects and gains for the entire coastal villagers in PNG and the
nation of more than 8 million people;
·We protected the natural resources, businesses, tourism and
hospitality services, and the environment including existing households, infrastructures,
food gardens, coconut, cocoa, vanilla, and other cash crops, schools, health
centers, roads and bridges and other, social, economic, and infrastructure
services which would have been otherwise totally destroyed;
·We prevented coastal villagers from being
relocated inland where there is already shortage of land;
·We prevented the huge level of destruction to
local inhabitants’ food, protein, cultural heritages, spirituality, education,
aesthetic, medicinal, entertainment, and economic sources both on land and
below the sea, thus fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals;
·We prevented the level of poverty and social
problems for the local inhabitants and outsiders that benefit from these
natural resources;
·We protected all forms of marine ecosystems,
biodiversity and habitats loss and destruction;
·Papua New Guinea gained from our success in
stopping sand mining in Sumgilbar LLG;
·By stopping sand mining in Madang we ensured our
participation in international treaties was fulfilled;
·Papua New Guinea had signed and ratified the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and has a
domestic law in place for implementation of the Convention which is
administered by the Conservation and Environmental Protection Authority (CEPA),
formerly the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC);
·The Leatherback sea turtle has also been listed
as an EDGE species by the Zoological Society of London and is listed on the International
Union for Conservation Network (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species as
Vulnerable;
·We ensured that unregulated sand mining does not
happen in Sumgilbar LLG;
·Our success has prevented degradation of land
including disturbance to the water table leading to topographic disorder and
severe ecological imbalance and damage to land use patterns in and around
mining regions;
·Communities that live along the 51km stretch of
the coast, now do not have to worry about removal of sand, which provides a
buffer, and protection from storms surges;
·We saved their livelihoods by stopping sand
mining from removing the habitats for marine animals they eat or sell to make
an income;
·We prevented negative social impacts of sand
mining which include threats to human life and conflicts;
·We prevented negative and immediate impact on
Madang’s coral reefs and communities’ livelihoods as well as achieved PNG’s
commitment to the Coral Triangle Initiative
on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) as well as other
conventions PNG is party to including the United Nations Convention on Law of
the Sea (UNCLOS), and the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC);
·Mineral Resources Authority now knows that that
there is more than just sand being removed;
·We put on record to MRA our objection and demanded
that our coastal sand be analyzed for precious metals before a license or
mining activity can occur in our area;
·Mineral Resources Authority also knew that there
must be regulations and clear guidelines and standards set for best practice to
national circumstances to curb irresponsible and illegal extraction of sand as
well as for the protection of our people today and the generations to come;
·We achieved all stakeholders’ needs, to be
given free and prior informed consent to activities that impact us;
and
·Since the exit of Niugini Sands
Limited on 26 February 2021, we have all gained from
this fight!
Figure 9: Protected Areas in Sumkar District Madang. Picture curtesy of TNC
Environmental and Social
Benefits:
·We prevented negative and immediate impact on
Madang’s coral reefs and communities’ livelihoods as well as achieved PNG’s
commitment to the Coral Triangle Initiative
on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF), the United Nations
Conference on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Convention on Biological Diversity
and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the
IUCN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) 14.5 and 14.7, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES), PNG’s Ocean Policy 2009, PNG’s national Constitutional Goals 4 and 5,
Vision 2050, PNG's Enhanced Nationally Contribution 2020, the
National Strategy for Responsible Development (STaRS), the Medium Term
Development Strategy III (MTDS III), Vol.1 Section 3.2.1 that points out
challenges that PNG must take up to protect its environment and biodiversity
and other directive principles and related policies, legislations and
multinational agreements;
·We protected and prevented all forms of marine ecosystems,
biodiversity and habitats loss including Leatherbacks and other sea turtles
from sand mining threat;
·Papua New Guinea gained from our success in stopping sand mining
in Sumgilbar LLG;
·By stopping sand mining in Madang, we ensured our participation in
international treaties was fulfilled;
·Papua New Guinea had signed and ratified the CITES Convention and
has a domestic law in place for implementation of the Convention which is
administered by the Conservation and Environmental Protection Authority (CEPA),
formerly the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC);
·The Leatherback sea turtle is also listed as an EDGE species by
the Zoological Society of London and is listed in the International Union for
Conservation Network’s (IUCN’s) Red List of Threatened Species as Vulnerable;
·We ensured that unregulated sand mining does not happen in
Sumgilbar LLG;
·Our success has prevented degradation of land including
disturbance to the water table leading to topographic disorder and severe
ecological imbalance and damage to land use patterns in and around the proposed
sand mining area; and
·10,563 villagers that live along the 51km stretch of the coast,
now do not have to worry about removal of sand, which provides a buffer, and
protection from storms surges.
Strategies that did not work
·Right now - Fund raising
or seeking major grant to engage lawyers to write policy and law on sand
mining.
What would you advise to peers, activists, communities in
other countries that are goingthrough the same struggle?
Suggestions
·Secure BIG funding;
·Network with likeminded stakeholder partners;
·Collaborate with local leaders, Ward Members, and civil society
organisations;
·Engage and involve prominent Statesmen and Church leaders or
celebrities;
·Craft true, honest, effective messages and produce products that
are relevant and appealing to your target audience;
·Use appropriate, efficient and effective communication tools and
different campaign; strategies to bring about the change you are seeking;
·Take the lead and don’t back off even in the face of threat;
·Use the minimum amount of money you have to achieve a maximum
outcome;
·Try as much as you can to work within your budget;
·Seek internal and external assistance through friends, business
partners, NGO partners, donors, institutions and or carry out internal fund
raising activities to support you achieve your goal; and
·Get direct support from your board of directors.
Session III: Moving ahead
·In
May 2009, PNG finally established its National Ocean Policy (NOP) May 2009,
after 4 decades after signing the United Nations Law of Sea Convention (UNCLOS)
in 1977.
·The NOP strengthens PNG’s commitment to implement the objectives
of IUCN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) 14.5, 14.7, Life Below Water and 15, Life Above Water; United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), United Nations Law of Sea
(UNCLOS), PNG’s Ocean Policy 2009, PNG’s national Constitutional Goals 4 and 5,
Vision 2050, the National Strategy for Responsible Development (STaRS), PNG’s
commitment to the Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food
Security (CTI-CFF), PNG's Enhanced Nationally Contribution 2020, and other
related policies, legislations, and multinational agreements; and the Medium
Term Development Strategy III (MTDS III), Vol.1 Section 3.2.1 which points out
challenges that PNG must take up to protect its environment and biodiversity;
·It reaffirms PNG's position to ensure any development taking place
in PNG on our land, sea, and water must be responsible;
·That means all players involved must protect our environment,
natural resources, and biodiversity and support the cause to achieve
conservation or sustainable resource management outcomes;
·This commitment is consistent with PNG's commitment to implement
the 17 Goals of Sustainable Development Goals including Goal 14, Life Below
Water, and Goal 15 Life Above Water;
·In so doing, PNG is obliged to establish a sand mining policy and
legislative framework to govern this industry;
·To date, PNG does not have a transparent and accountable report of
who is mining sand for construction and minerals;
·There is no record of monitoring this activity;
·We do not know how much benefits resource owners, LLGs, Wards,
Districts and Provincial Governments will get from sand mining both for
construction and minerals.
·We, therefore, call on the Government to
establish a specific policy and law on sand mining for PNG so that it can
regulate this industry.
