PNGGaSEM formed to stop seabed mining in PNG

Photos:

1. Members of the civil society groups, NGOs, University Lecturers and students attending the first general meeting to form PNG Group Against Seabed Experimental Mining at CELCOR’s conference room.  Yariyari Lawyer, Damien Ase (front left) Hon. Gary Juffa (next to him) and other key speakers sitting in the front raw.
2. Professor Chalapan Kaluwin speaking to the group and making a point to stop seabed mining. 
3. Executive Director for Partners with Melanesia Kenn Mondiai speaking to the group.  PwM will support Papua New Guineans to protect our natural resources and identity.
4. PNGGASEM Secretary, and Political Science Lecturer at UPNG urging all members of the group to unite and work together to stop seabed mining
5. Executive Director for CELCOR Peter Bosip speaking to members of the group and pointing out some of the reasons why we need to stop seabed mining
6. Oro Governor, Gary Juffa giving his support to the group to stop seabed mining in PNG
7. Madang Indigenous People’s Forum President, Alfred Kaket sharing his experiences of campaigning to stop deep sea tailings placement from MCC’s Ramu Nickle Mine and the seabed mine campaign.

By WENCESLAUS MAGUN

The campaign to stop experimental seabed mining in Solwara 1, by Nautilus Minerals Limited, a Canadian developer has been boosted by the establishment of a group, ‘Papua New Guinea Group against Seabed Experimental Mining (PNGGaSEM)’.

This civil society group was established on Sunday 1 December, 2013 at the Ela Beach Hotel during its second general meeting. PNGGaSEM comprise of a coalition of resource owners, Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights (CELCOR), Partners with Melanesia (PwM), Mas Kagin Tapani (MAKATA), Four Maisin (4M), Madang Indigenous Peoples Forum (MIPF), Madang Deputy Governor Rama Marisan, Oro Governor Gary Juffa , the PNG Council of Churches, private Lawyers Moses Murray and Thomas Elisah and some university Lecturers and students from both the University of PNG and University of Technology in Lae. 

PNGGaSEM membership continues to increase as the campaign grows.

The group will be formally registered to pursue the matter further even in court to ultimately stop seabed mining in PNG.

Chairman of the group Lawyer Moses Murray, pointed out that PNGGaSEM had an important role to play for Papua New Guinea.

“Seafloor mining has not taken place anywhere else in the world.  The costs of any possible environmental damage caused as a result of seafloor mining can be catastrophic and immeasurable,” he warned. 

He stressed further that in such a case, the State and Nautilus Minerals Ltd may not be in any position to contain the damage which can harm the marine environment, and the lives of people who live off it.  He warned that those who may be affected by such damage include not just the people of New Ireland and East New Britain but everyone who consumes anything in the Bismarck Solomon seas.

“Mining on the land is much easier to track and monitor destructions made. Unlike the ocean, current flows in completely different directions,” he cautioned.

He added that the mining laws must also cover the ocean and its surroundings, above and below.

He said PNGGaSEM has no funds to fight this hard battle but he called on the young members to set the pace and get the fundraising going as soon as possible.

The group is in close consultation with scientists and a lawyer abroad for support and guidance in its endeavour to achieve its goal.

Deputy Governor for Madang, Rama Marisan said on behalf of the Madang Provincial Government and the 400, 000 people of Madang Province, he extended full support on behalf of the Governor and the Madang Provincial Government to say “NO” to Deep Sea Mining in PNG.

He said a lot of mining activities can be seen on land and their aftermaths can be visually seen. He gave examples of  Panguna, Lihir, Ok Tedi, Ramu Nickel mines just to name a few which are causing great concern to PNG’s fresh water, forests and sea and their biodiversity.

Lawyer Elisah a private Lawyer based in Madang in addition said, there are no laws to police, and monitor the sea bed mining.

“From the Governors’ Conference level held in Madang, the support is greatly needed for this group to fight this on the floor of Parliament,” he stressed.

 He raised concerns that anything within the three mile zone belongs to the customary owners, but anything outside the three mile zone is up to the State to do anything.

“Since this is the case, it needed all the political will to fight this in Parliament,” he reiterated. He urged the PNGGaSEM to lobby hard for resolutions to be passed through government at the National Executive Council level to stop seabed mining.

Thomas Imal Lawyer with CELCOR said,

“The PNG Government has put the cart before the horse by issuing Nautilus Minerals Solwara 1 mining licence without adequate and independent scientific studies, or comprehensive national policy, laws and regulations for Deep Sea Mining (DSM).”

“To date the PNG Government has ignored the concerns of communities and other stakeholders.  This has been the cause of a strong backlash from PNG’s society culminating in the threat of a legal challenge.”

“Whilst DSM may be a viable option for other Pacific States it is not the same for Papua New Guinea.  We need to apply the Precautionary Principle.  The uncertainties far out weight the benefits and it is not beneficial for the country at this time.”

Meanwhile, reports obtained from Nautilus Minerals Ltd stated that it had conducted a workshop to discuss the social and environmental impacts of subsea mineral extraction on 12-13 March 2007. 

According to this report, the workshop was to identify and discuss issues related to the environmental and social aspects of Solwara 1 project.

The PNG Government has issued license to Nautilus Minerals Ltd, to mine for high grade copper, gold, zinc and other minerals in high concentrations in seafloor massive sulphide deposits over 59km² selections of Bismarck Sea. The Solwara 1 project site, is located at 1,600m water depth and is about 30km from the New Ireland and 50km from East New Britain provinces.

The government has granted a 20-year mine lease for the project to Nautilus Minerals Ltd as well as take a 30% stake in the venture.

For more information please contact:

Chairman Moses Murray on:   elishbru@daltron.com.pg

Nautilus shares slump as investors lose confidence

Nautilus shares slump as investors lose confidence by ramunickel Investor confidence in Nautilus Minerals, the company that wants to use the Pacific as a testing ground for experimental seabed mining, has slumped to near record lows. Nautilus share price over the last three months: The shares in Nautilus have not only lost all of the price gains made after the favourable arbitration decision  in October, they have continued tumbling. But the investment media, so quick to shout about price gains, is not writing about it! Any experimental mining is at least 3-4 years away, and Nautilus still does not have the cash to fund the construction of its mining vessel. Add to that the mounting public opposition in Papua New Guinea, the government reluctance to throw tax-payers money at the project, the threat of court action and increasing belligerence and  community mobilization in other Pacific countries and the future does not look bright for Nautilus Minerals. They say the markets do not lie and they paint a very ugly picture indeed when you look at the Nautilus share price over the past 10 years: Cost cutting measures mean cash operating costs in the first three quarters of 2013 were down to $12.7m from $20.8m  for the same period last year. How  But how much longer can the company continue that sort of outlay when the opposition to their plans for open cut strip mining on the sea floor just keeps mounting... ramunickel | December 4, 2013 at 7:40 am | Tags: Environmental damage, experimental seabed mining, Nautilus, open cut strip mining, Papua New Guinea, Solwara 1 | Categories: Environmental impact, Financial returns, Pacific region, Papua New Guinea | URL: http://wp.me/pMvf7-2T0 Comment    See all comments

They come home

A short video telling the story of Madang villagers taking steps to save leatherback turtles.http://youtu.be/sNMv84W3gR4

Turtle conservation site communities in Madang empowered with communication skills

http://www.facebook.com/n/?groups%2F210718705711207%2F&mid=6c3525eG20735b4fGb104cdbG15&bcode=LNVAbcrL_1.1348031792.AaSvo9N3YuUm0lzr&n_m=magun.wences%40gmail.com

Introduction    

SeaWeb Asia Pacific is a regional organization that advances sustainable resource management through strategic communications and social marketing approaches. In this unique region, applying these approaches invariably revolves around empowering local leaders to facilitate community dialogues around the need to marry traditional cultural practices and modern science to solve resource management challenges.

Seaweb in collaboration with Mas Kagin Tapani (MAKATA) organised this workshop to build the communications capacity of community members to effectively disseminate information to the community at large. 

The workshop was conducted to members of Karkum and Sarang villages along the North Coast road of Madang Province who are involved in the protection of the leatherback turtles that nest along the sandy beach of these communities. Efforts to extend the protection area have been hindered by lack of effective awareness and other factors.

The communications training workshop was conducted at Karkum village from 18^th to the 20^th of September, 2013. It was attended by at least 50 people from Karkum and the neiboughring Sarang villages. The participants were mainly, youths (males and females) and elder men who occupy leadership roles in the community were on hand to provide encouragement for the youths. Many of the participants are currently involved in other community activities such as law and order committee, youth committee, church committee, water committee etc...and the skills obtained in this training is an enabler to help them effectively communicate with the community on issues of importance to the community.

Seaweb Asia Pacific was privileged to have been a part of this training in building the capacity of these community leaders.

Community Communications need

The needs of the participants are around three key areas; Public presentation, packaging information and radio presentation. Hence the training program covered these key areas with many practical activities.

Workshop objectives

By the end of the workshop, participants must be able to;

1.    Identify fundamentals of communications

2.    Develop concise message for a target audience

3.    Deliver informative and persuasive presentation

4.    Identify ways to execute successful meetings and workshops

5.    Identify radio interview techniques and conduct a radio interview

6.    Indentify public speaking techniques

7.    Conduct a public speaking session using message box and better presentation

8.    Facilitate a dummy meeting or workshop

How did the workshop address these needs

The workshop covered the following;

Topics	Description	Method
Introduction to communications	This covers the fundamentals of communications. It gives an understanding of the elements of communications, effective and barriers of communications.	Group discussions around communications; what participants think communications is, what is good communications and why and what is bad communications and why. This was followed by a presentation.
Better presentations	Better presentations teach how to deliver more engaging, informative and persuasive presentations.  Better Presentations help avoid the most commonly made mistakes, structure information in ways that help audiences absorb it, and deliver talks with greater confidence.	A presentation was conducted on presentations. The reflections about presentations at community meetings by elders, and many times the community leaders take so long to relay a message in a short time. Many times community members lose concentration, resulting in the message not adhered to.
Message box	TThe message box is powerful tool that help to prepare for interviews, frame a press release, organize a lecture or discussion, or to explain what your organization does in one minute or less. Sharpens focus, and gain audience’s attention.	A presentation conducted on the message box and the sample was conducted for participants. Then one was developed by all the participants. A group activity was conducted in which all participants identified an issue and a message box was developed. Overpopulation, land acquisition and marine pollution were issues identified and message box developed.
Basic Facilitation	FBasic Facilitation give the tools needed to prepare and plan for a session, focus participants on the job at-hand, and understand the tasks that need to happen after the meeting. Useful when facilitating community meetings.	A presentation was delivered. Two volunteers were selected to facilitate the session on developing a workshop agenda and the question and answer session.
Public speaking/presentation	Teaches the skills of making public presentations. What needs to be done before, during and after the presentations.	General discussion on public speaking and a presentation. Using the message box participants developed a message and presented their message using public speaking techniques.
Radio interview	Radio is a common media accessible throughout PNG. This teaches how to conduct radio interviews, before, during and after the interview.	This session did not eventuate, as the NBC staff were not there to co facilitate. However, it was planned that the participants were to be interviewed on radio, conduct an awareness on  turtle conservation; both to be aired by NBC for Madang Province
Minute taking skills	Teaches the importance of taking minutes and how to take minutes	A presentation on minute taking skills. A dummy meeting was conducted by 5 volunteers and the rest were minute takers.

All topics above were provided by Seaweb, except minute taking skills. The minutes taking skills was suggested by the participants as it was a much needed skill that they lack. Seaweb developed a presentation on the minute taking skill.

All sessions were very interactive with participants having plenty of practice. The participants were given the opportunity to evaluate participants doing presentations The workshop objectives were achieved.  Below are some comments from some of the participants;

a)    Joe Hurim, a village court magistrate from Sarang said: “This is the first time such training is conducted for villagers of Sarang, Basken, and Karkum.  The training will help young leaders’ especially young women leaders to have confidence to do public speaking, conduct meetings, take meeting minutes, and to identify community issues, problems, steps to solve those problems and see their benefits.”

b)    Otto P. Gabbe, from Karem village was excited about the course.  He said: “We are so fortunate to be given this training which is normally conducted in hotels and at universities for a substantial amount of money.” He added that the skills learnt will be used to help them run their own affairs in the community.

c)    Adolf Lilai, from Karkum Sea Turtle Restoration Project committee said, the training has empowered them to understand the significance of keeping meeting minutes.   

To conclude, this workshop was the first to be conducted in Madang. The workshop was tailored to cater for community members. Most of the participants could read and write making presentations easy.

On behalf of Seaweb I thank Mas Kagin Tapani for engaging us to run the communications workshop, and UNDP for making it possible to have this workshop conducted.

Sarang Village Turtle Training Report

MAKATA endeavors to save the remaining critically endangered leatherback turtles in Papua New Guinea. Much more can be done if our efforts are supported. If you wish to donate funds or inkind support for this cause, please email me on: magun.wences@gmail.com or call me on (675) 71959665. To learn more about us log onto: maskagintapani.blogspot.com. Your support will be acknowledged!

TRAINING WORKSHOP REPORT
COMMUNITY BASED MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT SARANG COMMUNITY, MADANG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Report prepared by Job Opu for MAKATA Incorporated,
September 2013

MAS KAGIN TAPANI ASSOCIATION
POB 1312, Port Moresby, National Capital District, PNG
Ph. +(675) 3440591 or + (675) 71959665
magun.wences@gmail.com • maskagintapani.blogspot.com

Acknowledgements
We appreciate the fact that the northern coastal community in Madang is taking the lead in marine turtle conservation through the hard work and persistency of the MAKATA Inc. The recent addition of Sarang Community into the training program is an added bonus to the marine conservation efforts and we are so blessed with the outcomes and the number of community members represented at this workshop including female and youth participation as well.
We are very grateful to Pastor Kulang and his family for taking our team in and hosting our team for the duration of the training workshop. We also thank his good wife and her team for making sure we were well fed during our time there.
We also thank the good people of Sarang for allowing us in to run the training and also for their contribution in kind and making us feel so welcome.
We thank our major funders the UNDP-SGP for funding this training workshop

Table of Contents
1. Introduction 4
1.1 Aims and objectives 5
1.2 Expected Outcomes 5
2. Course Contents. 7
3. Outcomes of the Workshop. 8
Day 1. Tuesday 10 September 2013 8
Day2. Wednesday 11 September 2013 9
Day3. Thursday 12 September 2013 10
4. Evaluation of the Training Workshop. 12
5. Follow-up 13
Annex 1. The Training Workshop Program. 14
Annex II. Participants List 19
Annex III. Draft Actions Plan for the Sarang Community 22

1. INTRODUCTION
Sea turtles of today have changed little from their ancient reptilian ancestors that appeared on earth millions of years ago before humans. For many years, humans have been exploiting turtles for food and decorative ornaments. In the last 200 years or so, the uncontrollable harvests of adults and juveniles and turtle eggs have caused sea turtle population worldwide to drastically decline. The remaining populations are critically endangered and very close to extinction.
Of the seven of world’s marine turtles, six occur in the PNG marine waters. These include the Flatback, the Green Turtle, the hawksbill, leatherback turtle, the loggerhead and Olive Ridley. Of these six, Hawksbill, Green turtle and the leatherback turtle are most common. From previous survey results and anecdotal information, PNG has some of the largest remaining populations of hawksbill, green turtle and Leatherback turtle in the world today. However these populations and especially the leatherback turtle have rapidly declined.
Marine turtles have lived over 100 millions of years. They grow slowly and take between 30-50years to reach sexual maturity. Some live to be over a 100years old.
All marine turtle species are experiencing serious threats to their survival. The main threats are pollution can change to environment – especially reefs and nesting areas. Marine turtles are also killed by entanglement in marine debris, incidental catch in active fishing gear, predation by feral animals, changes to habitat and food sources and indigenous hunting.
Marine turtles migrate long distances of up to 3000 km between nesting beaches and home foraging grounds so that impact on animals in one region have far-reaching implications for populations that spun local, regional and national boundaries.
Marine turtles have traditionally had strong cultural linkages to local communities along the coastal areas of PNG. To maintain these cultures drastic decline in turtle populations must be able to be put to a stop.
Many beaches and near shore reefs along the coastal areas of PNG are home to the marine turtles. While turtle conservation programs have been initiated in a few parts of PNG, large areas although significant in nature lack turtle conservation programs. It is in these areas that local consumption of turtle for eggs and meat go on without saving some of these turtles and eggs.
Mas Kagin Tapani (MAKATA) Inc. a local NGO has been taking a very active role in turtle conservation efforts especially in the Madang Province of PNG. MAKATA has mobilized funds to carry out awareness and basic tagging and monitoring training to the local communities over the last couple of years. Through this initiative over 200 hundred locals have been trained and equipped with turtle tags and tag applicators.
This training workshop is the fourth of its kind and a follow-up of the activities and interests generated so far in turtle conservation and management with the Madang Community. The Sarang community were visited by a female leatherback turtle on their beaches a month or so back and this being the first visit after almost 30 years when the last leatherback turtle was seen, made the locals excited and keen to start conserving their beaches for nesting leatherback turtles.
The workshop was organised by the MAKATA Inc and hosted by the Sarang Community of Madang. The workshop ran from the September 9th – September 13th 2013 and the target audience of the workshop included Madang community members and representatives from Community based organisation. There were 43 participants at this course. For a full list of workshop participants including village names, refer to participants list on Annex 2.
1.1 Aims and objectives
The objectives of the training workshop were as outlined:
• Exposing participants to turtle biology and conservation
• Instructing participants on turtle tagging and monitoring protocols. Theory and Practical
• Developing a simple action strategy and management plan for turtle conservation and management
• Exposing the participants to laws protecting endangered marine species
• Exposing the participants to the use of awareness campaigns to educated communities on the turtle conservation.
• Networking communities with each other and in country turtle specialists so as to progress sustainable management of marine turtles.
The training workshop intended to enhance the capacity of Madang communities’ members who are developing a turtle management program in Turtle Conservation and Management. It specifically introduced participants to turtle tagging, data recording and compiling of basic information to monitor turtles that frequent their shores and near shore marine turtles habitats.
1.2 Expected Outcomes
Expected outcomes of the workshop are as listed below.
• Participants have been exposed to turtle tagging and monitoring protocols and are comfortable to begin turtle monitoring including tagging and documentation of nesting data on their nesting beaches.
• Participants are well versed with turtle and marine issues and are able to articulate through awareness campaigns to the coastal communities of the Madang coasts.
• A turtle conservation and management network is established and information flow and exchange is initiated and maintained.
• Participants of the training workshop complete the training and are awarded training certificate.

2. COURSE CONTENTS.
The training workshop was divided into 6 sessions and presentations and discussions were centered on this. The sessions are as listed below.

Session 1: To introduce marine turtle ecology to the participants that will include:
• Marine environment
• Marine turtle biology / life cycle
• Marine turtle nesting ecology

Session 2: To introduce Marine turtle Species found in PNG waters
• Marine Turtles species in PNG waters
• Marine turtle Distribution in PNG waters
• Status of Marine Turtles in PNG
• Current Turtle programs in PNG

Session 3: To introduce turtle tagging and data collection protocols
• Marine turtle tagging
• Various tags used
• Data sheets
• Satellite tracking
• Databases
• Practical application to turtle tagging and data collecting

Session 4. Developing a turtle Conservation Management Plan
• Strategic planning and workplan
• Management planning

Session 5. Marine Turtle Protection under PNG legislation
• Fauna Protection and Control Act (1978)

Session 6. Education and Awareness on Marine Turtle Conservation Programs
• Education and awareness ..........WHY???
• Methods/ Avenues

The training workshop program is outlined in Annex 1.

3. OUTCOMES OF THE WORKSHOP.

Participants began arriving on Sunday 18th September 2009. Registration was brought forward to Sunday evening and most of the participants registered on Sunday evening. Those who came later on Monday registered in the morning.

DAY 1. TUESDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER 2013

An opening ceremony was done at 9.00am to open the workshop. Pastor Mark made a few remarks on the importance of creation and followed this with a prayer. This was followed by a few remarks by Wenceslaus Magun, the PNG coordinator for the STRP.

Following the opening ceremony, participants were asked to introduce themselves. Participants’ number at the workshop was about 40 and this included about 10 female participants allowing for gender balance at the workshop.

The training proper began at 9.00am. The participants were introduced to the marine environment. These included the major habitats such as mangroves forests, seagrass beds, the coral reefs and the pelagic or deep waters. Examples of organisms on each habitat were given. There was great emphasis on the “connectivity” of the marine systems and the need to consider this connectivity when designing a management regime for these systems. Water currents playing a major role in disbursement of larvae etc of marine organisms was also highlighted. Turtle migration and feeding was also linked to marine connectivity.

Marine turtle biology was introduced next. The participants were introduced to the life cycle of the marine turtles. From the nesting behaviour to hatchling going into the sea, growing up on the sea and the migration to feeding sites and returning to nesting beaches as matured adults. Marine Turtle nesting ecology was presented to the participants highlighting nesting behaviours and beaches.

Marine Turtle species of the oceans were introduced and all seven species of marine turtles were introduced briefly. The common 3 species (hawksbill, green turtles and the leatherback turtle) were discussed thoroughly as more time were spend on these 3 species and also the fact that they were very common in PNG marine waters. Current turtle programs in PNG were also presented. This included the Huon Coast Leatherback program and the Milne Bay tagging program.

Marine Turtle Species in PNG waters and their distribution were then presented to the participants. The participants were informed that there has been no systematic update on the distribution of the turtle species in the PNG waters since the last distribution survey done by Sylvia Spring in 1978. Information from Sylvia’s survey indicated that Greens and Hawkbills were common throughout PNG waters while Leatherback was restricted to the northern coast of PNG mainland and occasionally were found in the New Britain’s, New Ireland and Manus Islands beaches during nesting seasons.
For each presentation, discussion time was set aside for questions and comments. There were a good number of discussions and comments. Traditional knowledge was also highlighted by the participants on their knowledge of the marine environment and especially on the marine turtles.

Towards the end of the day there was a recap and a brief evaluation of the presentations and the workshop ended for day at 4.30pm. All in all the participants understood and grasped the presentation well

DAY2. WEDNESDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER 2013

Day two began at 8.30am with a recap of the previous day’s presentation. This was followed by a couple of presentations on turtle tagging and monitoring protocols throughout the day.

Presentations under this session included: Turtle tagging protocols, various tags that are used, turtle monitoring datasheets, and various turtle databases and turtle management programs in PNG and the region. Under turtle tagging protocols, participants were instructed on the proper application of various tags used including the metal tags, the PIT tags and the satellite tracking systems. Advantages and disadvantages of this various tags were highlighted. Various data sheets were also introduced to the participants including: “turtle encounter and nesting turtle datasheet”, “nest “datasheet, Nesting Beach ground survey”..etc. The participants were informed that the Turtle Encounter and Nesting Turtle Datasheet” was ideal for the purpose of the turtle tagging program that is being initiated along the Madang coast.

The participants were also introduced to the 2 main database in the region including the SPREP database, The Queensland Parks and Wildlife marine turtle database (Col Limpus). It was rather unfortunate that samples of the two databases were not available at the time of the workshop and so could not be demonstrated to the participants.

Later in the afternoon, participants had a practical demonstration session on the handling and tagging of marine turtles and the recording of data. The session went very well and the participants were able to grasp the practical application of tags and documentation of data.

Time was also set aside for questions, comments, and clarifications on the presentations. In general, the session was very constructive and also a lot of information not covered under the formal presentations was covered under this session.

After an evaluation of the day’s sessions, the workshop wrapped up at 5.00pm.


DAY3. THURSDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 2013

Day 3 began with a recap of the previous day’s presentation. This was followed by the session set for the day.

Day 3 session was basically introducing the participants to strategic planning of various programs and especially developing a Turtle Management Plan for the marine turtle program for their respective communities.
The following topics were covered under this session:
• Strategic planning (vision, mission...etc)
Work planning
Issues
Thematic mapping of issues
Developing a Mgt Plan

The participants were introduced to basic strategic planning and then taken through a strategic planning exercise using their community oriented turtle program to develop Workplan for their community programs. For most of the participants it was a first time to go through a strategic planning process but they were very enthusiastic and had no problems coping with the exercise.

The strategic planning exercise took half a day.

A couple of video presentations on turtle management were then shown to the participants. At the end of these sessions, questions and comments were invited from the participants. As usual with comments from other previous sessions, comments provided in this session were very constructive and lessons and experiences were shared in this session.

The final two sessions were squeezed in to the afternoon session. This included the relevant laws and legislation protecting turtles and how to go about developing an effective awareness campaign on turtle conservation.

Under the PNG laws on wildlife protection, participants were introduced to the Fauna Protection and Control Act (1978), relevant Policies and the Wildlife Management Areas concept under the Fauna (and Flora) protection and Control Act. Various sections under the Act were introduced. Discussion centred on the issue of enforcement. Enforcement and/or rather lack of enforcement of this Act under the Department of Environment and Conservation have been an ongoing issue. It was also noted that regulations under this Act pertaining to endangered, restricted take, and/or protection of endangered species were not very specific in terms local take or harvest of these resources. All in all the discussions and comments brought forward under this session went very well and opened up minds of the participants.
Under the session on “Effective Awareness Campaign”, participants were introduced to Education and Awareness as an effective mechanism or tool that is currently utilised to drive home information and also increase communities and general public knowledge on the issues associated with conservation management. Topics under this session included: why education and awareness?; methodologies; getting the message across; target audiences and effective awareness campaigns. Most participants at the workshop has had previous and varying experiences in undertaking awareness campaigns on environmental and conservation issues out to the general public and communities and are well versed. This session strengthened and somewhat enhanced their capacity to undertake more awareness campaigns. Discussions under this session went well and were again very informative.

An evaluation was undertaken following the session on Education and Awareness followed by a final evaluation of the training workshop.

The training workshop was officially closed at 5.30pm on Thursday 12 September 2013. A small official ceremony was undertaken to close the workshop followed by refreshments.

4. EVALUATION OF THE TRAINING WORKSHOP.
There were no formal questionnaires nor systematic methodologies used in evaluating the training workshop. Daily evaluations were done at end of each day and a final evaluation was done at the end of the last day of the training workshop. Evaluation was done through verbal communication by means of questions and answers (both ways) and comments and observations.
In terms of attendance, there was full Level of participants from the host community and fair representation from other 3 participating communities. There was adequate gender balance of participants. All participants had some form of formal education and hence were comfortable with the language, methods, and level of presentations. The workshop was run in Tok Pisin and English.
In terms of the course content, the organisers attempted to provide an over view of the marine environment, distinguisng from the terrestrial, describing the main habitats in the marine environment, emphasing on the nature of “connectivity” in the marine environment and species, and narrowing down to endangered marine species and in particular touching on the marine turtle species. Under marine turtles, species distribution and status were introduced, common species in PNG waters was highlighted and tagging and monitoring protocols were presented. Community Marine turtle monitoring and tagging and management action plans were firstly presented and discussed then developed for each community. Through daily evaluation and final evaluation, conclusions were drawn in that the course content was adequate given that this was the first kind of training offered to these communities, the presentation covered a very wide range of marine topics in a very limited time, the course/information were presented in a very easily understood and simplified way, and that the participants expectations of the workshop was met. The participants felt that training workshops of this sort should be done more often.
In terms of turtle marine turtle information especially on turtle tagging and monitoring, 2 days were spend on this and the topic adequately covered. Whatever issues raised under this session was also adequate addressed through answers and question time and in specific comments.
All in the entire training workshop was timely, very informative, and addressed marine turtle issues and information gaps that were identified from initial consultations by the STRP/Makata team.

5. FOLLOW-UP
There were several activities that needed to be done as identified through the course and closing of the workshop. These are listed below:

Printing and awarding of course certificates.
o Awarding of certificate of course completion was scheduled to be undertaken during the closing ceremony. However certificates were not ready in time for the awarding ceremony. This is currently being looked into by the workshop logistics person and a later date in November 2013 will be scheduled for the awarding of the certificate.

Distribution of training workshop documents
o Details of presentations are contained in documents. This will be also printed, bind and distributed to course participants. Makata will be responsible for this.

Mobilizing of distribution of awareness materials
o All workshop participants mentioned the need to have awareness materials with them when they are talking to the community and school children in their communities. The first point of contact will be the SPREP marine turtle program. Request will be made to the SPREP marine officer(s) for posters, brochures, Turtle DVD to be send to an established NGO in Madang who will in turn make sure that awareness materials mobilised will be send to appropriate community members to be distributed during their awareness campaigns.
o Other marine turtle programs throughout especially in Australia, the Asia and the Hawaii turtle projects will also be approached to supply the Madang community with awareness materials.

Further Training Workshops on Marine Turtles (and other marine related issues)
o The training workshop was the first of its kind along the Madang coastal communities and has generated alot of interest among different communities. Informal requests have been provided to the workshop organisers to run similar kind of workshops in the near future to continue raising awareness along the coastal communities.
o Makata will look into this and develop proposals etc to mobilise funds to continue the training to other communities along the Madang coastal areas.


ANNEX 1. THE TRAINING WORKSHOP PROGRAM.

1. LOGISTICS
1.1 Venue:
1.2 Logistics
Wence
STRP – PNG Focal Point
Port Moresby
Ph: (675) 71959665

Wence is the Program Manager for Turtle Program and will be responsible for all logistics and coordination. Wence will put in fulltime for this training program taking care of all logistics and support.

1.3 Participation
• Selected Community Members of Madang
• Local NGO representatives

1.4 Key Personnel / Trainer
Job Opu
Marine Species Specialist
Port Moresby
Ph: (675) 71668746
Email: j_opu@hotmail.com

Job has been involved in marine species program in PNG and the pacific region and is well versed in community based turtles conservation and management.

Job’s input into this program will be i) Developing the training program, ii) preparation of course material, iii) running the course itself and iv) writing up the final report.

2. Training Workshop Goals

The training workshop seeks to enhance the capacity of Madang communities’ members who are developing a turtle management program in Turtle Conservation and Management. Its specifically seeks to train the community members in turtle tagging, data recording and compiling of basic information to monitor turtles that frequent their shores and near shore marine turtles habitats.

The expected outcomes for the training workshop are:

Session 1: To introduce marine turtle ecology to the participants that will include:
• Marine environment
• Marine turtle biology / life cycle
• Marine turtle nesting ecology

Session 2: To introduce Marine turtle Species found in PNG waters
• Marine Turtles species in PNG waters
• Marine turtle Distribution in PNG waters
• Status of Marine Turtles in PNG
• Current Turtle programs in PNG

Session 3: To introduce turtle tagging and data collection protocols
• Marine turtle tagging
• Various tags used
• Data sheets
• Satellite tracking
• Databases
• Practical application to turtle tagging and data collecting

Session 4. Developing a turtle Conservation Management Plan
• Strategic planning and Workplan
• Management planning

Session 5. Marine Turtle Protection under PNG legislation
• Fauna Protection and Control Act (1978)

Session 6. Education and Awareness on Marine Turtle Conservation Programs
• Education and awareness ..........WHY???
• Methods/ Avenues

3. Training Workshop Program

Time Program Key Person(s)

Day1.
8.30 – 9.00am Registration Wences

9.00 – 9.30am Opening and Introductions Wences/Community Chairman
• Opening Prayer
• Opening Remarks (Wences)
• Address by Community Rep
• Opening of workshop
10.00-10.30am Refreshments

10.30am – 12.00noon Session 1: Introduction Job
• Marine Turtle Ecology
o Marine environment
o Marine turtle biology / life cycle
o Marine turtle nesting ecology

12.00 – 1.00pm LUNCH BREAK

1.00pm – 1.30pm Review of Session 1. Job

1.30pm – 3.00pm Session 2: Marine Turtles’ species in PNG Waters Job
• Marine Turtle Species in PNG waters
• Marine turtle Distribution (nesting..etc)

3.00 – 3.30pm TEA BREAK

3.30 – 4.30pm Session 2. Continued
• Status of Marine Turtles in PNG
• Current Turtle Programs in PNG

4.30pm Wrap up. / Evaluation Job/Wences
5.00pm End of Day 1.

Time Program Key Person(s)
Day 2.
8.30 – 9.00am Review of day 1 Job
9.00 – 10.30am Session 3. Turtle Monitoring Protocols Job
• Marine Turtle Tagging Protocols
• Various Tags Used

10.30- 11.00am TEABREAK

11.00 – 12.30pm Session 3 Continued
• Turtle monitoring datasheets
• Turtle databases

12.30 – 1.30pm LUNCH BREAK

1.30 – 3.00pm Session 3 Continued
• Practical Application to tagging
• Data collecting and documentation

3.00pm TEABREAK

3.30 – 4.30pm Session 3 Continued

5.00pm WRAP UP / Evaluation – end of day 2 Job/Wence

Time Program Key Person(s)
Day 3
8.30-9.00am Review if day 2 Job

9.00 – 10.30am Session 4. Turtle Conservation Mgt Plan Job

• Strategic planning (vision, mission...etc)
• Work planning

10.30 – 11.00am TEABREAK

11.00 – 12.30pm Session 4 Continued – Mgt Planning
• Issues
• Thematic mapping of issues

12.30 – 1.30pm LUNCH BREAK

1.30 – 3.00pm Session 4 Continued –
• Developing a Mgt Plan

3.00 – 3.30pm TEABREAK

3.30 – 4.30pm Video Session on Turtle Cons & Mgt Job

4.30pm. Wrap up and evaluation Wences/Job
5.00pm End of Day
Time Program Key Person(s)
Day 4
8.30 – 9.00am Recap of day 3

9.30 – 10.30am Session 5: Wildlife Legislation Job
• Fauna Protection and Control Act (1978)
• Relevant Policies
• WMAs

10.30 – 11.00am TEABREAK


11.00 – 12.30pm Session 5 Continued

12.30 – 1.30pm LUNCH BREAK

1.30 – 3.00pm Session 6. Education and Awareness
• Education and Awareness – Why??
• Getting the message across
• Methods

3.00 – 3.30pm TEA BREAK

3.30 – 4.30pm Session 6 Continued

4.30pm Evaluation and Wrap up

Time Program Key Person(s)

Day 5
8.30 – 10.00am Review of Weeks Session

Next Steps

11.00-12.00noon Closing Ceremony
• Speeches
• Awarding of certificates
• Closing speech

12.00 Noon LUNCH /Departure

Annex 2. The Training Workshop Program.

Total of 43 Participants


Annex 3. Draft Sarang Local Marine Management Plan.
Mission
Vision

Thematic area objectives Expected outcome activity timeframe resources budget
1. education and awareness
• Increase the knowledge of community members Community knowledge is increased
1.1 workshop training 9-12/09/13
Plane tickets x2 pom-mad-pom; food/lodging/transportation; workshop materials, consultancy service/flex card
1.2. prepare materials
9-13Sept13ongoing Posters, videos, awareness materials, See partners for suppose

Wwf, brg, tnc, upng.
1.3 conduct awareness
9-13Sept13
Turtle Training makata
1.4 monitoring and awareness

1.5 monitoring and evaluation

1.6 drama and talk back show

Resource person
2. conservation area establishment • To establish conservation re
• • Conservation area established and running
• Increase in marine resources • Do one Planning workshop
• Establish conservation committee by community elders
• Survey area

• Formally establish conservation area

• Community announcement • 15th march 2014

• 1t October 2013

• 11th September 2013
• June 2014

• July 2014 • NGO partners

• Communities

• Surveyor / bot

• NGO, DEC, Environment Lawyer 500

350

500

8000

3.turtle tagging and monitoring

To tag monitor and protect breeding ground To have more turtles on our beach
1. Community leaders to appoint turtle team
2. Train the team
3. Mobilise of equipment
4. Field work By the end of October 2013

By mid- December 2013
By mid- December 2013

From December 2013 to march 2014 Trainer and materials
Tag application
tape measure
torch
rain coat
data sheets
stationary

K5000.00

K1500.00

K1000.00http://www.facebook.com/n/?groups%2F210718705711207%2F&mid=6c3525eG20735b4fGb104cdbG15&bcode=LNVAbcrL_1.1348031792.AaSvo9N3YuUm0lzr&n_m=magun.wences%40gmail.com