Together with the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Oro Province, CIFOR-ICRAF and its private sector facing entity, Resilient Landscapes, are supporting the development of a new 195 million Euro nature-based solutions development project in the Managalas Plateau. The Oro Province is a unique biodiversity hotspot that has the potential to be developed as an integrated landscape level nature-based solutions program delivering both quality tree-based commodities as well as a broad range of ecosystems services and products. These include elements such as forest carbon, water regulation and non-timber forest produce. Bringing these ecosystems services and products to market alongside quality commodities can remunerate the resident clans of the Managalas plateau to further incentivize their community stewardship.

Resilient Landscapes’ overarching ambition for Nature Based Solution (NBS) in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is to attract private sector participation and green foreign direct investment (GFDI) to deliver greater social, environmental, agronomic, and economic impact. The initiative has received the explicit support of the Prime Minister of PNG, Hon. James Marape and the Governor of the Oro Province, Gary Juffa, The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Climate Change has endorsed the proposal as a showcase example for the Managalas to demonstrate the real value of natural capital.

The event will be opened with the official launch of a captivating film on Papua New Guinean forests – a result of a collaboration between Resilient Landscapes and the PNG Government. This foundational collaboration offers great opportunities to bring in priority partners from both public and private sectors. Specifically, the needs for evidence, risk reduction and solutions to support collaborative partnerships to overcome barriers to past investments will be discussed.

It is expected that this timely special session will help reconfigure our thinking and priorities for forest protection and landscape stewardship, and to lay the foundation for a sustainable future for people and the planet.