Conflict management and environmental change in Papua New Guinea

Recent policies in Papua New Guinea have challenged damaging forestry and mining practices, particularly the impacts on governance, local peoples’ rights and the environment. What has been missing is a dialogue with local people who stand to gain or lose from these policies.

In many countries, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are responsible for building linkages between local communities, governments and international agencies. Research from the Centre for International Development and Training, UK, examines the role of NGOs in guiding environmental policy debates.

The research suggests:

• In Papua New Guinea, a weak government, a fragile NGO sector, geographic barriers and political alliances hinders the effectiveness of NGO linkage building.
• There are a number of different interested groups, but many do not understand each other’s needs.
• Political, economic and social violence caused by environmental policies can be a major problem. Conflict management and analysis must be part of all environmental policies.

The research focuses on a two year conflict management project in the Lakekamu Basin in Papua New Guinea’s southern peninsula. This basin is 2,500 square kilometres of lowland rain forest facing significant environmental threats from large-scale conversion to oil palm plantations and small-scale mining.

Working with the Foundation for People and Community Development, a local NGO, the project consulted several local communities about which land should be used for oil palm plantations, which for mining and which should be a Wildlife Management Area.  Four main communities were involved: the Biaru, the Kamea, the Kurija and the Kovio, as well as several other villages. The greatest conflict existed between the Tekadu and Kakoro communities, due to historic disputes over mining rights. Ultimately, the conflict management techniques employed helped to resolve and mitigate conflict and to reach consensus about the need for a Wildlife Management Area.

For environmental policies to have any importance, it must be possible to implement them. To achieve this, policies must engage with communities and resolve conflicts between them. The project provided some significant lessons about creating effective conflict management strategies:

• establish trust and confidence with local groups: build on existing rules, roles and networks
• where necessary, develop new rules and networks and verify that each group has the trust and confidence to use these

ensure that procedures are appropriate to everyone

• build confidence among local and provincial governments, national NGOs and relevant businesses through information sharing, regular meetings and identifying and acting on any needs and concerns
• improve management skills within groups, including conflict management training
• encourage collaborative research, workshops and structured meetings.

Source(s):
‘Community Based Conflict Management and Environmental Change: A Case Study from Papua New Guinea’ by P. Scott Jones, pages 219-236, in ‘Confronting Environmental Change in East and Southeast Asia: Eco-Politics, Foreign Policy and Sustainable Development’, Earthscan: London, edited by Paul G Harris, 2005

id21 Research Highlight: 26 January 2006

Further Information:
Centre for International Development & Training
University of Wolverhampton
Telford Campus
Telford
TF2 9NT
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)1902 323219
Fax: +44 (0)1902 323212
Contact the contributor: cidt@wlv.ac.uk

Centre for International Development & Training, University of Wolverhampton, UK

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