FRANCIS RODNEY PULU
IN life there are some people who contribute to the preservation of the natural environment and there are some that contribute to the destruction of the environment through natural and manmade activities.
Science says that the world was created through a theory known as the big bang theory and there is also one side of the scenario that Christians believe in that the creation or universe was created by God Yahweh.
Regardless of what the beliefs may be the environment is one of the most valuable assets ever given to mankind because that is where humans live and also sustain their livelihood.
In recent years the world was hit by big natural and manmade disasters like earth quakes, tornados, cyclones, air pollutions, cutting down of forests and so on and the impact it has also affects human lives.
Last week this reporter was part of a local Non-Government Organization (NGO) known as Hiri Coral PNG that travelled to Tubuserea Village outside of Port Moresby to witness the launching of the first ever coral reef nursery planting and also doing awareness to the local community on the importance of the marine life.
This group that started back in 2019 though founder, Igo Gari has come a long way since their involvement in planting, restoring and maintaining the coral reefs along the Bootless Bay area of Hiri.
In an interview with Sunday Bulletin, Gari said the major impact and the benefit it has through this project since its inception is by seeing the different species of fish coming back to the reefs after there was a decline due to coral destructions and other activities destroying the corals and the reefs.
The main aim of the launching was to do awareness to the local people who rely mainly on the marine life from the sea from past generation till now.
As we know that the reefs are affected through human activities like using chemicals and others like climate change and so on, the awareness was indeed highly valued by the villagers who tuned up to witness and learn new things.
The program was also witnessed by the UNDP National Coordinator for Small Grants Program, Tamalis Akus who was there for the first time to witness the occasion.
Akus congratulated Gari and his team and said the project is not intended just to benefit families but it is intended to benefit the entire community at large.
“So, my trip here today is just to see what is happening so that over the next phase of 11 or 12 months, we will continue to come and see the progress because it is always good to see nearby villages benefitting,” she said.
Akus said when such projects are initiated to reach out by maintaining the corals, it is more about improving the marine habitat to attract more fish.
“And then you also have the nearby mangroves and all these play a critical role either in improving or sustaining the marine life because mangroves are areas were fish come to lay their eggs,” she said.
Akus added that the Bootless Bay area is a priority for the Government through the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority so UNDP is a development partner with Government and such projects must continue to support the communities within the Bootless Bay to achieve the goals that the Government has to improve the qualities of life and in this case, it is the marine reefs.
“So again, I am happy to be here and I look forward to more trips and more meetings and hopefully after the project life has ended, we will come back to see how our reefs are thriving with your continued support to Hiri Coral,” she said.
Hiri Koiari District Development Authority women and youth’s representative, Tau Egi said the launching was an eye opener where most people expect free handouts from the Government instead of helping themselves independently.
“There is a lot of money just lying around here like from the awareness we have just learnt today.
So, there is money in the sea and with the involvement of women and for the benefit of the youths we can work together to keep the fish here and we can always go for fishing to get the fish to empower the women by selling them within the village, helping the youths to go to school and to be educated and also that helps people to be financially independent within Hiri Koiari,” she said.
Egi said what is important now is to do more awareness and get the women and youths involved to know the roles they can play to safeguard the reefs.
Local village magistrate, Lohia Badu also shared similar sentiments and said it is a new experience that has never been done in the village before.
Badu added that there is also a need to do more awareness not only at the local community but the neighboring villages too.
“This is very important because we live on fish and without the corals there is no fish at all,” she said.
Badu further said that there needs to be some form of restrictions where the planting is done so that the people respect the area.
“If we can enforce some sort of the restrictions where the planting is been done, as a magistrate, I don’t think we have any laws that we can enforce to people who are destroying the corals,” she said.
To add more value to the program a local Pastor was engaged to pray and bless the corals that were put into the nursery hub near the Loloata Island.
The Pastor said Hiri Coral is doing something to preserve the corals which are a creation of God.
He said there are some people who contribute to destroy the natural environment but there are some that contribute to preserving it.
More updates and progress on the Hiri Coral PNG and what they have done over the past four years can be attained from their Facebook page.
