Livelihoods and Economic Development

Overarching threats to biodiversity and civil strength in PNG are the over-extraction and exploitation of natural resources, lack of land use planning, and lack of management of the critical natural resource base for economic enrichment. The resulting damage and loss of biodiversity (due to habitat loss and degradation of ecosystem functions) will directly impact PNG’s people—over 80 percent of whom live in rural or remote areas.

To address these threats, LGP has workstreams that address the development and strengthening of nature-based livelihoods within the focus geographies and proposed conservation areas. LGP’s role is to verify and monitor the environmental sustainability of introduced livelihoods (e.g., is a plant used for weaving abundant, harvested without impacting its role in the ecosystem and replaced/replanted properly?).

Additionally, as with gender equity, LGP will integrate the livelihood activities into the overall land and biodiversity management practices in conservation zones. It will strengthen women’s participation in and benefits from sustainable livelihoods and land management by expanding their opportunities and increasing their access to start-up funding and business development mentoring.