Scaling Up Women's Participation in Mangrove Management

Objectives
Empower women to actively participate in conserving and rehabilitating mangrove forests and farm food/income resources within their natural habitats.

Project Summary
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is home to globally significant biodiversity in terrestrial and marine ecosystems. PNG has extensive coral reefs and associated near shore ecosystems and extremely high coral and reef fish diversity. The majority of people living on the coast and islands make their living as subsistence farmers and fishers and depend on marine resources for their survival. With a rapidly growing population living on the coast, there is significant pressure on coastal and marine resources.

Climate change predictions include sea level rise and periods of more intense storms. Marine and coastal ecosystems’ ability to cope with these impacts are diminished when they are already degraded. Ecosystems that are healthy have a greater chance of surviving and recovering from climate-related impacts. Likewise, communities that have diverse sources of food and income including a variety of healthy and abundant marine resources are better able to cope and adapt in the face of climate change and variability.

See factsheet for full details.