Home 
Topics Water Water Operations Pilot and Demonstration Activities 
Integrated Catchment Management in Lake Kutubu, Papua New Guinea
 | |
Pilot and Demonstration Activities
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This PDA will prepare comprehensive information on the biological and socio-economic values of, and threats to, the Lake Kutubu catchment. This information will be used in the development of the Lake Kutubu Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) Framework, which will protect biological diversity and ecological processes, as well as promote sustainable management of natural resources in the catchment. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Lake Kutubu is located in the center of Southern Highlands Province and is the largest upland lake in Papua New Guinea (PNG). It is one half of the Lake Kutubu—Lake Sentani eco-region, which represents two of the most important lake ecosystems in the Asia Pacific.
With a total catchment area of 25,000 hectares, the lake is the most unique lacustrine habitat for fishes in the New Guinea-Australia region and provides the sole spawning, nursery and feeding grounds for the 12 species of fish found nowhere else in the world. It is also home to 22 species of fish fauna (including 2 crustaceans) which are a major source of protein for the people living in the area. The surrounding primary rainforest contains some of the richest concentrations of unique birds, plants, and mammals on earth. As such, Lake Kutubu has been recognized as a “Wetland of International Significance” under the Ramsar Convention.
Lake Kutubu’s catchment is inhabited by two main ethnic groups—the Foe in the south and the Fasu to the north. There are a total of 33 villages within the catchment area and a total estimated population of 10,885.
The area is the site of PNG’s largest oil development project. Locals in the last 10 years have benefited extensively from the oil equity payments and other spin-off businesses. Due to the brisk economic growth, there has been a general in-migration in the area, resulting in rapid population growth and its accompanying problems such as pollution from mining operations, forest destruction due to unsustainable industrial logging, depletion of marine resources, and changing land-use patterns from agriculture to settlements.
In the next 3 years, PNG will begin its largest industrial development, a USD 3.5 billion gas pipeline from the Southern Highlands to Queensland. This will place much greater pressure on the environments of the Lake. As part of this development, a road proposed from the Highlands of PNG to the coast passing nearby Lake Kutubu will become the fastest route for moving people and goods from the Highlands to Moresby. Commercial development and in-migration following this road will dramatically alter the Lake Kutubu and Kikori River region and needs to be planned for in advance.
At present, though, no such planning is taking place. Many of the threats from this development can only be addressed through coordination across the larger catchment. Policy governing catchment management exists under PNG law, but is not yet implemented in any meaningful way.In the long-run, this PDA will assist government and local stakeholders to design an Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) framework for the Lake Kutubu Basin. This framework will
The immediate objectives of the PDA are to
This project will build the capacity of PNG institutions at national and local levels to manage catchments of high biological value and low human development. The following key institutions will be involved:
| National level |
PNG Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC)
|
|
Kutubu Joint Venture Partnership (KJVP)
|
|
| District level |
Department of Southern Highlands Province and Lake Kutubu local level government |
| Outputs | Outcomes | Impacts |
|
| © 2008 Asian Development Bank Privacy | Terms of Use |
 Top of page |
