Issue
Papua New Guinea has several pieces of vital legislation around the use and management of natural resources, but customary landowners often lack awareness or a clear understanding of the legislation and polices that protect their rights.
How we are helping
Supporting CELCOR's project to engage government bodies to support legislation in favour of clearer land rights for customary land owners and improve management of natural resources.
About the project
The Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights (CELCOR) is engaging government agencies to deliver changes to legislation and policies that govern the use and management of natural resources, including the Land Act (1996), the Environment Act (2000) and the Climate Change Management Act (2015), so that they better reflect customary land owner’s rights. This involves raising awareness among community based organisations (CBOs), conducting a detailed review and analysis of existing policies and legislation, and working with government agencies directly to present and propose changes to the First Legislative Counsel and advocate with Parliamentarians for these changes to be adopted.
By the end of the project, it is expected that some pieces of legislation will be revised to more strongly reflect support for customary land rights.
Photo Credit: Flickr CC Stefan Krasowski
Project Partners
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