Collaborative opportunity

Understanding and collaborating with other like-minded stakeholders through PNG communities are the main possibilities that exist to address climate change issues effectively. It is common knowledge amongst social scientists and community development workers that collaborative practice is central to the way people work, deliver services and produce innovations (Keast & Mandell, 2009). By definition, collaboration is generally referred to as ‘individuals or organizations working together to

address problems and deliver outcomes that are not easily or effectively achieved by working alone’ (Keast & Mandell, 2009:1). Keast and Mandell further elaborate collaboration as requiring a high level of trust and extensive dialogue between participants as the parties agree to be involved in a high-risk, high-stakes and volatile environment that can produce results significantly different from those originally intended. The communities of Pere and OnaKeto have realized that they cannot address climate change adaptation initiatives alone. They lack resources both human and financial because there is a limit to the exchange of knowledge and information on climate change and adaptation in many rural communities (World Bank 2010:11).

Given this lack of resources, the communities of Pere and OnaKeto have sought help from or work in collaboration with NGOs, provincial and local level governments, and forest and agricultural research institutes to support their projects. The Pere community has collaborated with NGOs such as the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the Center for Environmental Law & Community Rights (CELCOR), Seawed International and Manus Provincial government. Such collaborative work is highlighted by the members of the Environment and Climate Change Committee as:

They (NGOs & state institutions) work closely with us to raise awareness and help in addressing climate change issues by providing support in establishment of community-based organizations and planting of mangroves (ECCC, July 2011: pers.comm).

OnaKeto communities on a similar note have collaborated with Partner with Melanesia (PwM), the PNG Forest Authority, the Forest Research Institute and the National Agricultural Research Institute. As expressed by all the main participants in Ona and Keto villages:

They (NGOs & state institutions) help us with technical assistance on how to do nursery work, transplant, and so on, as well as extending the outreach programmes into communities (OnaKeto Villagers, August 2011: pers.comm).

The Pere and OnaKeto communities’ collaborative engagement with NGOs and state institutions varies based on their mission and capacity to support their specific areas of interest. For instance, within the NGOs, Seaweb International mainly engages in providing awareness of climate change and raises the communities’ issues through the main stream media such as newspapers and radio for public and the authorities’ attention. TNC and WWF, on the other hand, focus on training and mentoring Pere Alalau Association to operate and manage Pere village’s internal affairs. Similarly PwM have trained and mentored OnaKeto People Foundation to run OnaKeto people’s social and economical development needs. Moreover, PwM raises funds and identify possible support groups, and arranging for the external groups to support the communities. Simultaneously, CELCOR provides training on legal rights, conflict resolution and management and advocates for community rights through representation in any legal issues that affect the Pere community. The NGOs’ collaborative effort with the

community’s effort is imperative because they act as key state institutions or stakeholders in support of the rural community’s climate change adaptation projects. As a staffer at WWF explains: ‘many of our leaders and policy makers are new to the climate adaptation concept, so we need to build their capacity through a collaborative approach before they can incorporate some of our plans into their work-plans and budgets for good outcomes’ (Banka, June 2011: pers.comm).

The government and state institutions also play an important role in consolidating the efforts of the rural communities. They have certain technical expertise and annual budget appropriation for support, but in most cases communication has to be linked between the state institutions and the communities for collaborative initiatives; then, the institutions would have to assist. In this case, NARI for example, has expertise in promoting and supporting crop varieties such as drought resistant crops or high yielding crops to many rural PNG groups. Their involvement with OnaKeto has helped in planting African yams that will enable the communities to retain their food source during prolonged dry seasons. PNGFA and FRI on the other hand assist in providing technical expertise in identification of tree species that can grow well in the barren highlands soil and climatic conditions, while at the same time assisting in the nursery and in planting of the seedlings. Though the support is not sufficient to address climate change issues, whatever capacity they can help with does contribute to reducing the community’s vulnerability to hazards and natural disasters. Nevertheless, in order to maintain or improve the support between stakeholders for sustainability purposes, a policy analyst at OCCD states:

Government, communities and NGOs will have to work together on activities and policy development so PNG can adapt well to climate change in the future. There has to be support from all areas, technical, and financial and also capacity building. There must also be proper coordination at all levels (OCCD Policy Analyst, October 2011: pers.comm).

The OOCD staffer is perhaps pointing out the need for improved coordination, which can be discussed further in chapters 6 and 7, the strategies to deal with the issues and the enabling mechanisms that can make people respond to climate change in a positive way.

5.6 Chapter summary

The technical terminology surrounding climate change is foreign to the rural communities in PNG. The communities are rather concerned with interrelated processes such as political, social, environmental and economic factors impacting their communities. The people of Pere and OnaKeto understand the climatic cycle based on their local experiences with greater attachment to cosmology (myths and rituals) but indigenous knowledge no longer has sufficient explanatory power as it is changing. Such indigenous knowledge has helped in understanding the climatic changes that were happening for their self protection. Possibly this situation demands a need for translation of the terminology by those who are highly educated or well versed in the issue such as NGOs, state institutions and the elite (especially students) from the community.

Climate change related issues such as sea level rise, frequent occurrence of drought in PNG have impacted on livelihoods. Thus the need for provision of detailed information on climate related impacts is important. At present, the communities’ source of information is from NGOs, reading newspapers and radio programmes, as well as on an ad hoc basis and transferring them to their local experiences. Therefore NGOs play a key role in information dissemination and building the capacity for local communities for collaboration and networking that enable successful adaptation.

The many climate related impacts experienced locally have seen some support from NGOs and state institutions. However, the support is still arranged on ad hoc basis with no significant collaborative support from other stakeholders to ensure rural communities get appropriate support to address climate change adaptation issues accordingly. Furthering these findings, chapter 6 elaborates the strategies that in currently conceived to implement adaptation projects.