Bubupengu one step closer to gaining Protected Area title
By Lachlan Eddie
The Bubupengu Tribal Land Conservation Association (BTLCA) is one step closer to gaining Protected Area (PA) status from the Solomon Islands Government, with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology set to conduct the verification stage later this month.
The lands earmarked for conservation are Bubutasi and Penguniu, which together formed the Bubupengu Tribal Land Conservation Association.
Once the verification process is successfully completed, Bubupengu will make history in its conservation endeavor, marking a new conservation journey for the association and its people.
Communications Officer of BTLCA, Epalle Kulisuia, confirmed the development to SIBC News.
“We are looking forward to creating history in Guadalcanal to be declared a protected area,” he said.
“We are now at the verification stage, which will happen sometime this month, and then we can confirm the date to officially declare the land as a protected area.”
Participants during the workshop.
Leading up to this milestone, Bubupengu has partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to conduct a three-day training workshop from October 9-11, focusing on conservation and its challenges.
“This training workshop is important for people to understand their conservation rights, their capabilities, and the pathway to conserving their natural resources,” Kulisuia added.
More than 100 participants, including men, women, elderly community members, and children, are attending the workshop, which aims to deepen understanding of nature conservation.
This PA status will fulfil requirements under the governments Protected Areas Act 2010 and help conserve natural and cultural sites.
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