Protecting Papua New Guinea Rainforest

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE (CDI) - CHEVRON NIUGINI LTD., PAPUA NEW GUINEA (ENV-CT-1)

On January 1, 2001 Chevron Niugini Ltd. (CNGL), with help from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), formed a unique NGO to protect the fragile rainforests of Papua New Guinea. The new organization creates a model that other companies already are emulating, and arguably marks the first time a major environmental group has helped an oil company create a foundation for sustainable development.

The CDI (Community Development Initiative) Foundation’s story begins in 1993, when Chevron proposed to explore PNG’s pristine rainforests.

The Kutubu area’s Kikori Basin is home to some of the planet’s rarest wildlife – the world’s only underground roosting bird, the world’s longest lizard, largest pigeon, biggest moth, and second-largest butterfly, to name a few. WWF has rated the area as one of the earth’s 200 greatest environmental treasures.

In 1994, the CNGL-operated Kutubu Petroleum Development Project and WWF formed the Kikori Integrated Conservation and Development Project (KICDP) to protect the Kikori catchment. Project pipelines were buried, produced water reinjected, road construction minimized, and spills eliminated. KICDP conducted biodiversity surveys, raised community awareness about the negative impacts of industrial-scale logging, helped local residents develop a sustainable fisheries strategy, and established environmentally friendly, homegrown businesses.

A World Bank report called the project “a model for other resource developers operating in ecologically sensitive environments.” When Pulitzer Prize-winning environmentalist Jared Diamond visited CNGL’s facilities, he observed, “I found Papua New Guinea’s most endangered bird and mammal species much more abundant here than outside the area leased by Chevron.”

The CDI Foundation helps carry the work forward. An operational entity with its own staff and facilities, the foundation has assumed responsibility for CNGL’s existing health, education, agriculture, skills development, and cultural programs. CDI integrates WWF’s efforts to protect natural resources and supplements its community outreach components. New initiatives strengthen local development agencies and bolster conservation.