Port Moresby Nature Park is set to launch the much anticipated BSP Trash to Treasure Sculpture Festival this weekend.
Visitors to this year’s event will be able to view the addition of 7 new sculptures, bring the total number of sculptures to 18.
Sculptures have been spread across the Park’s 12 acres of publicly accessible areas to enable visitors to enjoy the Park’s green open spaces.
The aim of the festival is to raise awareness of the growing issue of waste, particularly plastic pollution, to encourage the public to rethink their rubbish and how much each of us creates.
The staff of the Nature Park along with UPNG interns have worked over a couple of months to transform common rubbish collected around Port Moresby into amazing, larger than life animal sculptures that highlight the potential value and ingenuity of turning trash into treasured objects.
Nature Park CEO, Michelle McGeorge said, “The Nature Park sees the festival as a huge opportunity to reach out to the community on issues concerning waste & pollution which is a critical concern especially in a rapidly developing city like Port Moresby and threatens wildlife and the environment on a daily basis.”
Ms. McGeorge further added that “The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and SOE have had a dramatic impact on the Nature Park this year as we depend on income generated through public visitation to fund the care of wildlife and public activities, so I cannot thank our sponsors enough, not only for the Trash to Treasure Festival but for their support of our ‘Wildlife Appeal’ and ‘Trees for Life Program’.
The Nature Park has extended the length of the Festival this year to 2 months, from 4 July to 30 August to ensure ample time for people to come out to the Nature Park and ensure that crowd numbers are minimized.
Port Moresby Nature Park’s Creative Services & Park Events Manager, Michael Bolokon said, “After the success of last year’s event, the team decided that we needed to make this year’s event even more spectacular. We started planning and designing the new sculptures as early as January, but even after the setback of COVID-19, together with a great team of UPNG interns and other volunteers we have managed to create some amazing artistic sculptures.”
Standard entry fees apply to guests visiting the Nature Park and the BSP Trash to Treasure Sculpture Festival.
The Park is open every day with a number of additional COVID-19 safety measures in place, including temperature checks, enforcement of social distancing practices, and promoting of handwashing and hand-sanitization throughout the Park.
