By Delly Waigeno – EMTV, Port Moresby
Papua New Guinea is home to one of the largest tropical rainforest in the world.
But studies have now shown that man-made and natural fires are amongst the causes of destruction to PNG’s unique, forest resources.
Because of this, the Remote Sensing Centre of the University of Papua New Guinea launched the PNG Fire Watch website to facilitate disaster management and monitor forests in PNG.
The launch of the new Fire Watch website today in Port Moresby, is an important step towards monitoring the country’s forests when it comes to man-made and natural fires.
Supported with a grant by the European Union, the Fire Watch website uses the latest satellite imagery and is a vital tool for awareness building, disaster mitigation and a sustainable future, in line with the Responsible, Sustainable Strategy adopted by the PNG Government.
The new website can be viewed at http://fire.pngsdf.com.
It shows every location where a fire is burning in PNG forests and automatically uploads the information. European Union Ambassador, Martin Dihm, was present at the launch.
Ambassador Dihm said PNG owns the third largest forest area in the world which provides food and other essentials for over 80 per cent of the country’s rural population and economic value for the country.
The carbon content in PNG’s forest is also a global asset, as it fights climate change. Therefore the Fire Watch website enables global monitoring of its forest over.
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