Conservation areas are given special legal protections and the aim for these areas is to conserve wildlife, cultural and natural heritage and at the same time, fight climate change. Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) biodiversity is diverse. It hosts 7 percent of the world’s biodiversity and is ranked third in the world for holding the biggest rainforest after Amazon and Congo.  The threats to the nation’s biodiversity include forest degradation by activities such as logging, mining and industrial agriculture.   

PNG has two officially declared conservation areas. The first one is the YUS Conservation area in Morobe Province and the second one is the Managalas Plateau in Oro Province. The YUS Conservation Area (named after the 3 rivers that flow through the conservation area, Yopno, Uruwa and Som) is located in the Huon Peninsula and it extends to the western tips of the Sarawaget and Finisterre Mountain Ranges. It was declared the first-ever legally protected conservation area in PNG in 2009. This was a project by the International Climate Initiative. YUS Conservation covers 76,000 hectares of land with nearly 70 percent of the YUS landscape covered by unbroken tracts of rainforest.

 The second conservation area is the Managalas Plateau Conservation Area in the Afore District of Oro Province. This is the largest terrestrial conservation area of 360,000 hectares. In November of 2017, the conservation area was launched. The Alexandria Birdwing Butterfly is endemic to Oro Province and the community leaders of Managalas Plateau have made their intentions known that they will not allow logging, mining and oil palm plantations in their area as it will destroy their flora and fauna and livelihood. This conservation initiative is supported by the Rainforest Foundation of Norway through a Non-Government Organisation called Partners with Melanesians.

In July of 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron, during his state visit to PNG, expressed his full support for the Managalas Conservation Area. During the State visit, President Macron also saw the signing of over K100 million contract by the European Union Ambassador to PNG Jacques Fradin. This contract is an agreement that will support PNG in its forest, climate change and biodiversity programs in the country and the Managalas Conservation Area is a focus area that will be supported through Expertise French, which is a French public international corporation agency that aims to work with partner countries in obtaining the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. 

Given the visible impacts of climate change and forest degradation on PNG’s biodiversity, could the country expand its conservation areas beyond YUS and Managalas Plateau to further protect its vital rainforests, often considered as one of the “lungs of the Earth?”