Children of the YUS region in Papua New Guinea
Woodland Park Zoo
Improving Community Livelihoods through Sustainable, Wildlife-Friendly Products
To ensure the long-term sustainability of the YUS CA, local communities must participate in and benefit from its protection. To encourage community engagement and sustainable development, TKCP builds partnerships to address local needs for livelihoods, health, education and skills training.
The YUS Conservation Coffee program is an integrated approach to optimizing supply for a sustainable crop, while building connections to international markets. By selling farm-direct to Caffé Vita and other buyers, YUS coffee farmers earn revenues more than 35% higher than local market rates. Adequately covering production and transport costs, premium coffee export has become an economically viable industry for YUS communities. TKCP is now working to replicate this success among cocoa farmers by working with the PNG Cocoa Board and chocolatiers to improve local cocoa quality and to identify new markets. In addition, TKCP is facilitating the establishment of a YUS Conservation Coffee and Cocoa Cooperative to strengthen the management and marketing of the two crops.
TKCP's community livelihoods programs have fostered community buy-in for conservation, which is further bolstered by environmental education and community health efforts, ensuring the social and cultural sustainability of TKCP.
- Holistic approach to responding to the needs of people and the ecosystems on which they depend.
- A wide range of national and international partnerships (government, private sector, academia and the NGO sector) to address economic and social needs of local communities.
- Long-term time commitment to working with local communities (TKCP has been in existence since 1996).
- Recognition that YUS is a living landscape where human well-being is the result of environmental protection.
- Understanding that the tree kangaroo is a special species for YUS. The Matchie’s tree kangaroo is endangered, mainly due to pressures from hunting, a complex and important cultural practice in YUS. The guarantee of its long-term survival is what prompted YUS landowners to create a protected landscape.
- Recognition of the need to make a long-term commitment to achieve success with sustainable livelihood initiatives.
- Commitment to having the YUS people take a leadership role in creating a vision of what is needed to create a place where wildlife can thrive and where people benefit from looking after the land and sea that supports them.