A locally owned and registered tour operator is taking steps to protect their natural resources and the backdrop to their eco-tourism business, the Busamang Coastline in the Morobe Province.
Connect Local PNG is partnering with Eagle Vetiver Systems Ltd, to carry out scoping and assessment of coastline erosion and to explore the viability of using Vetiver grass to address and prevent further erosion along the Busamang Coastline.
Owner of Connect Local PNG, Davinia Illumpui, gave a bleak recount of the escalating erosion that was eating away at the Busamang Coastline at an alarming rate.
“The sea is breaking the sand banks and houses are being washed away.”
“And we see changes to the coastline every day. It is very worrying.”
But this is not a totally lost and hopeless situation, as Ms. Davinia explained to PNGHAUSBUNG, now that they’ve secured this partnership with the country’s only known bio-tech engineer of Vetiver grass.
Vetiver grass is considered one of the best natural solutions to soil erosion, due in large part to its deep and thick root system that makes it both drought tolerant and highly resistant to pest, diseases and fire.
“What we are doing now, is trying to find enough those bale like bags.”
“This will be used to make sand bags that we will fill with soil, rock, sand and coral, to place along the seashore.”
“Thereafter, we will replant Vetiver grass from a planned nursery.”
“This initial part of this initiative is expected to take 3-6 months.”
Funding for this initiative will come from a grant from the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Pacific Greenpreneurs Program 2022 and of which Connect Local PNG and Eagle Vetiver Systems are proud winners of.