Biodiversity management
PNG LNG’s activities traverse a number of areas of high biodiversity significance and conservation value. ExxonMobil PNG Limited (EMPNG) is committed to safeguarding biodiversity in areas where the company operates and, in particular, the biodiversity values of the Upstream area of the PNG LNG Project.
To achieve this, EMPNG has developed a Biodiversity Strategy that outlines how impacts on biodiversity will be assessed and managed in the long-term. An important part of the Biodiversity Strategy is the offset program. This program was designed to balance the residual impacts associated with the construction of the PNG LNG Project with equivalent biodiversity gains. The Biodiversity Strategy was developed through consultation with key stakeholders including the PNG Government, national and international NGOs, academic institutions, and local communities.
The strategy is compliant with International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standard 6: Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Natural Resource Management (2006), and aligns with the Papua New Guinean Government’s Protected Area Policy and the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries.
The overall goal of the Biodiversity Strategy is to retain biodiversity values of the Upstream area for the long-term. To achieve this, the Biodiversity Strategy sets out a series of objectives, which are to maintain the ecological intactness of the Upstream Project area as a whole, conserve priority ecosystems such as the Hides Ridge and Lake Kutubu Areas, protect focal habitats such as caves and swamp forests, and account for residual impacts that could not be avoided or reduced through offset.
To operationalise this strategy, EMPNG has developed a Biodiversity Implementation and Monitoring Program (BIMP) which sets out the process that will be followed to implement the biodiversity offset program, monitor residual impacts associated with the PNG LNG Project, and evaluate our performance in meeting the strategy objectives.
The program consists of a series of separate but complementary components which together form a comprehensive program for biodiversity offset. The program encompasses conservation activities at a local scale through to strengthening existing protected areas and providing new protected area development where possible. These activities are supplemented by initiatives to support conservation capacity and protected area planning at the local, regional, and national levels with the aim of enhancing conservation in Papua New Guinea.
The monitoring and evaluation component of the BIMP comprises several complementary quantitative and qualitative research and information collection programs, designed to provide scientifically robust data to evaluate the status of the biodiversity objectives. Each monitoring activity has specific protocols to further define the process and evaluation methods.
Biodiversity Strategy
Biodiversity Implementation and Monitoring Program