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Two years ago fisher Siri James lived on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, in a small village near Pariva beach. But as the tides continued to rise, James was forced to move further in from the shore.
“It’s not easy moving inland, I was born and raised by the seas, I am a fisherman. I know the flow of tides and currents, I know when the wind will come strongly and when it will rain – but now I don’t understand why everything is changing,” says James, who is in his early 40s.
He says the tides “seem to be growing every day”.
“I heard them say it’s global warming. I left school and ran away to go fishing, so now I don’t know what’s global warming, but the rains don’t come when it’s supposed to, the winds have changed,” James says.
“Maybe we offended the sea gods, I don’t know, but now I have to move my family inland,” he says.
Pariva beach is part of Kerema in Papua New Guinea’s Gulf province. In that area, rising sea levels and sand erosion have forced about 40,000 people to move inland over the past decade, a local councillor says, in what a leading climate change activist describes as a “humanitarian crisis”.
The Kerema councillor Mai Trevor says 80,000 people lived in the local area, however, since 2015, almost half of the population has moved inland due to high tides and sand erosion. Trevor says residents first began moving in 2015, but over the last four years the number of people leaving has grown.
As well as fishing, many in the province earn a living from coconut and betel nut farming. In recent years, residents say the tides have been rising and weather patterns have shifted, making it harder to grow crops or fish in the oceans, and affecting their livelihoods.
“Many are moving to the mountaintops in Kerema town, while those who have land [further inland in nearby] Murua have moved there,” Trevor says.
“We need a proper count of the population in the area to come up with a way to address it, all land are customarily owned so authorities can’t just relocate people,” she adds. Papua New Guinea is in the process of conducting its first census in many years, which experts say may reveal the population of the Pacific country to be far higher than current estimates of about 10 million people.
The leading Papua New Guinea climate change activist Duncan Gabi also estimates tens of thousands of people have been displaced from the area around Pariva beach.
“The sand erosion at Pariva beach [is] displacing 30,000 to 40,000 people, [it is] a humanitarian crisis that highlights PNG’s vulnerability to climate change,” Gabi says.
He warns that a controversial proposal to begin sand mining in the western part of the Gulf province is fuelling fears the situation will get worse and argues authorities must act to help communities.
‘Nothing is being done’
Kerry Anne Henry lives in a village of about 500 people near Pariva beach. She says people living in her village have begun to move inland due to the threat of rising seas and sand erosion.
“Some people have land inland, on top of the mountains, and have started moving there,” she says.
“Those who have no land elsewhere are just stranded at the coast, watching as the sand is slowly eroding and the tides come in. Our coconuts and betel nut are being washed away by the sea,” the 36-year-old says.
“The authorities have turned a blind eye to the situation, and nothing is being done yet,” she says.
A few kilometres away from Henry’s family home is Kerema airport. Tides now reach closer into the airport than they did in the past, and recently washed away the airport back fence.
The environment, conservation and climate change minister, Simon Kilepa, says the rising sea levels and the impact on communities is a concerning issue that underscores the vulnerabilities faced by coastal communities across the country.
Kilepa says the climate change and development authority (CCDA) is “working with various government departments and partners to best address the issue”.
The CCDA acting managing director, Debra Sungi, says the agency is “deeply concerned about the challenges posed by rising sea levels”, which have already affected livelihoods, homes and the cultural heritage of thousands of Papua New Guineans.
She says the agency is working on “resilience-building measures to mitigate these impacts” and conducting vulnerability assessments in affected provinces, including the Gulf province, to make decisions on resources allocation.
“We are committed to ensuring that no one is left behind as we navigate these unprecedented challenges,” she says.
Still, Gabi says not enough is being done to support communities. He also fears the impact of a plan being considered by authorities to begin sand mining in Orokolo Bay, on the western side of the Gulf province.
“What’s frustrating is that while people are being displaced, proposed sand mining projects at Orokolo Bay in the same area threatens to worsen the crisis,” Gabi says.
“Our government should have prioritised climate adaptation and disaster preparedness long ago,” he adds.
