The Big Give Christmas Challenge

Written by: Callie

Posted on November 3, 2015

lake-forestOnce again this Christmas you have the chance to match your donation through the Big Give.

The challenge takes place online over two days in December – where the race is on to get your donation matched before the funding runs out. It’s intense but the difference you can make is extraordinary.

This year we’re aiming to raise £124,000 for our partners in PNG to provide them with life’s basic need – safe water.quote

 

 

 

 

 

 

Papua New Guinea Partnership

This year Cool Earth has launched its most exciting partnership to date. Saving rainforest in Papa New Guinea.women

Of all drivers of deforestation, palm oil is the worst. An ecosystem that has taken millions of years to evolve is destroyed in a matter of days. Once replaced with a palm monoculture there is no chance for the forest to recover.

By partnering with three strategically located coastal villages, our Yakolima partnership will block the advance of the palm frontier. The partnership will register a community association to demarcate 60,000 acres of community land and boost local incomes from sustainable livelihoods.

Papa New Guinea is one of earth’s megadiverse regions. It owes this diversity to the isolated mountain ranges that dominate its landscapes. These ranges contain unique fauna and flora.

The launch of the Yakolima partnership means Cool Earth’s community-led model has been successfully replicated in all three of the world’s major rainforest basins, tackling all of the world’ds key drivers of deforestation.

Project Outline

Back to Basics

Our partners in PNG lack life’s most basic need – safe water.project-breakdown

Investing in simple resources and training to improve basic sanitation will strengthen families and ensure they are able to defend their ancestral lands whilst simultaneously providing a model that can be replicated in indigenous communities throughout PNG.

The project will benefit the three rainforest communities of Gadaisu, Wabumari and Asiaro in Milne Bay Province: a total population of more than 1,000 people.

Aims-

  1. Provide access to a clean water supply for every household in each of the three communities
  2. Access to hygienic long drops for every household across the project’s three communities
  3. Improve waste management across all the project’s villages.
  4. Reduce cases of malaria and dengue by removing stagnant water close to villages.
  5. Increase sanitation, awareness and education

 

The Need

In our project in PNG, 94% of households do not have access to clean water and 63% do not have access to a latrine. The task of collecting waterfalls predominantly to women, with 91% of households having to make two or more trips a day.

Diseases from dirty water and a lack of sanitation are burdening these villages, despite these illnesses being preventable.

Tackling water-related diseases is simple to do. Clean water alone can be reduce water-related deaths by 21%. Handwashing can reduce these deaths by 35%. This project will invest in latrines, water-tanks and improvements to existing wells.