Papua New Guinea (PNG) contains more than 7% of the world’s biodiversity in less than 1% of the world’s land area, placing PNG in the category of a mega-biodiverse country. This Protected Areas Policy Implementation Plan (PAPIP) guides the countries’ organizations, agencies and resource-owning communities to harmonize their sustainability efforts towards developing new, and essential, protected areas in PNG.

It translates the five pillars of the Government of PNG's Policy on Protected Areas, released in 2014, into corresponding goals with clear objectives, strategies, targets, monitorial indicators and actions. It reaffirms the central role of protected areas and conservation in building a society that is smart, fair, wise and healthy

The PAPIP recognises issues regarding current methods of conservation and environment protection in PNG. It details the approach that the National Conservation and Environment Protection Authority, tasked with the development and implementation of this Plan, will follow and includes Implementation Frameworks, Implementation Schedules and Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks for each of the five goals, including associated timeframes and costs.

Taking its mandate from the PNG Constitution and influenced by its signatory status to the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, the PAPIP is a ‘home-grown’ Plan that encapsulates the vision and desires of all who were consulted.

It is a comprehensive proposal on how to support the core tenet of the Policy on Protected Areas, that being the PNG Government’s recognition of the importance of natural ecosystems, biodiversity, conservation, people, culture and sustainability.