The Catholic Church is playing its part in helping resettle more than 2000 people from a low-lying Pacific atoll threatened by climate change.
Most of the 2700 people on the Carteret Atoll are relocating to Bougainville after their home islands have become increasingly uninhabitable.
The atoll, made up of six islets, has suffered saltwater intrusion, contaminating freshwater wells and making it impossible for the islanders to farm taro.
The Catholic Church has provided the islanders with four parcels of land on Bougainville.
The first group of families – 86 people in total – have moved into their new homes and started farming again.
The resettlement of some 2000 people is being led by Ursula Rakova from the Cartaret Atoll, who used to work for Oxfam New Zealand.
Ms Ravola spoke about the experience of resettlement to a “Summit on Women and Climate” in Bali, Indonesia, last week.
Several hundred elderly people are staying on the atoll as they cannot bear to leave their home, which is three hours by boat from the Bouganville main island.
Many things have had to be considered in the resettlement, Ms Rakova told Thomson Reuters Foundation.
These include education of young people, health facilities, economic opportunities for the islanders, and trauma counselling for the families and the host community, she said.
All of this requires money, which was not forthcoming, from the Papua New Guinea government or anywhere else.
It was especially difficult to get funding for building proper housing.
Small amounts of seed money from the New Zealand High Commission in Papua New Guinea and the Global Greengrants Fund helped with a resettlement process which included community profiling and assessment.
This resulted in the islanders owning land, a home and a sustainable way of living in their new location.
An organic cocoa company has been set up to help them earn income.
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News category: Asia Pacific.
