YAKOLIMA PROJECT – COOL EARTH

Location: East Papua New Guinea – Population: 310

THE FIRST STEPS:  The three villages that make up our Yakolima partnership are tropical paradises where the rainforest meets the ocean. But right now, these communities are on the brink of a disaster.
They are on the front line of climate change. Sea levels are rising and the tropical typhoons are stronger every year. Last year the storms devastated three homes and this year eight more homes will have to relocate.

Rural Papua New Guinea is one of the poorest places in the world. Many families in our partnership live on less than $12 a month.
As with all of Cool Earth’s partnerships, the first job is to make sure that the three partner villages are strong enough to withstand the loggers.

This means developing livelihoods, improving access to education and healthcare and securing a safe source of water. In our Yakolima partnership,
94% of households do not have access to clean water and 63% do not have access to a latrine. Investing in simple resources and training to improve
sanitation will strengthen families and ensure they are able to defend their ancestral lands.

Our Back to Basics campaign this winter will put in simple steps to providing clean water and sanitation for our partner villages in Papua New Guinea. It will be the focus of this year’s Big Give project. Please get in touch if you’re interested in supporting it. Cool Earth.

Dame Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler have launched our most exciting project to date: saving rainforest in Papua New Guinea.
Vivienne and Andreas, who were made Patrons of Cool Earth on the night, both spoke about the importance of saving rainforest in the fight against climate change.
Andreas said, “The rainforest is bubbling with life. We must protect it for the future. Cool Earth’s plan to save the rainforest is working and we must help them succeed in Papua New Guinea.”
Ranu Muttucumaraswamy, who is from our partner village of Gadaisu in Papua New Guinea, also spoke at the event. She said, “My community are so proud to be working with Cool Earth. Thank you to everyone who is helping to secure the future of my community’s forest”.