Kup Reforestation Project Plants 80,000 Saplings in Papua New Guinea
A community-led reforestation project in Papua New Guinea's highlands is transplanting about 80,000 saplings across 150 hectares, with support from the Kiwa Initiative.
The story in focus
A reforestation project founded in 1999 by Pastor Peter Temin Dree in Papua New Guinea's Simbu Province is now supported by the Kiwa Initiative, which began implementation in July 2025. About 80,000 saplings are being transplanted across 150 hectares, and habitat mapping is underway on 2,000 hectares.
- Kup Reforestation was founded in 1999 by Pastor Peter Temin Dree in Kerowagi District, Simbu Province.
- Kiwa Initiative project implementation in Kup officially began in July 2025.
- About 80,000 saplings are being transplanted across 150 hectares, with mapping on 2,000 hectares for a conservation area.
What the project is doing
Kup Reforestation was started in 1999 by Pastor Peter Temin Dree, who set up a nursery to raise and share seedlings after seeing timber harvesting, agricultural clearing and clan conflicts affect forests in the Kup Local Level Government area of Kerowagi District, Simbu Province.
Under the Kiwa Initiative, which began implementation in Kup in July 2025, the project has built a nursery and training centre. About 80,000 sapling trees are being transplanted across 150 hectares. Vegetation and habitat mapping covers 2,000 hectares to support a formal conservation area. Community members, including women, youths, teachers, school children, local leaders and churches, are involved.
Challenges and support
The project faces difficulties transporting large numbers of seedlings, network problems affecting communication with donors and partners, watering during an El Niño dry spell, and bushfires that threaten restored habitats. Requests to replicate activities in other communities are growing.
Pastor Dree said conservation awareness among community members and mentorship from Kiwa Initiative partners are helping bridge implementation and monitoring gaps. The Kiwa Initiative is funded by the European Union, Agence Française de Développement, Global Affairs Canada, Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
When did the Kiwa Initiative's project implementation begin in Kup?
Project implementation in Kup officially commenced in July 2025, according to the IUCN story, more than 25 years after Pastor Peter Temin Dree founded Kup Reforestation in 1999.
Sources & further reading
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