Pariva beach is part of Kerema in Papua New Guinea’s Gulf province. In that area, rising sea levels and sand erosion have forced about 40,000 people to move inland over the past decade, a local councillor says, in what a leading climate change activist describes as a “humanitarian crisis”.
The Kerema councillor Mai Trevor says 80,000 people lived in the local area, however, since 2015, almost half of the population has moved inland due to high tides and sand erosion. Trevor says residents first began moving in 2015, but over the last four years the number of people leaving has grown.
As well as fishing, many in the province earn a living from coconut and betel nut farming. In recent years, residents say the tides have been rising and weather patterns have shifted, making it harder to grow crops or fish in the oceans, and affecting their livelihoods.