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From: SUE MILLER TAEI
Date: 11-03-08
Time: 14:20
Dear All
Talofa! Some good news from Samoa's two largest MPAs. These two sites together contain some of Samoa's most important coastal marine biodiversity including:
- key hawksbill trutle nesting sites - largest remaining intact mangrove habitat - offshore islands (Nuulua and Nuutele) critically important for endangered and endemic species conservation - extensive coral reef, seagrass and lagoon habitat - well functioning no take zones - and support the livelhoods of people in 20 villages
The two Districts established a joint NGO and Trust Fund out of their OWN HARD EARNED INCOME from tourism and other fees in 2003 and have managed it excellently ever since using money from the interest to help with management plan implementation costs. The new donation $242,000 ST is from the CRISP ( Coral Reef Initiative in the South Pacific) and part of the support CI Pacific Islands programme has provided since January 2005. The MPAs were designed and established as two large multiple-use, community-based (20 villages) district MPAs under a GEF Medium Sized Grant executed by IUCN with the Government of Samoa. We estimate that this funding provides ca 30% of recurrent management costs and CI is now looking at further ways to assist these two MPAs and would welcome interest from new potential partners.
Best wishes
Sue Miller Taei CI Pacific Islands
These two sites together contain some of Samoa's most important coastal marine biodiversity including:
- key hawksbill trutle nesting sites - largest remaining intact mangrove habitat - offshore islands (Nuulua and Nuutele) critically important for endangered and endemic species conservation - extensive coral reef, seagrass and lagoon habitat - well functioning no take zones - and support the livelhoods of people in 20 villages
The two Districts established a joint NGO and Trust Fund out of their OWN HARD EARNED INCOME from tourism and other fees in 2003 and have managed it excellently ever since using money from the interest to help with management plan implementation costs. The new donation $242,000 ST is from the CRISP ( Coral Reef Initiative in the South Pacific) and part of the support CI Pacific Islands programme has provided since January 2005. The MPAs were designed and established as two large multiple-use, community-based (20 villages) district MPAs under a GEF Medium Sized Grant executed by IUCN with the Government of Samoa. We estimate that this funding provides ca 30% of recurrent management costs and CI is now looking at further ways to assist these two MPAs and would welcome interest from new potential partners.
Best wishes
Sue Miller Taei CI Pacific Islands
Funds Awarded to Samoa’s Largest Marine Protected Areas
Conservation International and CRISP Support First Samoan Marine Conservation Trust Fund
Apia, 6 March – Today funds will be handed over to Samoa’s two largest marine protected areas (MPAs) on behalf of the Coral Reef InitiativeS in the Pacific (CRISP) program, at a ceremony to be held at the Safata MPA District Centre.
Conservation International’s (CI’s) Executive Vice-President Dr Claude Gascon will deliver a cheque for over ST 240,000 (approximately 67,000 Euros) for a trust fund endowment to be presented by Samoa’s Minister for Natural Resources and the Environment Mr Faumuina Tiatia Liuga to the Chairs of the Aleipata and Safata MPAs Trust Fund.
Minister Liuga says, “The Government of Samoa supports these MPAs as a good example of local and national stewardship of our marine resources.”
These two MPAs on Upolu Island have been operating well and managing their own earned income (mainly from tourism fees) in a trust fund since 2003. The CRISP support serves to recognize this achievement, and will contribute approximately 30% of the estimated funds needed for sustainable financing of these MPAs.
“The communities involved in the Aleipata and Safata MPAs are to be congratulated for the leadership they have shown,” says Eric Clua, CRISP Program Manager. “We hope these funds encourage them to continue their great work and inspire other groups in Samoa and across the Pacific to follow their example.”
Both MPAs are large, community-based, multiple-use areas governed by a number of villages (9 villages in the case of Safata, and 11 villages for Aleipata). They are managed in partnership with the Government of Samoa (Division of Environment and Conservation, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), and CRISP and CI have been providing operational support since
January 2005. The MPAs were designed and established under a grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) from 1999 to 2004.
Sue Miller Taei, CI’s Marine Programs Manager in the Pacific says, “I believe this Samoan experience represents a significant step forward for sustainable financing of MPAs. It provides a model for other communities interested in protecting their natural resources and way of life for future generations.”
MPAs protect marine biodiversity, fish stocks and tourism values, providing sustainable livelihoods into the future. Increasingly trust funds are being used to provide sustainable finance for establishing and managing protected areas.
CONTACTS:
Sue Miller Taei, Conservation International, Apia, Samoa, tel (685) 7770787, staei@conservation.org
Eric Clua, CRISP Program Manager, SPC, Noumea, New Caledonia, tel (687) 26 54 71, ericc@spc.int
Angela Kirkman, Conservation International, Indonesia-Pacific Region, Australia, tel (61) 431 304834, akirkman@conservation.org
Photos available
Conservation International (CI) applies innovations in science, economics, policy and community participation to protect the Earth’s richest regions of plant and animal diversity and demonstrate that human societies can live harmoniously with nature. Founded in 1987, CI works in more than 40 countries on four continents to help people find economic alternatives without harming their natural environments. For more information about CI, visit www.conservation.org <http://www.conservation.org/> .
CRISP – the Coral Reefs InitiativeS for the Pacific (CRISP) program is a Government of France regional initiative that includes inter alia support to marine protected areas in the Pacific Islands region. CI coordinates Component 1 (MPAs and Watersheds) of this program, with work being undertaken in 11 Pacific states (Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Palau, Wallis and Futuna, Solomon Islands). For more information visit www.crisponline.net <http://www.crisponline.net/> .
Last changed: 11-Mar-2008