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One of the most critical factors influencing the success of the IWP pilot projects has been the choice of sites. Communities that choose to be involved in the project were committed to the process from the outset. In contrast, in communities that did not initiate their own involvement — some did not ask for "expressions of interest", and in some instances the decision about the location of pilot initiatives was politically motivated — it took considerable time for the National Coordinators to convince the community that being involved in the IWP initiative was worthwhile. Two key lessons can be drawn from the initial engagement with pilot communities: pilot sites should be chosen carefully and efforts should be made to not give communities false expectations.

For government institutions and private companies, TUC claim from them through the Ministry of Internal & Social Affairs service charge in accordance with the number of buildings or type of buildings they have. This system does not extend to private houses and therefore it is up to private houses to approach TUC and pay for the service charge. Public sen-ants are deducted a charge from their salaries to cover waste removal services with the result public service housing areas receive the most regular service - yet not as efficient and reliable as might be expected for a paid service. Waste for collection is usually left by households or institutions mostly in piles some in bins on the roadside. Many institutions use this sen-ice however there are also some which bum their rubbish or dump them at the beach or shoreline.

The Strategic Action Programme for the International Waters of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (IWP) involves 14 participating Pacific Island Countries: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati. Marshall Islands, Nauru, Nine, Palau. Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.The Programme was originally designed as a 5-year programme. However, for a variety of reasons implementation of the Programme was slower than anticipated with the recommendation in December 2002 that the Programme be extended to cover 7 years. Approval for a 7 year Programme was received from UNDP in January 2003. The revised completion date is to December 2006. The Programme is executed by the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). Its objectives and broad activities are described in a Project Document (UNDP 1999). The day-to-day coordination of work for the IWP, across the 14 participating countries, is conducted by a Project Coordination Unit (PCU), that is housed at SPREP.