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An ecological baseline survey of the Amal/Crab Bay Tabu Eria (AKTE) was performed between November 2004 and May 2005. Resources were surveyed with the assistance of Community Facilitators (CFs), and under the direction of the AKTE Management Committee (MC); surveyed resources included land crabs, terrestrial flora, mangroves, avifauna,mammals, finfish, shellfish, turtles and dugongs. Available literature regarding these resources and their distrubution within Vanuatu was reviewed and summarised, and traditional and local knowledge documented, including vernacular names for resources. The impacts of tectonic uplifting affecting mangrove zonation and nearshore reefs was also documented.

During a review of the priority environmental concerns in Vanuatu (Tapisue et al. 2003) sustainable coastal fisheries were highlighted as an area for action under the IWP. IWP Vanuatu, in close consultation with the National Task Force, screened a number of potential communities to host the IWP pilot project. Coastal resource management has increasingly become a priority in many communities, but is sometimes hampered due to the lack of cooperation within and among communities, often as a result of land boundary and village leadership disputes (Johannes and Hickey 2004)..