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The protection and sound management of our natural resources and biological diversity are essential components of countries' development aspirations, as well as a commitment under the global Convention on Biological Diversity. Experience has taught us that the protection of biodiversity will succeed only if it is part of an overall development strategy of poverty alleviation and sustainable livelihoods. During the past decade the South Pacific Biodiversity Conservation Programme (SPBCP) has aimed to address this particular nexus, with the intention that the people, countries, species, ecosystems, and natural environment of the Pacific would be the direct beneficiaries. In the Pacific, conservation is first and foremost about respecting communities' rights to the lands and natural resources on which they depend. SPBCP provided support to seventeen community-based conservation areas in twelve Pacific Island countries, covering an estimated total of 1.5 mil- lion hectares of land and marine areas. Most of the conservation areas encompass the best examples of particular ecosystems in the country and include threatened or endangered species.