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Wiawi is an important turtle-nesting site in Vanuatu known for hawksbill and green turtles. The significance of the area came to light after independence in the 1980s following forest conservation interests by the Forestry Department, which resulted in the setting up of the Wiawi Conservation Area. With the support of the Wan Smolbag (WSB) turtle monitoring programme in the 1990s, the community of Wiawi embarked on interventions towards strengthening sea turtle monitoring and conservation in Wiawi through the request from Chief Timothy and his brother Chief Konel Nihapi. These two community elders had worked very hard to establish the Wiawi Conservation Area and invested their time and energy to making Wiawi one of the leading community-based turtle conservation areas in the country.

Bamboo Bay is an important turtle nesting site in Malekula especially for green and hawksbill turtles. The community has been monitoring and conserving turtles, their nests and hatchlings since the 1990s. A village elder, Noel Kaibaba, was the first turtle monitor in Bamboo Bay trained by the Wan Smolbag Theatre turtle programme. The WSB turtle programme has been instrumental in promoting and supporting community turtle monitoring activities through funding support from SPREP projects. While turtle monitoring continues to be undertaken, there are challenges in sustaining interest for a voluntary activity and ensuring consistent financial support.

The purpose of this report is to outline the Environmental and Socioeconomic Vulnerability and Opportunity Assessment (ESVOA). Building on the rapid biological assessment (BIORAP), Ecosystem and Socioeconomic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) and Ecosystem based Adaptation (EbA) options analysis, the ESVOA demonstrates the full logic of each of the priority EbA options. This includes providing an understanding of how the key environmental and socioeconomic risks and vulnerabilities provide opportunities, the key benefits of those opportunities, and the beneficiaries to which they accrue. The ESVOA builds on the previous work providing the basis for investment in further developing these projects in the future and for their consideration in the Integrated Ecosystem Management Plan.

The BioRap survey was conducted by NatureFiji-MareqetiViti (NFMV), under the SPREP-led By-catch and Integrated Ecosystem Management (BIEM) Initiative of the Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership Programme funded by the European-Union and the Government of Sweden. The BioRap aims to enhance ecosystem resilience and conservation efforts in Fiji. Focused on the Navua catchment and Beqa lagoon, the survey collected baseline data on flora and fauna through rapid biodiversity assessments. The Navua catchment, Fiji's third-largest river system, encompasses five sub catchments and holds vital importance for ecosystem health.

The purpose of this report is to outline the development and prioritisation of high-level EbA options to address key pressures and threats for the study area, with consideration of a range of different impacts of these options. This builds on the ESRAM and will inform the development of the Integrated Ecosystem Management Plan.