Search the SPREP Catalogue

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.

Located in the Central Division of Fiji, the Navua River and Beqa lagoon support high social, ecological and economic values. The river floodplains support subsistence farming and commercial agriculture, and the river and tributaries provide an important transport route to villages that are difficult to reach. The catchment includes the Upper Navua Gorge, which is a designated conservation area due to its high ecological significance and the forests containing traditional foods and medicines. The lagoon has been endorsed as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) through the International Maritime Organization. An abundance of sea life including coral, fish, sharks and turtles resides in the lagoon. Local communities have deep cultural and spiritual connections to the lagoon, and many rely upon it as a traditional fishing ground for subsistence and commercial fishing. The river and lagoon support an extensive tourism industry including river tubing, white water rafting and the Namosi Eco Retreat within the catchment, as well as shark diving, surfing, scuba diving and snorkelling, with resorts located on and around Beqa Island.