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The Action Strategy for Nature Conservation in the Pacific Islands Region for 2003-2007, arose out of the 7th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas which was held in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, in July 2002. It was then endorsed by the member country representatives of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) at the September 2003 SPREP Meeting and it was meant to represent a consensus on the priority concerns for conservation and ways in which these can be addressed.

The Pacific Strategy for the New Millennium1 of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) focuses on the core objectives of (i) continuing support for economic growth, good governance, and public sector reform; (ii) promoting private sector development as the engine for growth; and (iii) supporting sustainable environmental management and equitable social development. A new regional strategy is being prepared for ADB operations in the Pacific, which will focus on the priority needs of the poor, as defined by an extensive program of qualitative and quantitative poverty assessment, based on listening to the voices of those in hardship or poverty. The new strategy will focus on improving access to basic services and creating employment opportunities. As the Government is beginning preparation of its Strategic Development Plan 8 (SDP8) for 2005-2007, it is timely to review ADB’s strategy and program for Tonga.

In 2004, the Government of Tonga reaffirmed its commitment to achieving the development objective of improving living standards, set out in the Strategic Development Plan 7 (SDP7) for 2001-2003. Throughout that period, the Government focused on implementation of the Economic and Public Sector Reform Program (EPSRP), which aims at maintaining a stable macroeconomic environment and achieving sustainable economic growth, led by private sector development and supported by an efficient and effective public sector. Through SDP7, the Government plans to achieve social and economic objectives of individual fulfillment, gender equity, political stability, and a stable economic and financial environment.