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The traditional land tenure system and the customary rights to use land and sea resources are now part of the national constitution. All land in the Republic belongs to the custom owners and their descendants and rules of custom form the basis for ownership and use of both the land and off-shore resources. Within this system the chiefs played, and in most regions continue to play, an important role in regulating the use and management of natural resources for the benefit of the people they represent.

The Vanuatu Government signed the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) at its launch in 1992 and ratified it in 1993. As a party to the CBD, the government is obliged to report to the other convention signatories on in-country biodiversity management activities and to develop a strategy and action plan to manage and conserve Vanuatu's biological diversity. The first national report was prepared by the NBSAP project team and was sent to the CBD Secretariat in December 1997. This paper is the first national biodiversity conservation strategy and action plan.