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As part of the AusAID-sponsored South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Project ("Pacific Project") for the FORUM region, in response to concerns raised by its member countries over the potential impacts of an enhanced Greenhouse Effect on climate and sea levels in the South Pacific region, a SEAFRAME (Sea Level Fine Resolution Acoustic Measuring Equipment) gauge was installed at Avatiu Harbour, Rarotonga, Cook Islands, in February, 1993. The gauge has been returning high resolution, good scientific quality data since installation.

The overarching goal of the NCSA Project is to undertake an assessment of Samoa's capacity to address environmental issues affecting the wider public and local populations with particular emphasis on building effective national capacity to implement the three (3) Rio Conventions namely; the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which would, in the end, required a synergy of crosscutting issues and a subsequent action plan. It aims to develop a plan for the implementation of key activities identified as priority actions to address capacity needs and constraints identified by the three Conventions. The NCSA Process adopted by Samoa comprises five (5) main phases: Inception Phase, Stocktaking Phase, Thematic Assessment, Crosscutting Assessment and Action Plan development. The NCSA project has achieved the first two phases of which are the Inception and Stocktaking Phases. The current stage of the NCSA process is the Thematic Assessment Phase which necessitates the production of this Thematic Assessment Report to focus primarily on the assessment of Samoa's capacity to meet its global environmental objectives under the UNCCD in the context of land degradation as it affects Samoa.