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The purpose of this report is to provide Wan Smolbag Theatre’s (WSB) Vanua-Tai Turtle Monitors Network and partners with a summary of tagging and nesting information that has been submitted to SPREP for incorporation into the regional Turtle Research and Monitoring Database System (TREDS). This report also aims to provide information that can be used to assist turtle conservation work carried out in Vanuatu.

Australians have long recognised the importance of whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in our marine ecosystems. It is important that relevant jurisdictions around Australia are supported to deliver ‘best practice’ when preparing for, and responding to, cetacean incidents. This will help enhance the efforts to protect these animals across Australia into the future. For the purpose of this document, the term ‘incident’ refers to entanglement and stranding of cetaceans.

The High Level Session provided an opportunity for high level representatives from government, the private sector and civil society to comment on the proposed Ten Key Actions to support the achievement of nature conservation in the Pacific.

The small economies and populations of the Pacific islands have very limited financial capacity, yet are stewards for an immense area of ocean and its associated global ecosystem services

This is the second NIIP. It updates and builds on the successes of the first NIIP that was prepared in 2010. It continues the focus on responsible investment and improved asset management, and includes a stronger spotlight on climate change adaptation and disaster risk management. The Plan is country owned and led, and was developed with the full participation of and in consultation with internal stakeholders, and private sector and community representatives. The process involved the following key steps: 1. Analysing the key drivers for investments in economic infrastructure that will improve the everyday lives of the people of Tonga and reduce the costs of doing business. 2. Assembling a comprehensive list of economic infrastructure projects in the pipeline based on information from Government, Public Enterprises, and development partners to identify those investment projects that are already underway or have committed funding. 3. Developing and applying a robust prioritisation methodology that reflects national objectives as outlined in the Tonga Strategic Development Framework 2011-2014 (TSDF) to identify a set of infrastructure projects investments that are ‘high priority’ for implementation in the next five years. 4. Considering the whole-of-sector planning implications of high priority projects, and identifying linkages and complementary (non-infrastructure) measures required to obtain best long-term value from investments. 5. Assessing the financial sustainability and level of cost recovery of existing infrastructure, and the proposed investments and linkages with public sector financial management framework. 6. Assessing the current infrastructure funding position of Government and Public Enterprises, and developing a funding strategy that can form the basis for discussion between Government, national stakeholders, and development partners.

In 2010, under Kiribati’s Programme of Work for Protected Areas (PoWPA), a national ecological gap analysis (GA) was conducted. Its main purpose was to assess how effective the current Protected Areas (PA) network was at achieving Kiribati’s National Biodiversity Strategies Action Plan (NBSAP) conservation targets, and in particular to identify priority areas for the expansion of the PA network and priority actions for improved management of existing PAs. A complementary objective was to identify the key gaps in our knowledge of the country’s biodiversity. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and Conservation International’s Pacific Islands Program (CI-PIP) provided technical support to the Kiribati Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development (MELAD) to conduct a GA of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA – areas of high biodiversity and conservation value) in Kiribati, and provided advisory support for its PA network design. The KBA approach was applied at the archipelago (Gilbert, Line and Phoenix Islands) level combining terrestrial, coastal and lagoon habitats. The KBA methodology applied here is based on an international standard methodology that focuses on worldwide threatened species. KBA sites – all designated at the island level - were identified based on the presence of globally threatened species. The KBA sites (Islands) were then prioritized based on three additional criteria including the frequency of species of local concern as identified by the NBSAP, Kiribati Adaptation Plan (KAP) II mangroves, and the PoWPA phase one consultations; areas of expert concern; and a habitat metric based on habitat diversity and numerical analysis of habitat types.

The Nakauvadra Community Based Reforestation Project in Fiji has been developed by Conservation International (CI), and funded through the support of FIJI Water. The project is located on the northern tip of Viti Levu in the Province of Ra. It is comprised of 1,135 ha of reforestation plots along the Southern and Northern slopes of the Nakauvadra Range, a 11,387 ha forest refuge that has been designated as a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) and is earmarked as a priority site in Fiji’s proposed protected area network.

Forum Compact Peer Reviews regulated by PIFS for its member countries following agreements from the Cairns Compact: Nauru, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Niue, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM)

The purpose of this report is to summarise a review of the degree to which climate change has so far been mainstreamed in national strategic plans, policies and budgets, and – in a sectoral case study (presented in Annex 1) – the extent to which mainstreaming has translated to implementation. Table 1 shows the criteria used in this review to assess the degree of mainstreaming of climate change, as well as some general remarks in relation to the review’s findings for Tuvalu.