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The Pacific BioScapes Programme is supporting local community monitoring of coastal ecosystem resilience on the islands of Maninita, Taula, Fangasito, Fonua’one’one, Mu’omu’a and Fua’amotu in the Vava’u group. This aims to assess the benefits for biodiversity that occur following the eradication of invasive species.

The rapid expansion of kava farms, and the increase in market value for the plant, has resulted in an increased clearing of native forests in key growing zones. Cleared cultivation areas are now penetrating some of the most well preserved native forests of the Pacific region. To what extent this is currently impacting on biodiversity and Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) is not yet fully known, especially in Fiji and Vanuatu.

Ra is one of four provinces in the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape, which covers over 27,000 km2 of relatively intact coral reefs, seagrass meadows, mangroves, rivers and forests. Local communities in Vanua Nakorotubu depend on coral reef fish for food and income, but degraded catchments and coastal development have resulted in high turbidity in marine waters. This is negatively affecting the marine environment and has also led to an increase in the transmission of waterborne bacterial diseases amongst the local population.

The Pacific BioScapes Programme aims to identify and strengthen the management of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) in the Pacific region. These areas are 'sites contributing significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity’, in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. The KBA identification process requires a highly inclusive, consultative, and bottom-up, approach focused on the national level when proposing sites to communities.

The Pacific BioScapes is supporting local community monitoring of coastal ecosystem resilience on the islands of Maninita, Taula, Fangasito, Fonua'one'one, Mu'omu'a and Fua'amotu in the Vava'u group. This aims to assess the benefits for biodiversity that occur following the eradication of invasive species