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At a time when many developed countries are searching for alternatives to national park schemes, some of the less wealthy nations have already adopted other sustainable mechanisms for protected area management. Vanuatu is one such country - a nation that has retained a surprisingly rich cultural heritage despite many years of administration by Britain and France. Vanuatu's customary laws have been successfully incorporated into a western legislation model to provide a regime, which meets the needs of its people by providing both sustainable livelihoods and environmental protection.

The objective of this study is to provide decision makers in the European Commission and other partner countries with sufficient information to identify European Commission cooperation activities with specific environmental objectives and to establish environmental safeguards for other activities.

The Government of Vanuatu has decided to set up a micro hydro electric-power station on the Epong river to provide up to 25KW of electric power for the village of Epao and to use this development project as a pilot plant for training purposes on hydro electric power management.