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Emphasising a "blue-green" theme the renewed “EU relations with the Pacific Islands: A Strategy for Strengthening Partnership” focuses on strengthening cooperation with Pacific ACP countries to address the sustainable management of natural resources and environmental challenges. 10th EDF programming requires that the environment is integrated into all Country Strategy Papers ensuring that future actions are appropriately targeted. An important step in this process is the preparation of an environment profile for each Pacific ACP country.

Samoa has retained the same ruling governing party of the last 20 years as its government for the next five years after the general elections in early March 2006. After years in power since 1985, the Human Rights Political Party (HRPP) continues to advance its 9 focus on enhancing the macroeconomic stability of the country. Apart from reliance on traditional mainstays such as agriculture and remittances, it targeted growth led by the construction, other manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, transport and communication sectors. Samoa therefore has achieved significant progress and success in areas of social and economic competence as it entered the 21st century. Economic performance continued to achieve positive results and social indicators showed signs of improvement. This means the quality of life has advanced. However, a lot remains to be done and efforts towards raising the quality of life is forever challenging

Massive coral bleaching episodes have impacted the function of the reefs and increased rates of mortality. Coral reefs support over one million plant and animal species and their economic value is pro¬jected to more than US $ 30 billion annually. Extreme climatic con¬ditions, however, are most likely to increase in the future with cur¬rent climate scenarios. Projected increases in carbon dioxide and temperature exceed the conditions under which coral reefs have flourished over the past 500 000 years. Coral reefs are crucial bio¬diversity hotspots and support both coastal fisheries and tourism in many regions. Coral reefs, however, are in decline in many regions as a result of numerous pressures, including, but not limited to, extreme climate events, unsustainable fishing practices, diseases, sedimentation, and discharge of untreated sewage. Increasing re¬silience and securing rapid recovery of coral reefs will be essen¬tial for the ability of these ecosystems to support coastal fisheries and coastal livelihoods and cultures in the future. However, this resilience and recovery may be seriously impounded by unsustain¬able coastal infrastructure development and marine pollution from land-based sources. At the current rate of growth, coastal develop¬ment may impact up to 90% of the tropical and temperate coast¬lines by 2032 if development continues unchecked. While progress has been made to reduce the discharge and impacts of oil spills and persistent organic pollutants (POP’s), there now needs to be a focus on the largest current threats to the coastal marine environment : untreated sewage and piecemeal coastal development.

Samoa acceded the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on 20 August 1998 two years since the Convention entered into force on 26 December 1996. As an affected country party to the Convention, Samoa has in 2000 prepared and submitted a Capacity Development Initiative Report which contains a preliminary assessment as to land degradation in Samoa and its capacity level and needs. The First National Report was produced in 2003 followed by the Third National Report in 2006. Since 2004 Samoa began the process for the formulation of its National Action Plan (NAP). The NAP commands a bottoms-up, participatory process at all levels of society, to be developed as the conceptual legal-policy framework for implementing the Convention at the national and local levels. The NAP is the core instrument to address the problem of land degradation in Samoa, in accordance with provisions and spirit of the Convention.

Coral reefs are an important natural resource in American Samoa providing protection, food, and other benefits. American Samoa's reefs have suffered numerous natural and anthropogenic destructive impacts including crown-of-thorns starfish infestations, coral bleaching events, cyclones, sedimentation and pollution. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are one form of management that can be used to address some of these threats to the reefs. Studies have shown that well-designed no-take reserves are particularly effective in maintaining biodiversity, productivity and ecological integrity of coral reefs (NOAA, 2002). MPAs also protect trophic systems and ecosystem resilience. On August 2, 2000 then-Governor Tauese Sunia requested a plan be developed for coral reef protection to reach the goal of protecting twenty percent (20%) of Territorial coral reefs as "no-take" MPA's (Sunia, 2000). To ensure effective management, the American Samoa Government has acknowledged the need for a Coral Reef MPA Strategy that can guide the creation of new no take MPAs. The American Samoa Coral Reef MPA Strategy covers the coral reef ecosystems in American Samoa, which are understood to include coral, seagrass, macroalgae, coralline algae, turf algae, emergent vegetation and mangroves.

The Territory of American Samoa lies roughly 14 degrees south of the equator between longitude 169 and 173 west and about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. The principal islands are Tutuila, Aunu'u, and the Manu'a islands (a cluster of three islands, Ta'u, Ofu and Olosega, located about 65 miles east of Tutuila). Swains Island, a small island with a population of less than 25 and Rose Atoll, an uninhabited atoll about 120 miles east of Tutuila make up the remainder of the territory. The population of the territory was 57,291 people in the year 2000, of which approximately 97% live on the island of Tutuila. The islands of American Samoa are volcanic in origin and exhibit the rugged topographic relief common to the Pacific volcanic islands. The climate of the territory is tropical, with uniform high temperatures and high humidity throughout the year. Mean daily temperature during the year varies from about 78 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. The maximum altitude is about 3,180 ft. above mean sea level at the summit of Lata Mountain on Ta'u Island. Tutuila, with an area of 53 square miles, is the largest island in the territory. It is approximately 20 miles long and ranges in width from less than one mile, to a maximum of 5 miles at the Tafuna Leone plain. A sharp-crested ridge 1,000 to 2,000 feet high with steeply eroded slopes dominates the entire length of the island.