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The International Waters Project (IWP) aims to strengthen the management and conservation of marine, coastal and freshwater resources in the Pacific Islands region. It is financed through the International Waters Programme of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). Implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and executed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), in conjunction with the governments of the 14 participating independent Pacific Island countries.

Highlights of the community workshop included stakeholder engagement (facilitation, stakeholder participation and communicating with stakeholders); identification of resource management problems (stakeholder analysis, participatory problem analysis); learning the social context of resource management problems (participatory impact assessment, socio-economic baseline assessments, methods, analysis of information); and project planning (identifying and selecting solutions, impact assessment, considering options, project mapping).

The watersheds of the Cook Islands provide residents and visitors with a wide range of environmental services such as drinking water supplies, natural filtration of freshwater runoff, recreational opportunities and scenery. While important, the value of these services is not readily apparent in economic terms. This means they can easily be overlooked in decision making and policy formulation. There is a pressing need to better understand the economic value of the nation's watersheds to raise awareness and inform investment and regulatory decisions.

The IW is one of the four focal areas of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The GEF was created in 1994 to provide funding for programs and projects to achieve global environment benefits in four focal areas: biodiversity, climate change, international waters, and ozone layer depletion, as well as land degradation as it relates to these focal areas.