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Forests and forestry in Samoa are impacted by a number of factors acting sometimes singly but more often, in combination. The most pronounced and dramatic in effect have been environmental, economic and demographic. Samoa’s forest cover has been declining steadily since the first aerial photos were taken in 1954 due to agro-deforestation and later, during the mid 1970s, by logging. Tropical cyclones have played their part in forest degradation and fragmentation (Whitmore 1984), but the 1990 and 1991 cyclones were especially devastating, both in the extent of degradation and loss to the native forests, but more so on the plantation forest resource.

The vulnerability of the people of Saoluafata and Lano are a cumulative impact of exposure,to climate related risks reflecting both climatic conditions and location of human settlement,assets and infrastructure and the capacity of the people to cope with the climate related risks. Communities have been adapting in the past and still are adapting today, however,extreme climate related extreme events are increasing which have greatly impacted on the livelihoods of the people and their socioeconomic and physical environment.