North and South Pacific Region : Melanesia

Regional Initiatives

• Locally Managed Marine (LMMA) Network

  An LMMA is an area of nearshore waters actively being managed by local communities or resource-owning groups, or being collaboratively managed by resident communities with local government and/or partner organizations.

   

  In using an LMMA approach, some coastal communities are reviving methods that have been used traditionally as part of their culture for many generations. Others are using more modern ideas introduced from outside. Some use a combination of both.

   

  The Locally-Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Network is a group of practitioners involved in various marine conservation projects around the globe who have joined together to increase the success of our efforts. The LMMA Network is learning network, meaning that participating projects use a common strategy and work together to achieve goals. The Network is interested in learning under what conditions using an LMMA strategy works, doesn’t work, and why. Network members share knowledge, skills, resources and information in order to collectively learn how to improve marine management activities and increase conservation impact.

   

  The Network's membership consists largely of conservation projects that are using (or planning on using) an LMMA approach, and includes:

   

  - Community members

  - Traditional leaders

  - Conservation staff

  - Academics and researchers

  - Donors

  - Decision-makers

   

  These members span the people and cultures of Southeast Asia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and the Americas. Some nations have their own country-wide network, which operates independently from, but within the framework of the overall Network.

   

• Foundation of the peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI)

  FSPI is a network of South Pacific island non-governmental organisations and overseas affiliates working in partnership across the South Pacific. The main function of the FSPI Secretariat is to coordinate the planning and design of regional development projects, based on the needs identified by the members and their constituencies.

• Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)

  SPREP is a regional organisation established by the governments and administrations of the Pacific region to look after its environment. It has grown from a small programme attached to the South Pacific Commission (SPC) in the 1980s into the Pacific region’s major intergovernmental organisation charged with protecting and managing the environment and natural resources. It is based in Apia, Samoa, with over 70 staff.

   

  The Pacific island governments and administrations saw the need for SPREP to serve as the conduit for concerted environmental action at the regional level. The establishment of SPREP also sends a clear signal to the global community of the deep commitment of the Pacific island governments and administrations towards sustainable development, especially in light of the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in the form of the Plan of Implementation, the Millennium Development Goals and Declaration, the Barbados Plan of Action and Agenda 21.

   

  SPREP’s mandate is to promote cooperation in the Pacific islands region and to provide assistance in order to protect and improve the environment and to ensure sustainable development for present and future generations.

   

  SPREP's vision is that people of the Pacific islands are better able to plan, protect, manage and use their environment for sustainable development.

• Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC)

  SOPAC is the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission. It is an inter-governmental, regional organisation dedicated to providing services to promote sustainable development in the countries it serves. SOPAC’s work is carried out through its Secretariat, based in Suva. The work programme is reviewed annually by the Governing Council assisted by: Secretariat representatives, a Technical Advisory Group (TAG), and a Science, Technology and Resources Network (STAR).

   

  SOPAC’s work focuses on providing assistance to its member countries in three key programme areas: Ocean and Islands Programme, Community Lifelines Programme and Community Risk Programme.

   

  Ocean and Islands is an integrated programme focused on research, development and management of non-living resources in ocean and island systems addressing issues relating to seabed resources, energy, maritime boundary delimitation and monitoring of ocean processes.

   

  Community Lifelines is a diversified programme that strengthens national capacities in energy, water and sanitation, information and communications technologies.

   

  Community Risk is a comprehensive programme aimed at reduction of community vulnerability through improved hazard assessment and risk management.

   

  These three key programme areas are supported by Corporate Services. To effectively provide these support services, SOPAC maintains an information technology unit, provides publication and library services, and offers technical and field services for specific project work.

• Pacific Island Forum (PIFS)

  The Pacific Islands Forum was founded in August 1971 and comprises 16 independent and self-governing states in the Pacific. The Forum is the region’s premier political and economic policy organisation. Forum Leaders meet annually to develop collective responses to regional issues related to economic growth, sustainable development, and governance.

   

  The Leaders believe the Pacific can, should, and will be a region of peace, harmony, security and economic prosperity, so that all its people can lead free and worthwhile lives.

   

  We treasure the diversity of the Pacific and seek a future in which its cultures, traditions and religious beliefs are valued, honoured and developed.

   

  We seek a Pacific region that is respected for the quality of its governance, the sustainable management of its resources, the full observance of democratic values and for its defence and promotion of human rights.

   

  We seek partnerships with our neighbours and beyond to develop our knowledge, to improve our communications and to ensure a sustainable economic existence for all.  

• Secretariat of the Pacific Communities (SPC) – Marine Resources Division

   An international organisation, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) works in partnership with its members, other organisations and donors to deliver priority work programmes to member countries and territories.

   

  SPC's work programmes aim to develop:

   

  - technical assistance,

  - professional, scientific and research support,

  - planning and management capability building.

   

  Our vision for the region is that of a secure and prosperous Pacific Community, whose people are healthy and manage their resources in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable way.

   

  The Marine Resources Division has three main areas of focus:

   

  - Coastal fisheries: a bilingual French/English programme, strongly oriented towards the publication of practical resource materials, on-the-job attachment training within member countries, direct advice, and applied research within our area of expertise. In short, we provide our member countries and territories with practical assistance in facing up to real-world problems.

  - Maritime affairs: Developing an integrated approach to maritime security through criminal and international law

  - Oceanic fisheries: formerly known as the Tuna and Billfish Assessment Programme (TBAP) was established by the 1980 South Pacific Conference to continue the work initiated by its predecessor project, the Skipjack Survey and Assessment Programme (SSAP). Its mission is: "to provide member countries with the scientific information and advice necessary to rationally manage fisheries exploiting the region's resources of tuna, billfish and related species".

   

• IUCN Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas

  Indigenous peoples and local communities, both sedentary and mobile, have for millennia played a critical role in conserving a variety of natural environments and species. They have done this for a variety of purposes, economic as well as cultural, spiritual and aesthetic. There are today many thousand Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) across the world, including sacred forests, wetlands, and landscapes, village lakes, catchment forests, river and coastal stretches and marine areas. The history of conservation and sustainable use in many of these areas is much older than government-managed protected areas, yet they are often neglected or not recognised in official conservation systems. Many of them face enormous threats.

   

  The IUCN ICCA initiative seeks to:

   

  - deepen the understanding of the ICCA phenomenon with respect to varying historical/ regional contexts;

  - identify and support field-based crucial initiatives where ICCAs can be safeguarded, enabled, strengthened and/or promoted in practice;

  - support consequent national, regional and international policy. 

   

  A current initiative, carried out first in collaboration with SwedBio and funded by the IUCN-SIDA framework agreement, and followed by a second phase funded by the GEF Small Grants Programme, is developing CCA reviews in several world regions, to promote and build a better understanding of the values of Community Conserved Areas throughout the world and thus strengthen their role. Melanesia and Polynesia is one of the regions of interest. 

   

• Coral Reef InitiativeS for the Pacific (CRISP)

  The Coral Reef InitiativeS for the Pacific (CRISP) aims to develop a vision for the future of coral reefs and the communities that depend on them and to introduce strategies and projects to conserve their biodiversity, while developing the economic and environmental services that they provide both locally and globally.

• Reefbase Pacific

  The ReefBase Pacific project is Component 2D of the Coral Reef InitiativeS for the Pacific (CRISP), executed by The WorldFish Center and funded by the Agence Française de Développement and the United Nations Foundation.

   

  ReefBase Pacific is the first regional focus of the global ReefBase project and provides a unique collection of information for the Pacific region. The ReefBase Pacific project aims to improve quality and accessibility of data and information on reef-associated livelihoods, fisheries and biodiversity. The project has generated internet, DVD and printed formats of the information to facilitate distribution and accessibility across a wide range of stakeholders and users.

• University of the South Pacific – Institute of Applied Sciences (USP-IAS) Fiji LMMA section

   The Institute of Applied Science Environment Unit is a member of the Asia-Pacific Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Network through the Fiji LMMA, which is a group of practitioners involved in various community based marine conservation projects around the globe who have joined together to learn how to improve our management efforts. The LMMA Network was officially launched in 2000.

   

  Major projects of the unit are the Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA) Project,which focuses on community-based managed of marine resources in a number of sites around Fiji.

   

  There are approximately 130 LMMAs co-managed by IAS with about 30 sites with full member status. Our work aims to: 

   

  - Pilot approaches/processes/tools in providing cost effective, culturally-sensitive and realistic solutions to existing environmental problems,

  - Document best practices and lessons learned for decision makers and training purposes.

• The Nature Conservancy & the Solomon Islands

  The Solomon Islands is ranked among the top 10 most biologically diverse and imperiled nations in the world. Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work and initiatives there.

• WorldFish Center – South Pacific

  The WorldFish Center is working in partnership with local research organizations to assist Pacific Island countries to achieve stable, healthy fish populations and to develop sustainable livelihoods particularly through the development of novel marine aquaculture techniques.

• University of California at Santa Barbara - The Roviana and Vonavona Lagoons (Solomon Islands) Marine Resource Management Project

  The multidisciplinary Roviana and Vonavona Lagoons Marine Resource Management Project brings together scholars and students from the University of California Santa Barbara, University of Otago (New Zealand), and Solomon Islands to investigate:

   

  - Regional spatial patterns of settlement and their resulting impact on property configurations

  - The transformation of regional demographic patterns and their effect on common-property institutions, particularly sea tenure regimes

  - The impact of economic development on sea tenure institutions

  - Regional differences in cultural knowledge regarding tenure rules and their social and environmental consequences

  - Documentation and correlation of indigenous ecological knowledge with Western scientific knowledge (e.g., spawning aggregations)

  - A longitudinal analysis of marine harvest effort patterns (1994-2002)

• WWF - Marine Resource Management and Conservation in Western Solomon Islands

  The goal of the Marine Resource Management and Conservation in Western Solomon Islands project is to ensure that the government and local communities are assisted to establish, enforce and monitor a system of marine protected areas for target sites in the Western Province that will result in enhanced fisheries and conserved marine bio-diversity.

   

  The five project components are:

   

  - Legislation and enforcement

  - Biological research and monitoring

  - Socio-economic research and monitoring

  - Education and outreach

  - Communications and promotion of the marine programme work

   

• Western Solomons Research Database (WSRD)

  The database has been created by the Bergen Pacific Studies Research Group at the University of Bergen, Norway, in response to requests from leaders in Western Province for an overview of the different kinds of research that have been carried out in the province. A wide range of scholars from many countries and all scientific fields have offered their contributions to this initiative. As a website with open access, the database is dedicated to bringing as much as possible of this research into the reach of the people and policy makers of Western Province and Solomon Islands. The database offers lasting online storage for cultural heritage and scientific knowledge.

• Vanuatu Cultural Center – Traditional Marine Tenure Project

  The objectives of the TMT Project include the documentation and promotion of traditional marine tenure management practices found in Vanuatu. Marine tenure management practices include the various methods employed to harvest and manage marine resources and their associated custom stories. A secondary objective is to provide practical information in the form of biological knowledge on the management of marine resources to communities by way of cooperative management.

• The Nature Conservancy, Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea

  For more than a decade, The Nature Conservancy has worked with partners and local communities to protect Kimbe Bay's rich lands and waters.

   

  Now the Conservancy has helped design a network of marine protected areas (MPA) in Kimbe Bay that is one of the first in the world to incorporate both human needs and principles of coral reef resilience to withstand impacts from climate change.

• Marine Protected Areas of New Caledonia - MEDD

  Information on the sixteen special marine reserves in New Caledonia, protecting coral reefs.

• Sylvia Earle Alliance - Hope Spots

  Hope Spots are special places that are critical to the health of the ocean, Earth's blue heart. Some of these Hope Spots are already protected, while others are important enough that it is imperative that they be protected. About 12% of the land around the world is now under some form of protection (as national parks, world heritage sites, monuments, etc.), while less than one percent of the ocean is protected in any way.