The village of Luatuanu’u hosted two very special guests yesterday.
One was the U.N.D.P’s Administrator, Helen Clark, the other was the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Environment Facility (G.E.F), Naoko Ishii.
The officials are among a number of high-profile delegates in Samoa for the S.I.D.S Conference, ending today.
Ms. Clark and a host of S.I.D.S delegates took an early morning trip to the east of Upolu to inspect the Community Nursery and Community Agroforestry Plot, the Participatory Three Dimensional Model as well as the Fire Danger Class Signboard.
They were warmly welcomed by the village.
Luatuanu’u is one of the 26 communities participating in the Integration of Climate Change Risks and Resilience into Forestry Management in Samoa project.
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At the village, Ms. Clark said “engaging local people in sustainably managing the water, arable land and all the resources, upon which they rely, from the ridge to the reef, is critical.
“Perhaps nowhere else on earth are people’s lives, livelihoods, and economies more reliant on a healthy environment than they are in the
Small Island Developing States,” she said.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (M.N.R.E), Suluimalo Amataga Penaia, said climate change has taken a real toll on many communities in Samoa.
“Sea level rise and adverse impacts of climate change continue to pose a risk to S.I.D.S and their effort to achieve sustainable development and their survival viability,” he said.
“Samoa is committed to mainstreaming and integration of Climate Change in the strategy for the development of Samoa 2012-2018.”
Suluimalo also acknowledged the continued partnerships with the U.N.D.P. and the G.E.F. in addressing the climate change issues through implementation of National Adaptation Plan of Action prioritised sectors in the form of projects.
Some of the work that the Integration of Climate Change Risks and Resilience into Forestry Managements in Samoa includes; “Climate Change risks and resilience are integrated into forestry policy frameworks – a fire weather index sign has been installed tailoring climate information to the forestry sector and climate maps of climate projections are also available.”
“Climate resilience and Project knowledge and lessons learnt are captured, analysed and disseminate.
“This is particularly valuable for stakeholders in S.I.D.S which have been for too long marginalized in climate negotiations and policy processes.”
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