SPREP NEWS - CBD COP13 7 December

Headlines:

• Huge steps made as the Pacific islands region ramp up their fight against invasive species

• Kiribati showcasing Natural Solutions for resilience on world stage

• Aichi Targets in the Pacific islands with Samoa

• Aichi Targets in the Pacific islands with Palau

Huge steps made as the Pacific islands region ramp up their fight against invasive species

7 December, CBD COP13, Cancun Mexico - Commitments to empower and support Pacific islands in their battle against invasive species were announced by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) at the UN Biodiversity Conference today. Invasive species are considered to be the main cause of biodiversity loss around the world.

A large number of species are found only in the Pacific and nowhere else with 2,189 single-country endemic species recorded to date. Of these species, 5.8 per cent are already extinct. A further 45 per cent are at risk of extinction. The Pacific islands face some of the highest extinction rates in the world. The largest cause of extinction of single-country endemic species in the Pacific is the impact of invasive species. Invasives also severely impact our economies, ability to trade, sustainable development, health, ecosystem services, and the resilience of our ecosystems to respond to natural disasters.

The Honolulu Challenge launched this year at the World Conservation Congress aims to protect biodiversity and human wellbeing by calling for greater action to address invasive species. Supporting the Challenge, the New Zealand Government has declared at the Thirteenth Conference on Biological Diversity (CBD COP13) they will completely eradicate invasive rats, stoats and possums by 2050.

With the assistance of SPREP and the Pacific Invasives Partnership, Pacific island countries and territories have embarked on many activities to manage invasive species. SPREP is committed to continuing this strong support through implementation of the regional “Guidelines for Invasive Species Management in the Pacific”.

“We aim to develop two multi-country projects with significant invasive species components which will be operational by the year 2020,” said Mr Stuart Chape, the Director of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management Division of SPREP.

“We’ll also continue work that we have undertaken as part of a GEF-PAS funded project, implemented from late 2011 until September 2016, to build capacity in invasive species management in the Pacific by improving regional information and knowledge management. This includes the expansion of our Pacific Invasive Species Battler Resource Base and Pacific Invasive Species Battler Series, completing the Pacific Invasive Species Priority Projects Database and maintaining the Guidelines Reporting Database to report to members and donors on national and regional progress in invasive species management.”

The Invasive Species work undertaken by SPREP together with the island countries focuses on achieving Aichi Target 9: “by 2020, invasive alien species and pathways are identified and prioritised, priority species are controlled or eradicated, and measures are in place to manage pathways to prevent their introduction and establishment.”

Pacific island parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity are the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The CBD COP13 is held in Cancun, Mexico from 4 – 17 November, 2016.

To access your copy of Battling Invasive Species in the Pacific, outcomes of the regional GEFPAS IAS project please visit - https://www.sprep.org/attachments/Publications/BEM/battling-invasive-species-pacific.pdf

To access the Pacific Invasive Species Battler Resource Base please visit:https://www.sprep.org/piln/resource-base

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Kiribati showcasing Natural Solutions for resilience on world stage

7 December 2016, CBD COP13, Cancun, Mexico - Natural solutions have been one of the answers for Kiribati as they have applied ecosystem-based adaptation approaches to help strengthen the resilience of the island nation.

Showcased at the Rio Conventions Pavilion at the Thirteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Cancun (CBD COP13), the actions by Kiribati highlighted the strong role nature plays in protecting islands and their communities.

“This empowers and drives the communities as they are carrying out actions that they have helped contribute to developing, know and understand, and are willing to implement,” stated Ms. Ratita Bebe, Assistant Senior Environment Officer, Kiribati.

A prime example of this was the work on Abaiang island in Aonobuaka village. There, the village realized that building seawalls is not always the best option when trying to help communities cope with rising sea level, wave surges or king tides.

The community banned the building of seawalls, opting instead for Te buibui, a traditional method of wall building for coastal resilience using natural materials such as branches, coconut leaves and fibre.

“The village wanted to maintain their beach naturally. So, as a whole community they came up with a strategy that provided solutions. The decision was not by made by one person who had an idea for the rest of the community, they all got together and decided on what was best for them," said Ms. Bebe.

"They believed that building a seawall is not best for them. So they established a community agreement that no person, family, or clan is allowed to build a seawall on the coastline at Aonebuka."

Monitoring has shown that sites in 2013 are showing https://www.sprep.org/index.phpsubstantial improvement with surveying finding positive accretion of sand at all coastal ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) project sites.

Kiribati has also embarked on a mangrove planting project, starting in 2005, pulling together voluntary support from communities to help plant the mangroves to restore and protect coastal areas in Kiribati. It has been carried out in 14 islands in the Gilbert Island Group of Kiribati.

33, 611 mangrove seedlings have been planted since 2005.

In May, 2013, Kiribati became a Party to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, designating Nooto as the first wetlands site of international importance, also becoming one of the mangrove planting sites.

“There have been many benefits of these natural solutions and EbA work in Kiribati,with positive outcomes which have only been made possible with the support of partners that have helped us,” said Ms Bebe.

“Partners have helped with coastal rehabilitation and restoration of coastal ecosystems, the activities have acted as a filter for pollution, and strong community ownership has helped raise awareness of their own roles in protecting, conserving and managing their environment.”

“EbA has also helped provide natural and more economic options for local communities to adapt to climate change impacts in particular the sea level rise which heightens king tides and storm surges.”

Ms. Ratita Bebe made her presentation at the Rio Conventions Pavilion in Cancun, Mexico.

The CBD COP13 is held from 4 – 17 November, 2016. Kiribati is a Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity along with the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. - #PacificProtectedAreas

To learn more about the Rio Pavilion please visit: http://www.riopavilion.org/

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Aichi Targets in the Pacific islands with Samoa

7 December 2016, CBD COP13, Cancun Mexico -There are 20 Aichi Targets in all, endorsed at the tenth Conference of the Parties to the CBD in Nagoya, Japan in 2010. They help to meet five different strategic goals which aim to reduce the loss of biodiversity by the year 2020. Each day during the CBD COP13 we’ll be sharing one of the Targets with you and examples of how the Pacific islands are meeting these. – PacificProtectedAreas

Strategic Goal A: Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society.

Target 4: By 2020, at the latest, Governments, business and stakeholders at all levels have taken steps to achieve or have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have kept the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits.

“For this we can look at some of the work undertaken in our forestry sector. Samoa's forest resources are a major concern as a result of various threats from logging, agricultural activity, the spread of invasive species and natural hazards such as cyclonesand forest fires. Our recent national forest inventory has shown a declining trend in ourforest cover from around 75% in the 1950's to less than 60% today.

The sustainable management of our forest resources has been mainstreamed into our keynational plans and mandated under the Forest Management Act 2011. Our approach has been implemented in a coherent planning manner that is multi and cross-sectoral.

Samoa is also constantly implementing its Two MillionTree Planting Campaign 2015-2020 and the Pacific Islands Regional Policy Frameworkfor REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation).” – Ms Fuatino Matatumua Leota, Assistance Chief Executive Officer, Division of Environment and Conservation, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Samoa.

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Aichi Targets in the Pacific islands with Palau

6 December 2016, CBD COP13, Cancun Mexico - There are 20 Aichi Targets in all, endorsed at the tenth Conference of the Parties to the CBD in Nagoya, Japan in 2010. They help to meet five different strategic goals which aim to reduce the loss of biodiversity by the year 2020. Each day during the CBD COP13 we’ll be sharing one of the Targets with you and examples of how the Pacific islands are meeting these. – PacificProtectedAreas

Strategic Goal A: Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society.

Target 3
By 2020, at the latest, incentives, including subsidies, harmful to biodiversity are eliminated, phased out or reformed in order to minimise or avoid negative impacts, and positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are developed and applied, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations, taking into account national socio economic conditions

“In 2008 when Palau introduced a sustainable financing mechanism for its Protected Areas Network (PAN) through the creation of the Protected Areas Network Fund and the implementation of the Green Fee it brought about real change in our communities and our environment. Palau’s Green Fee strengthened community stewardship of natural resources across the entire archipelago. For the first time, Palauan communities had access to dedicated funding support to assist them in ensuring that their fishing grounds remained productive and nearby forests and wetlands continued to be a source of medicines and food. Additionally, participating in the Protected Areas Network, communities were better positioned to enhance their livelihoods. Employment as a conservation ranger in the Network, eco-tourism businesses focused on sites within the network and access to resource management and decision making support via the Network are some of the obvious benefits associated with the Palau PAN.

Since its inception, Palau’s Green Fee has generated over $4,000,000 in funds that have gone directly to communities participating in the network. These funds have been used to manage marine protected areas, terrestrial conservation areas and important cultural sites. And along the way to doing that they’ve also ensured that fishing grounds, key plant and animal species, and a way of life for the Palauan people continues to be viable today and all the tomorrows to come.” – Ms Gwen Sisior, senior projects manager, Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment & Tourism, Palau

The Palau Protected Areas Network is a national level initiative that exists because of local level participation and excels because of multilevel (local, national, regional, and international) collaboration.

Palau PAN Report 2016

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