Harnessing natural solutions to achieve sustainable development in Vanuatu

16 September 2024. Port Vila, Vanuatu - The importance of effectively harnessing the power of nature to help solve sustainable development challenges, such as climate change, food security and disaster risk reduction, was explored at the Aligning Ecosystem-based Adaptation and Nature-based Solutions in Vanuatu workshop held in Port Vila on 5 and 6 September. 

The high-level strategic workshop was facilitated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to improve understanding on the convergence of nature-based solutions (NbS) and ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) approaches to enable lasting positive environmental and socio-economic benefits for Vanuatu communities.

Over forty representatives from Vanuatu government ministries, non-government organisations, national project managers, and academic institutions together with regional and international agencies collaborated to examine the NbS and EbA tools in Vanuatu’s context. 

The workshop participants applied the tools to a range of existing national and provincial projects to strengthen sustainable development and biodiversity protection outcomes and enhance resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change and natural disasters.

The Minister of Climate Change and Energy, the Hon. John Salong said in his address to participants, “We need to ensure that nature-based solutions are part of every government department’s approach and part of developers’ plans.” 

“They are critical fundamental concepts that underpin many of the big development projects that are underway in Vanuatu right now.”

The Minister noted EbA and NbS approaches, and biodiversity conservation are fundamental to achieving sustainable development, and enshrined in the environment pillar of Vanuatu’s National Sustainable Development Plan 2016–2030 (the People’s Plan). 

Opening the workshop, Acting Director General for the Ministry of Climate Change, Abraham Nasak said “It’s in our interest that we continue to have a clean, well-functioning environment and ecosystems to continue to be the foundation of our development successes. Our future must be a future based on nature.” 

“Our islands ecosystems, both terrestrial and marine and their biodiversity, provide food security, shelter, cultural needs and economic benefits to our communities and the nation as a whole.” 

He stated the challenges the nation and local communities face from the impacts of climate change need responses that protect and sustainably use ecosystems and biodiversity.

Ken Kassem, Project Manager at SPREP for the By-catch and Integrated Ecosystem Management (BIEM) Initiative stressed the need for transformative approaches that move beyond incremental results to long-term, generational impact. He provided an overview of the EbA process and discussed the importance of planning for the future. 

“We not only need to understand the vulnerabilities but must also identify the opportunities we have to address these vulnerabilities and make appropriate choices,” said Mr. Kassem. 

Nature-based solutions involve the protection, management or restoration of natural ecosystems to address challenges faced by society to improve human well-being while also increasing biodiversity benefits. As interest in NbS initiatives grows, there is a need to assess how well such projects are delivering on these aspirations. 

Participants were introduced to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Standard for NbS. This serves as a global “benchmark” for what good NbS projects might look like. The IUCN NbS self-assessment framework was workshopped by participants to improve their understanding of the eight global NbS criteria.

It was acknowledged that elements of the global framework may be less relevant in the Pacific context and that a Pacific or Vanuatu guide may be more appropriate for assessing good NbS practice.

Reflections and lessons were shared from NbS and EbA activities in Vanuatu. This included the ridge to reef and ecosystem-based management approach of the BIEM Initiative on Malekula and Pentecost, and the approaches to coastal management and riparian restoration by the Pacific Ecosystem-based Adaptation to Climate Change plus (PEBACC+) project implemented by SPREP on Efate and Tanna Island.

The workshop introduced the Promoting Pacific Islands Nature Based Solutions (PPIN) project, which is focusing on identifying policy areas to focus NbS mainstreaming in Vanuatu. Group work and discussion helped to identify gaps and capacity needs which will inform the development of educational materials, training programmes and sector-specific guidelines.

Participants discussed the need to address siloed approaches to policy development and implementation of existing legislation. The need to work with and understand sectors outside the traditional conservation sector was highlighted as essential to attracting investment interest and large-scale financing for NbS.

The workshop was a collaboration between SPREP’s BIEM Initiative, which is a component of the Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership (PEUMP) Programme funded by the European Union and the Government of Sweden; the multi-partner (IUCN, SPREP, Pacific Community, GGGI) PPIN project, funded by NZ MFAT, and PEBACC+ project implemented by SPREP with funding from Kiwa Initiative and the French Facility for Global Environment.  

For more information, contact:
Kenneth Kassem [email protected] (BIEM Initiative)
Loraini Sivo [email protected] (PEBACC+)
Utulei Lui [email protected] (PPIN)