Under the three year project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), participating countries will carry out activities with local communities to strengthen management of threatened species and ecosystems, through helping to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources.
3 May 2012: The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has announced the inception of a US$1.7 million project on the conservation of biodiversity in the Cook Islands, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu. Project activities will use an ecosystem-based management approach, emphasizing the connectivity between systems including the land, sea and people.
The Integrated Island Biodiversity project is funded by the Global Environment Facility’s Pacific Alliance for Sustainability Program (GEF-PAS), implemented by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and executed by SPREP.
Under the three-year project, the participating countries will carry out activities with local communities to strengthen management of threatened species and ecosystems, through helping to ensure the sustainable use of natural resources.
Addressing the project inception workshop, convening in Apia, Samoa, from 8-11 May 2012, David Sheppard, Director-General of SPREP, said the following were key to the project’s success: learning from the past and looking to the future; developing synergies and partnerships; and ensuring the work plan and budget for this project are focused and achievable. [SPREP Press Release]