Water Resource Bylaw - Empowering Communities to Save Resources

A Water Resource Bylaw is now in place for the small community of Tafitoala in Samoa as part of the Integrated Coastal Management approach established under the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project.

The Bylaw is one of the provisions within the Water Resource Management Act 2008 and is taking on a Ridge-to-Reef approach to manage environment resources from the mountain ridges all the way down to the reef, recognising that land-based activities have a significant impact on our coastal and marine resources.

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) Principal Water Policy Regulatory Officer Mr Malaki Iakopo said that there is always a fear of coastal infrastructures impacting on marine life therefore through the Bylaw and the Integrated Water Resource Management MNRE hopes to build the resilience of the coastal ecosystems such as coral reefs and sea grass beds, by managing and limiting impacts caused by land based activities.

This is an example of mainstreaming climate change issues down to the grass root level and promoting community ownership and engagement of the PACC Project, additionally improving the management of natural resources.

"The Bylaw was created by the community members, for the community and enforced by the community," said Moira Faletutulu, National PACC Coordinator for Samoa.

She added that the decisions and village rules will be recognised in the court system as it is an enforcement vehicle for the main Water Resource Management Act.

The bylaw will hopefully put an end to unsustainable activities such as the clearing of priority forest areas and vegetation, contamination of water quality in rivers through the use of chemicals, wastes from cattle farms and other activities that contaminate the water sources.

"There are people that cut down trees without taking into account the consequences, I have learned a lot from the consultations and I see this as an important program for our people, they need to be aware about these things," said Mr Pepe Utai, a member of the Tafitoala community.

"This initiative is very important as we need to take care of our resources," said Ms Taituuga Limasere, a member of the Tafitoala community.

PACC Samoa is taking an integrated approach to coastal management under climate risk considerations and the Bylaw the Tafitoala community is putting in place will ensure that upstream activities do not adversely impact coastal resources that people depend on for their livelihoods. The PACC Samoa project is being assisted by the Water Resource Division of the MNRE to put the Bylaw in place.

The PACC Project consists of 14 member countries; it is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). It is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Australian Agency for International Development with support from United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Climate Change Capacity Development (C3D+) Programme.