1 November 2024, Cali Colombia - Building on a history of partnership and co-operation, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have strengthened their commitment to ongoing conservation work in the Pacific.
This follows the renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by SPREP’s Director General, Mr. Sefanaia Nawadra and Global Ocean Director TNC, Dr. Elizabeth Mcleod on the margins of the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) in Colombia.
The MOU provides a framework for continued cooperation between SPREP and TNC to improve continued collaboration and encourage technical exchange in a variety of areas, including spatial planning, data sharing, building management capacity, implementing ecosystem-based adaptation, and monitoring and evaluation.
“We are delighted to continue this relationship with The Nature Conservancy, which will ensure the strengthening of ongoing nature conservation work in the Pacific region,” said Mr. Nawadra.
“As the regional organisation established by the Governments and Administrations of the Pacific charged with protecting and managing the environment and natural resources of the Pacific, SPREP looks forward to the continuation of this work to address critical conservation and environmental management issues for the benefit of Pacific Island countries particularly in Micronesia where TNC does most of its work.”
SPREP has 21 Pacific Island member countries and territories which it serves in its mandate to promote cooperation in the Pacific region and providing assistance in the protection and improvement of the Pacific environment to ensure sustainable development for present and future generations.
The Nature Conservancy is a global environmental nonprofit working to create a world where people and nature can thrive. TNC is one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. With more than a million members and the dedicated efforts of diverse staff and over 400 scientists, TNC impacts conservation in 81 countries and territories.
In the Pacific, TNC has established programmes supporting work in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Republic of Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, American Samoa, the U.S. Territory of Guam, and the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and supports the Micronesia Challenge and the Coral Triangle Initiative.
“The Nature Conservancy has been working in the Pacific for over 30 years, on community-based conservation and policy, in the areas of fisheries management, protected areas, climate adaptation, and innovative conservation finance. We are pleased to renew our partnership with SPREP, and this agreement is a framework for continued cooperation and collaboration building on our history of partnership,” said Dr. Mcleod.
“We also have a twenty-year partnership with the Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation (PIRT), a membership-based network of NGOs and regional agencies that is committed to support governments and civil society in Pacific island countries and territories in their efforts to sustainably manage and conserve the regions biodiversity.”
SPREP is the Secretariat of PIRT. The first MOU between SPREP and TNC was formalised in 2013, and was first renewed in 2019.