Port Vila, Vanuatu - More than fifty community members from Paonangisu and Siviri on Efate Province in Port Vila, participated in a community workshop on blue carbon.
The workshop took place on 16-17 October 2024, organised by the Management and Conservation of Blue Carbon Ecosystems (MACBLUE) project in partnership with the Vanuatu Department for Environmental Protection and Conservation.
As part of the MACBLUE project’s focus on community-driven coastal conservation, the workshop introduced the project to local communities and highlighted the critical roles of mangroves and seagrass in ecosystem health and carbon storage.
Discussions covered various local environmental challenges and potential solutions, from turtle overpopulation affecting seagrass beds to excessive tree cutting along coastal areas. In response, community members expressed their commitment to conservation efforts and proposed actionable measures, such as replanting of mangroves, management measures to control over grazing of sea grass meadows and implementing sustainable fishing practices.
The MACBLUE project is further supporting coastal ecosystem management and blue carbon storage in Vanuatu by utilising remote sensing to map the extent of seagrass and mangrove ecosystems located across 16 critical sites. MACBLUE Project Coordinator, Ms Turang Teuea highlighted the importance of this activity, “by analysing carbon sequestration potential and ecosystem services of these coastal habitats, the project is expected to assist Vanuatu’s government in making informed conservation and rehabilitation strategies and this initiative aligns with the national targets set in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and supports other strategic policy documents.”
The Blue Carbon workshop represents a pivotal step for Vanuatu in its journey towards resilient coastal management and climate change adaptation. The collaboration between government agencies, local communities, regional organisations, and technical experts is setting a strong foundation for the preservation and restoration of coastal ecosystems, which are vital for biodiversity, climate resilience, and local livelihoods.
The workshop was co-facilitated by the MACBLUE’s National Coordinator for Vanuatu, Mr Moses Amos and Mr Dean Launder, the Acting Principal Officer of the Biodiversity Conservation Division for the Vanuatu Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation.
The MACBLUE project, spans four Pacific Island nations—Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu— and is jointly implemented the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Pacific Community (SPC) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to support effective coastal management and conservation, particularly through the mapping and rehabilitation of critical carbon sinks like mangroves and seagrass beds.