Samoa Conservation Society is involved in a number of local projects engaging local communities and raising environmental awareness and sustainable living practices.
Waste Management
Past Project
Climate Change
Current Project
Samoa Climate Smart Rain forest Restoration C-offset:
This project takes on 30 Champions from the Villages of Sa’aga, Saleilua and Poutasi where they will participate in the growing of native trees in the national park. Of those 30 champions there are 9 females participating to highlight the importance of women’s role in the fight against climate change. The 30 Participants will be engaged for a total of 50 days over the next 8 months, 40 of those days being fieldwork and 10 days in the classroom where they will learn different ways in which they can help the fight against Climate Change.
This projects aims to:
- Provide employment opportunity to youth groups within target villages
- Restore forest using native trees
- Increase forest resilience to climate change and increase biodiversity values in restored areas.
Marine Conservation
Past Project
Facilitating Community Engagement in the Management of Crown of Thorns (COTs) Outbreaks.
This project armed local communities with the knowledge to control the alamea, Crown of Thorns Starfish. SCS partnered with the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) and the Division of Environment and Conservation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) to run a Community Alamea Assistance Workshop in Apia at the Fisheries Division, MAF training room.
This project aimed to:
- Provide a synthesis of up-to-date of COTS ecology, biology, management options and health and safety
- Generate fact sheet on COTS and Removal Manual in Samoan & English.
Terrestrial Conservation
Current Project
Working to save Samoa’s Manumea.
This project focuses on the endangered Manumea by developing effective pest control and restoration plans thereby allowing the endangered Manumea and other bird species to breed successfully. The SCS will also facilitate training, so these methods can be implemented in other key sites where the Manumea breeds.
This projects aims to:
- Facilitate the control of rats in Malololelei Reserve.
Past Projects
Development of Conservation Action Plan for the Manumea.
This project targeted the endangered Manumea by preserving native forest which contains a rich flora and fauna native species therefore, contributing to the conservation of biological biodiversity (CBD). By contributing to the CBD, the SCS increased the sustainable use of components of biological diversity and reducing the hunting pressure on the Manumea by work with local communities. For this project the SCS collaborated Ministry of Natural Resource & Environment (MNRE).
This project aimed to:
- Conduct a community engagement survey on both Savaii and Upolu
- Monitored of areas the Manumea occupies
- Successful deployment of a large sound recorder survey that spanned both Upolu and Savaii to determine the presence of the Manumea and other ecological data
- Enhance the capacity of Samoa Conservation Society.
Development of Community Conservation Areas (CCA’s) and Matautu Watershed Restoration Plan.
This project developed an operational plan for the restoration of the Matautu watershed on Savaii over a five year period 2017-2021. This plan was developed for the Matautu District Water Committee (MDWC) and the Foresty Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmnet (MNRE) in collaboration with MNRE and MDWC.
This project aimed to:
- Establish two CCA’s in Savaii – Taga & Gataivai
- Develop a restoration plan for the Matautu Watershed Area.
Awareness & Advocacy
Current Project
Guardians Campaign.
This two-year campaign facilitates educational programmes with local children in different communities throughout Samoa. The five key environmental modules covers issues facing local communities while disseminating important environmental knowledge, key to maintaining sustainable lifestyles. The modules that will be facilitated by local educators are Trash Star, Coral Champion, Tree Champion, Wise Fisher and Samoan and Cultural Voyager. The collaborative group comprises of Samoa Voyaging Society, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE), Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development (MWCSD), Youth Climate Action Network Samoa (YCAN), National University of Samoa (NUS), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Ministry of Education Sports and Culture (MESC), Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), and the United National Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.
The project aims to:
- Increase awareness through workshops at Aleipata and Aiga o le Tai
- Samoa Conservation Society will take the lead on terrestrial modules of the project.
Manumea Protection Campaign.
This ongoing campaign kicked off with a 3 day workshop held at the MNRE offices in Apia, supported by the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund. The workshops included participants from MNRE, SCS and SPREP, civil society and community groups who are committed to work together to protect the Manumea.
The primary objective of this workshop was to develop a draft strategy for a campaign to reduce the impact of hunting on Samoa’s native pigeon.
The project aims to:
- Enable participants to understand the human impact on the Manumea
- Discuss lessons from previous and ongoing efforts to protect the Manumea
- Develop core principles for effective behaviour change campaigns
- Discuss processes for developing, implementing and evaluating an effective behaviour change campaign.
Links:
BBC World News story on the Manumea
Past Project
Awareness Workshop for PEW Project – Shark Awareness.
This project aimed to:
- Conduct awareness workshops in 6 villages across Upolu and Savaii
- Conduct a perception survey to assess impact of workshops.
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