Report on the 2016 Funafuti Community-Based Ridge-To-Reef (R2R) Rapid Biodiversity Assessment of the Conservation Status of Biod
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Report On The 2016 Funafuti Community-Based Ridge-To-Reef (R2R) Rapid Biodiversity Assessment of the Conservation Status of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) In Tuvalu Randy Thaman, Feagaiga Penivao, Faoliu Teakau, Semese Alefaio, Lamese Saamu, Moe Saitala, Mataio Tekinene and Mile Fonua Ridge to Reef Project (R2R) Department of Environment Mnistry of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Tourism, Environment & Labour Government of Tuvalu Report On The 2016 Funafuti Community-Based Ridge-To-Reef (R2R) Rapid Biodiversity Assessment of the Conservation Status of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BES) In Tuvalu Randy Thaman, Feagaiga Penivao, Faoliu Teakau, Semese Alefaio, Lamese Saamu, Moe Saitala, Mataio Tekinene and Mile Fonua Copyright 2017 2 RAPID BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT OF THE CONSERVATION STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (BES) IN TUVALU CONTENTS SECT. PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ......................................................................................................... 5 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 7 2. THE TUVALU R2R BIORAP .................................................................................................. 8 3. BACKGROUND ON TUVALU AND FUNAFUTI ATOLL ..................................................... 11 4. RICHNESS AND THREATENED STATUS OF TUVALU’S ATOLL AND OCEAN BIODIVERSITY INHERITANCE: AN OVERVIEW .................................................. 21 5. ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AS A BASIS FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS .................. 24 6. RICHNESS AND THREATENED STATUS OF FUNAFUTI’S BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES: AN OVERVIEW OF BIORAP RESULTS ......................... 26 7. BIORAP RESULTS OF MARINE BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ......... 29 8. BIORAP RESULTS OF TERRESTRIAL BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ....................................................................................................... 48 9. MAJOR TRENDS OR CHANGES IN THE STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ....................................................................................................... 79 10. MAJOR THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ......................... 81 11. ACTIONS TO ADDRESS LOSS OF BES .............................................................................. 89 12. INDICATOR SPECIES OF CONSERVATION EFFECTIVENESS ........................................ 93 13. PRIORITY SPECIES FOR FURTHER IN-DEPTH BIODIVERSITY SURVEYS ................ 101 14. TWELVE (12) COMMANDMENTS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF ATOLL AND OCEAN BES IN TUVALU .............................................................................................. 102 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................... 105 RAPID BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT OF THE CONSERVATION STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (BES) IN TUVALU 3 4 RAPID BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT OF THE CONSERVATION STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (BES) IN TUVALU ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Funafuti BIORAP was carried out and published with support and input from many individuals, government and non-government departments, organizations and agencies, and first and foremost the input, cooperation and expertise of local communities and community leaders of Funafuti. On behalf of the Tuvalu R2R team, I first and foremost wish to thank the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of the Tuvalu Ridge to Reef (R2R) Project which led and coordinated all activities from the project inception, planning, implementation and community-based field study and consultation stages to the publication and distribution of this report. I also extend Tuvalu’s sincere gratitude to GEF for providing financial assistance to support the Tuvalu R2R Project and the Funafuti BIORAP Project, without which the Project and this very important publication would not be a reality. We also thank UNDP for their technical advice from the beginning, during and until the completion of the Project. Without all your support, we would not have been able to complete this very important report for Funafuti. Special thanks goes to each of the Island Officers of the Project and two officers from the Agriculture Department: Lopati Samasoni (Nanumea IO), Antieu Uaeleto (Nanumaga IO), Leafaga Vaiui (Niutao IO), Terokoraoi Ipitoa (Nui IO), Bailey Koulapi (Vaitupu IO), Lila Fousaga (Nukufetau IO), Aveta Vaguna (Funafuti IO), Lanumoana Nukulasi (Nukulaelae IO), Malau Akelisi (Niulakita IO), Maleko Munatuu (Agriculture Extension Officer) and Favae Lutelu (Agriculture Extension Officer) for taking their time spent conducting, filling in questionnaires and entering the data from the consultations with Island Communities on Funafuti. We also extend our gratitude to those who participated in the data verification process. Most importantly, as stressed above, we thank the local Funafuti communities and their leaders for their enthusiastic and invaluable expertise without which it would have been impossible to assess, from a local community-based perspective, the conservation status of Tuvalu’s precious, but highly threatened, plants, animals and atoll and marine ecosystems. our atoll nation’s first and last line of defense against climate change, extreme weather and tidal events and economic, cultural, health and environmental changes that are beyond our abilities to control. Without their hard work in trying to marry indigenous and local Tuvaluan knowledge, wisdom and taxonomy with modern scientific knowledge and taxonomy a truly community-based R2R BIORAP would have been an impossibility Special thanks goes to each and every one who contributed through their inputs and advice from the beginning of the Tuvalu R2R BIORAP process until the publication of this report. Special mention should be made of the hard work and dedication of the International Consultant, Randy Thaman, Emeritus Professor of Pacific Islands Biogeography of The University of the South Pacific, who facilitated and served as an integral member of our team throughout the entire Tuvalu R2R BIORAP process, culminating in this report. To those of you that we have failed to mentioned, please accept our sincere apologies. Fakafetai lasi kia koutou katoa Sincerely Mataio Tekinene Project Coordinator Department of Environment Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Tourism, Environment & Labor. RAPID BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT OF THE CONSERVATION STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (BES) IN TUVALU 5 6 RAPID BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT OF THE CONSERVATION STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (BES) IN TUVALU 1 INTRODUCTION This report presents the results of the 2016 Funafuti Community-Based Ridge-to-Reef (R2R) Rapid Biodiversity Assessment (BIORAP) of biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES), hereafter referred to as the BIORAP. In this context the Tuvaluan translation for BES is “meaola mo vaega mea aoga kia tatou i te fenua mo te tai” (literally “living things and those things that are useful to us from our land and sea. This reflects the central theme of the Tuvalu R2R Project of “Connecting People & Ecosystems to Sustain Livelihoods” and reflects the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) (2005) definition of: “the benefits people obtain from ecosystems (MEA 2005). The balance of this report on the results of the Funafuti BIORAP includes: Section 2. The methodology and rationale behind the Tuvalu R2R BIORAP. Section 3. Background on the environmental, social and economic environment of Tuvalu and Funafuti Atoll. Section 4. An overview of the richness and threatened status of Funafuti’s BES based on the BIORAP results. Section 5. Ecosystem services as a basis for sustainable livelihoods in Tuvalu Section 6. Richness and threatened status of Funafuti’s biodiversity and ecosystem services: An overview of the Funafuti BIORAP results. Section 7. BIORAP results of the status of marine biodiversity and ecosystem services Section 8. BIORAP results of the status of terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystem services. Section 9. Major trends or changes in the status of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Section 10. Major threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services Section 11. Actions to address losses of biodiversity and ecosystem services Section 12. Indicator species of conservation effectiveness Section 13. Priority species for further in-depth biodiversity surveys Section 14. Twelve commandments for the conservation of atoll and ocean BES in Tuvalu RAPID BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT OF THE CONSERVATION STATUS OF BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (BES) IN TUVALU 7 2 THE TUVALU R2R BIORAP 2.1 BIORAP Process Most BIORAPs (Rapid Biodiversity Assessments) for other Pacific Islands (e.g., the Nauru and Vava’u, Tonga BIORAPs) have been “biological inventories” conducted by consultant scientists working with local counterparts to rapidly assess the status of terrestrial, freshwater and nearshore marine biodiversity in a broad range of highly diverse terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats as a basis for recommending to “governing communities” appropriate policies and actions to address or manage threats to and protect “remaining examples of biodiversity of national or international significance” (SPREP 2013, 2014). ). Emphasis has also been placed on building capacity among local counterparts to carry our biodiversity assessments, to identify priority sites for conservation and to develop appropriate biodiversity conservation and