THE SOUTH PACIFIC BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION PROGRAMME PROJECT PREPARATION DOCUMENT March 1995 THE SAANAPU/SATAOA CONSERVATION AREA PROJECT THE DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT OF LANDS SURVEYS AND ENVIRONMENT APIA WESTERN SAMOA EDITOR'S NOTE A first draft of this Project Preparation Document was submitted to the 2nd meeting of the TMAG in August 1994. That draft had been prepared with the assistance of SPBCP consultants as part of a trial process leading to the production of new User Guidelines for SPBCP. It was well received at the meeting with specific comments limited to the questions of inadequate community consultation and inadequate focus on conservation problems. These were to be addressed in this final draft. In preparing a final draft addressing these concerns, I felt that we had a choice between editing our existing draft as formatted by the consultants or re-drafting to fit into the new Guidelines. We have compromised to the extent that the introductory and background sections Parts A and B (1.0 - 7.0) are in the first draft format, but the more critical project detail Part C (8.0 onwards) has been re-written in the new format. The process of re-writing has also helped local staff to increase 'ownership' of the PPD. David Butler Biodiversity Adviser Division of Environment and Conservation. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART A INTRODUCTION 1 .................................................... Background ......................................................... 1 2 .................................................. Introduction ......................................................... 1 PART B THE EXISTING SITUATION .............................. 2 3Natural Features and Resource Base of the CAP ......................................................... 2 3.1 Location, Land Area and Access ...................... 2 3.2 Climate............................................. 2 3.3 Topography and Soils ................................ 3 3.4 Water Resources..................................... 3 3.4.1 The Coastline and Estuary ................. 3 3.4.2 Fresh Water Resources..................... 4 3.5 Vegetation and Land Use ............................. 4 3.5.1 Native and Introduced Forest Resources .... 4 3.5.2 Agricultural Land Use..................... 5 3.6 Wildlife............................................ 6 3.6.1 Bird Life................................. 6 3.6.2 Non Fishery Marine........................ 6 3.7 The Fisheries....................................... 6 3.7.1 Mangrove/estuary .......................... 6 3.7.2 Lagoon/reef ............................... 6 3.7.3 Ocean ..................................... 7 3.8 CAP Ecosystems and Threats .......................... 8 4. Community Features....................................... 8 4.1 Settlement Pattern.................................. 8 4.2 The Population and its Features ..................... 9 4.3 The Role of Women in the Community .................. 9 4.4 Community Sub Groups ............................... 10 4.5 Other Community Based Institutions and NGO's ....... 10 4.6 Village Government and Linkages to Other Levels .... 10 4.7 Land Tenure and Land Areas ......................... 11 5. Government, Non Government and Private Sector Support Services 5.1 Infrastructure and Social Services .................. 12 5.1.1 Roads, Water Supply, Electricity and Communications....................... 12 5.1.2 Health and Health Care ................... 12 5.1.3 Education ................................ 13 5.2 Land and Environmental Management Services ......... 13 5.2.1 The Department of Lands, Surveys and Environment (DLSE)................... 13 5.2.2 Department of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries (DAFF)..................... 14 5.2.3 Ministry of Women Affairs (MWA) .......... 15 5.2.4 O Le Siosiomaga Society (OLSS) ........... 15 5.2.5 Western Samoa Visitors Bureau (WSVB) ..... 16 5.2.6 Other Rural Support Services ............. 17 6Economic Development and Activity ........................................................ 17 6.1 Agriculture........................................ 17 6.2 Forestry........................................... 17 6.3 Tourism............................................ 18 6.4 Fishing............................................ 18 6.5 Sand Extraction.................................... 19 7 Environmental, Conservation and Land Use Policies and Programmes ......................................... 19 7.1 National Policies and Initiatives .................. 19 7.2 Local Policies and Initiatives ..................... 20 PART C RATIONALE FOR THE CONSERVATION AREA AND PROJECT DESIGN 8Project Design ........................................................ 20 8.1 Selection of the Area .............................. 20 8.2 Design Considerations .............................. 22 8.2.1 GEF and SPBCP Guidelines and TMAG Comments 23 8.2.2 Village Commitment and Village Survey .... 24 8.2.3 Local constraints ........................ 25 8.2.4 Lessons from Other Projects .............. 25 8.3 Design Summary ..................................... 26 8.4 Project Goal ....................................... 27 8.5 Project Objectives ................................. 27 8.6 Project Components ................................. 28 8.6.1 Component 1 - Project Management 29 8.6.2 Component 2 - Development of Sustainable Management Packages for Ecosystems ........... 29 Sub-component 2.1 - The Mangrove Ecosystem ........ 30 Sub-component 2.2 - The Lagoon & associated Reefs . 31 Sub-component 2.3 - The Lowlands .................. 32 Sub-component 2.4 - The Montane Forest ............ 33 8.6.3 Component 3 - Operation and Further Development of the Tourism Industry ...................... 34 8.6.4 Component 4 - Community Development 35 8.6.5 Component 5 - Community Awareness-raising and Education................................ 36 8.6.6 Component 6 - Project Promotion ............. 36 8.6.7 Component 7 - Extension of Project to Safata District..................................... 37 8.6.8 Component 8 - Transfer of Project to Local Community.................................... 37 9Phasing and Work Plan ........................................................ 39 10 Project Financing & Administration ...................... 53 10.1 Administration..................................... 53 10.2 Budget............................................. 54 11 Organisation and Management ............................. 63 12 Project Coordination.................................... 66 13 Monitoring and Evaluation ............................... 66 14 Training ................................................ 68 PART E PROJECT IMPACT 15 Project Benefits........................................ 68 16 Risks ................................................... 69 APPENDICES 1 Logical Framework....................................... 70 2Project development to date ........................................................ 81 3The Conservation Area Coordinating Committee ........................................................ 83 4Letter of Understanding ........................................................ 87 5Summary of results of the 1993 Village Survey ........................................................ 88 6Letters between Saanapu and DEC confirming commitment to conservation of the mangroves ........................... 92 7 First quarter work plan ................................. 93 8 First quarter report .................................... 98 9 Second quarter work plan ............................... 105 10 Tabular presentation of project budget ................. 112 REFERENCES TABLES Table 1 CAP Ecosystem Components and Threats to Continued Existence 2 Consistency of CAP Features with SPBCP Criteria 3 Constraints and Opportunities for the Conservation of Biodiversity and the Protection and Conservation of Land Resources in Western Samoa. FIGURES Figure 1 Location of Project Site 2 Proposed Sataoa-Saanapu Conservation Area 3 Aerial photograph of Saanapu-Sataoa Mangroves 4 Topography and Hydrology of Sataoa Bay Watershed 5 Safata Bay Catchment Area showing National Ecological Survey (NES) Key Sites 6 Terrestrial ecosystems in proposed Conservation Area 7 Safata District forest cover 1954-1990 8 Land use in proposed Conservation Area 9 Population trends in project villages Figure Acknowledgement: Several of the figures are modifications of those produced by James Atherton for his MSc Thesis (Atherton 1994) on the project. These in turn were produced from the DEC's SPBCP-funded Biodiversity Database. The permission to use and modify these figures is gratefully acknowledged. ABBREVIATIONS ASL Above sea level CA Conservation area CACC Conservation Area Coordinating Committee CAP Conservation area project CASO Conservation area project support officer DAFF Department of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries DEC Division of Environment and Conservation GOWS Government of Western Samoa LOU Letter of Understanding MWA Ministry of Women Affairs NGO Non Government Organisation OLSS O Le Siosiomaga Society PPD Project Preparation Document PWD Public Works Department SPBCP South Pacific Biodiversity Conservation Programme SPREP South Pacific Regional Environment Programme TMAG Technical and Management Advisory Group EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background and Introduction: The proposed Conservation Area is centred on an area of mangrove forest (c75 hectares) in the customary ownership of Saanapu and Sataoa villages on the south coast of Upolu. This area is one of five Grade