SAMOA'S ALIGNED NATIONAL ACTION PROGRAMME TO COMBAT LAND DEGRADATION AND MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF DROUGHT 2015 - 2020 Samoa's Aligned NAP to the UNCCD's Ten Year Strategy 2008 - 2018 Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment SAMOA'S NATIONAL PROGRAMME OF ACTION TO COMBAT LAND DEGRADATION AND TO MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF DROUGHT 2015 - 2020 © Copyright: Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment 2015. 2 Foreword Our land is one of the most important building materials of our economic development and social well-being. "Without land what else is there?" is a very poignant reminder of how important land is to everyone. It is our rightful inheritance from our ancestors. Without land we have nowhere to build, farm and live. The threat of a predicted sea level rise in this century which can inundate large swathes of the low-lying coastal areas of our islands, where about seventy percent (70%) of our population resides, underpins how priceless lands will become if such a near future outlook becomes a reality. But even if this will not happen, the growing pressures of our development activities is causing critical declines in the quality of our land resources such as freshwater, wildlife, ecological services and arable lands for agriculture and food production. Growing populations means more settlements and service infrastructures to occupy and utilize more of our remaining lands and land resources. However land like every other environmental resource is finite, fragile and highly vulnerable to development pressures and the growing impacts of climate change. Without effective planning and responsible management today, we will quickly run out of livable space and sufficient land resources to sustain our country's development. It is crucial therefore to take care of our limited lands and ensure the security of our land resources for the needs of the present and future generations. It is a must to have reasonable and practical national plans to address and mitigate all forms of pressure that are degrading our land resources and to build the resilience of our land based ecosystems against the adverse impacts of climate change and globalization. This National Action Programme to combat Land Degradation and mitigate the Effects of Droughts or the NAP therefore was precisely formulated with the above stated objectives in mind. The NAP was first formulated and implemented from 2006. It was Samoa's overarching conceptual policy framework for the implementation of the land-related Multilateral Environmental Agreement (MEA) thus known the United Nations' Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Land Degradation and, to mitigate the Effects of Drought. The establishment of the first formal plan for the systematic implementation of the UNCCD, the Convention's Ten Year Strategy 2008-2018 (10YS), requires the alignment of the country parties' NAPs or equivalents, to this Convention Strategy. The current NAP therefore updates and align Samoa's NAP 2006 with the 10YS. As such, the current or the new Aligned NAP 2015 has become more focused and targeted to the two strategic objectives of the 10YS; (i) improving the living conditions of populations and (ii) improving the conditions of ecosystems that are highly affected by the causes and effects of land degradation and droughts (LDD). Addressing these issues requires 3 action in five key operational objectives or themes of awareness and advocacy, policy frameworks, science and technology, capacity building and financing. The aligned NAP was formulated through a series of consultations that were held from November of 2014 to July of 2015 with national organizations of the government, civil society and village communities. It thus reflects a public mandate from our people, their institutions and communities to commit to activities that will protect, rehabilitate and improve the productive and ecological potentials of our land resources and consequently improve the conditions of the livelihoods and well-being of our affected communities. It essentially therefore sets out the lines of actions for everyone to participate in and collectively become responsible with the effective management and sustainable use of our land resources. I am very happy therefore to commend this NAP to your thoughtful study and meaningful commitment to the implementation of this Aligned National Action Programme to the UNCCD Ten Year Strategy 2008-2018, in the next five years 2015-2020. With Assurances of our Highest regards, Afioga Fa'amoetauloa Lealaiauloto Dr. Fa'ale Tumaali'i HONORABLE MINISTER Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment (MNRE), Scientific Research Organization of Samoa (SROS) & Samoa Trust Estate Corporation (STEC) 4 Preface Samoa's Aligned National Action Programme (NAP) to combat Land Degradation and mitigate the Effects of Droughts 2015-2020 is the over-arching conceptual environmental policy and planning framework for guiding its implementation of and meeting its obligations to the United Nations Convention to combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Land Degradation and to mitigate the Effects of Droughts. The NAP was first developed and formally launched in 2006. In a simplified sense, the NAP addresses the causes and effects of land degradation events such as erosion, flooding, landslide, compaction, contamination and the decline in the quality of ecological services provided by land-based or soil-based ecosystems. The NAP also addresses the effects of droughts in a proactive manner through building the capacities of communities and ecosystems to become more resilience to the effects of droughts. The current NAP has the main mandate as the NAP 2006, but it is more targeted in terms of its strategic and operational focus. It aims to address land degradation and drought issues in the most vulnerable and affected populations and ecosystems of the country, through programs of action in five areas of individual, institutional and systemic operations: awareness, policy framework, science and technology, capacity building and financing. The action programmes of the NAP 2006 have generally been small-scale pilot demonstrations of approaches for the restoration, rehabilitation and building of the resilience of selected land areas and ecosystems that have been degraded and affected and/or are highly vulnerable to the occurrence of land degradation and droughts. The current NAP is a phenomenal step forward from the last NAP of 2006 as it aims at big-time upscale projects nationally with the intention to replicate valuable learning and experiences gained from these demonstrations in more clustered affected communities and ecosystems throughout the country. The current NAP is also aligned to the provisions of the UNCCD's Ten Year Strategy 2008 -2018. In that sense it aspires to meet Samoa's contribution to the global targets for the implementation of the UNCCD under the current Ten Year Strategy. The UNCCD together with the UNFCCC and the UNCBD are the three Conventions signed at the First Earth Summit on the Environment and Sustainable Development in 1992 or commonly known as the first UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 (UNCED 1992) that was held in Rio de Jenairo, BRAZIL. The three, since the UNCED 1992, became popularly known as the ‘Rio Conventions’. The national policy frameworks for the other two Conventions are Samoa's National Adaptation Programme of Action to Climate Change or the NAPA and Samoa's National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Programme or NBSAP. Thus the NAP, the NAPA and the NBSAP are the foremost environmental policy and planning frameworks for addressing our country's land, climate change and biodiversity issues and priorities. There are also frameworks for waste and pollution, water resources, and other key aspects of the country's environmental work. The NAP therefore complements the programmes under the NAPA for instance which targeted the communities and ecosystems of the country that are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate 5 change and programmes under the NBSAP which target key biodiversity areas or indigenous ecosystems and habitats of the highest priority in the country for conservation and sustainable development. While in most cases it will engage the same areas and issues of work under the NAPA, the NBSAP and other environmental policy and planning frameworks, the NAP does contribute in some other unique aspects of environmental action. For instance it deals with the three types of land ownership systems in the country - customary, freehold and state land tenure systems - which govern the decision making processes for the choices and options for the development and management of the country's land resources. It brings into focus the importance of the soil quality and the geological aspects of the country's environment which are yet to achieve a level of appreciation similar or comparable to the high level of priority and mainstreaming that has been achieved in climate change and biodiversity issues. A good understanding of how the various environmental frameworks operate individually and collectively for the conservation, protection, adaptation and sustainable use of Samoa's environment and natural resources is very crucial to the development of a balance and harmonious participation and commitment of our people and communities to these programmes. The Government has established an integrated approach for all environmental policy frameworks to build this understanding and increase a more balance and coordinated implementation of the country's