Samoa’s 5th National Report 2014 A report prepared for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Drafting of Samoa’s 5th National Report: Tuaifaiva Sam Sesega Pacific Social and Environment Safeguards Consult (PSES) Final editing by: Division of Environment & Conservation (DEC) Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) Cover Photos and Photographers: Front page layout design: Samantha Kwan Ma’oma’o bird (Gymnomyza samoensis): Rebecca Stirneman Blue tiger butterfly (Tiramula hamata melitula): Czarina Stowers Flying fox (Pterobus tonganus): Czarina Stowers Manumea (Didunculus strigirostris): Moeumu Uili Clown fish (Amphiprion sp.): DEC – MNRE Orchid: Moeumu Uili Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae): Juney Ward Nudibranch (Cyerce nigricans): DEC-MNRE Mantis: Moeumu Uili Aerial photo of eastern coast of Upolu: Samantha Kwan 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION # CONTENTS PAGE No. List of Acronyms 4 Executive Summary 5 Part I An update on biodiversity status, trends, and threats 11 and implications for human well-being Q.1. Why is biodiversity important for your country? 11 Q.2. What major changes have taken place in the status and 15 trends of biodiversity in your country? Q.3. What are the main threats to biodiversity? 18 Q.4. What are the impacts of the changes in biodiversity for 22 ecosystem services and the socio-economic and cultural implications of these impacts? Part II Part II: The national biodiversity strategy and action 24 plan, its implementation, and the mainstreaming of biodiversity Q.5. What are the biodiversity targets set by your country? 24 Q.6. How has your national biodiversity strategy and action 28 plan been updated to incorporate these targets and to serve as an effective instrument to mainstream biodiversity? Q.7. What actions has your country taken to implement the 25 Convention since the fourth report and what have been the outcomes of these actions? Q.8. How effectively has biodiversity been mainstreamed into 38 relevant sectoral and cross-sectoral strategies, plans and programmes? Q.9. How fully has your national biodiversity strategy and 40 action plan been implemented? Part III Progress towards the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets 47 and contributions to the relevant 2015 Targets of the Millennium Development Goals Q.10. What progress has been made by your country towards 47 the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets? 2 Q.11. What has been the contribution of actions to implement 47 the Convention towards the achievement of the relevant 2015 targets of the Millennium Development Goals in your country? Q.12. What lessons have been learned from the implementation 49 of the Convention in your country? Annexes: Annex I – Information Concerning the Reporting party and 52 Preparation of the 5th national report Annex II – References Used 54 Annex III – Terrestrial Protected Areas 55 Annex IV – Projects and Initiatives Implemented that 56 Contribute to the Implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets Annex V – List of Legislations 57 Annex VI – Case Study 1: Access and Benefit Sharing 58 Experience – The Falealupo Covenant and R&D on Mamala, Samoa. Annex VII – Case Study 2: Inter-country collaboration: 67 Two Samoas Environmental Collaboration Initiative Annex VIII – Matrix Showing Status of Implementation of 69 NBSAP Actions 3 ACRONYMS USED: ABS Access and Benefit Sharing AusAID Australia Agency for International Development BIORAP Biodiversity Rapid Assessment Project CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CI Conservation International EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EPC Electric Power Corporation GCRMN Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network GDP Gross Domestic Product GEF Global Environment Fund GoS Government of Samoa IUCN World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature KBA Key Biodiversity Areas LMO Living Modified Organisms MNRE Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment MAF Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries MPA Marine Protected Area MSY Maximum Sustainable Yield NBSAP National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plan NESP National Environment Sector Plan NP National Park PA Protected Areas PUMA Planning Urban Management Agency TLB Taro Leaf Blight TK Traditional Knowledge RE Renewable Energy SDS Strategy for the Development of Samoa SPREP Secretariat for the Pacific Regional Environment Programme SOE State of Environment Report STA Samoa Tourism Authority STDP Samoa Tourism Development Plan 4 Executive Summary Samoa’s fifth national report to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) examines trends and changes in the country’s biodiversity and the status of NBSAP implementation since the fourth national report was submitted in 2008. The report’s format and focus1 follow those recommendedImportance byof theBiodiversity CBD Secretariat to Samoa Guidelines for the Fifth National Report for CBD parties. Biodiversity is the ecological foundation of life support systems on which Samoa exists. The diversity of its species, ecosystems and genetic information in animals, plants and microscopic life forms provide biological resources and the ecosystem services that are fundamentalColocasia to the country’s physical, social, cultural and economic well-being. For a human population where esculenta Musa spp 2 Artocarpus spp 72% of households are agriculturally active , agro-biodiversity species such as taro ( ), bananas ( ) and breadfruits ( ) are major contributors to food security, local incomes and export revenues. There is a similar dependence on marine species of fin fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and echinoderms3 as a source of dietary protein for most families and for income for 25% of all households . Many plant species are used for traditional medicines, building materials, fuel, and raw material for handicrafts, traditional canoes and many wooden implements. Of ecosystem services, forests contributes to protecting catchment areas, stabilizing erosion- prone slopes, minimizing surface run-off, sequestering and storing atmospheric carbon, regulating microclimates, and ensuring the continued recharging of underground and surface water sources for human consumption, agricultural crops, hydropower generation, and for supporting freshwater species and habitats. Bird and mammal fauna contribute to pollination processes, and seed dispersal for many native trees species. Most if not all of these services, directly contributes to Samoa’s pursuit of MDG goals of poverty eradication and environmental sustainability. The biggest threat to Samoa’s sustainable development is now widely acknowledged to be the extreme events - cyclones, flash floods and heavy rainfall events - associated with climate change. Recent experience with Cyclone Evan (2012) showed how these events set back gains in development progress made over the years, with the extensive damage and loss inflicted on physical infrastructure, crops, properties and human lives, not to mention the damage and degradation to fragile habitats and to native species, some of which were already critically endangered. And while biodiversity is among the first victims of climate change, it is also an integral part of the strategies for combating it. Healthy coral reefs, mangrove forests and coastal vegetation provide protection to coastal communities and physical assets against coastal wave surges and sea level rise. Healthy forests act as sinks and sequesters of atmospheric carbon, as wind barriers to crops and human habitation, and as anchors and stabilizers of soils against floods, excessive surface run-off and coastal erosion. The resilience of communities against extreme climate change events, and their ability to adapt to rising temperatures and sea level rise is intricately intertwine with the proper function of healthy ecosystems and species. 1 www.cbd.int/doc/nr/nr-05/NR5-Guidelines 2 Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. 2010. Agriculture Sector Plan 2011-2015. Government of Samoa. 3 Ibid. 5 Biodiversity Conservation and MDGs Samoa’s actions to implement the country’s obligations under the CBD, directly contributes to the achievement of two Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), namely the eradication of poverty and hunger, and environmental sustainability. Many actions taken to conserve and promote sustainable use of species that are threatened with depletion and local extinction, are at the same time, facilitating the replenishment of stocks of resources that local population depends on for sustenance and income. This is most visible in community based activities promoting and facilitating the conservation and sustainable use of inshore marine resources, particularly fish and shellfish, which is the main source of protein for most households and an important source of income for 25% of(C. the esculenta) households. Recent genetic improvements in taro through4 MAF’s selective breeding program have produced new high yielding and disease-resistant varieties that are now commercially produced. As an important traditional food crop, its implications for food security and the eradication of hunger and poverty are significant. Similarly, environmental sustainability is advanced as biodiversity is protected in-situ, and species diversity is enhanced such as in agriculture through selective introductions and breeding. Samoa’s increasing network of protected areas of parks and reserves, community based conservation areas and fisheries reserves, and forest areas protected