Friday 27^th May 2011, Apia - The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) together with the Governments of Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu and Niue, have launched a four year (2011-2015) project to strengthen the management of Forestry and Protected Areas. The total estimated budget for the project is USD$18m, of which USD$6.3m is direct contribution from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and USD$11.7m is co-financing contributions from implementing governments and other partner organizations.  

The Forestry and Protected Area Management (FPAM) project will aid the four countries on two fronts: enhancing the sustainable livelihoods of local communities living in and around protected areas, as well as strengthening biodiversity conservation and reducing forest and land degradation.  The project will also assist the four countries in meeting their commitments and obligations under the international and regional agreements to which they are signatory to, as well as in progressing a number of their national environmental and developmental goals.

 “It is recognized and acknowledged that there have been some good works done over the years in the area of forest and biodiversity conservation. One of the projects aim is to learn from those experiences, create partnerships and complement other on-going  work, so as  to empower our governments and communities and  build their capacities in the areas of conservation and sustainable forest and land management”, said Dr. Vili Fuavao, FAO Subregional Representative for the Pacific.

The national executing partners for the four countries are, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment for Samoa, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for Vanuatu, the Ministry of Local Government, Urban Development, Housing and Environment for Fiji and the Department of Environment for Niue.

For further information: Mr. Aru Mathias, FAO Forestry Officer, Apia, Samoa, ph no. +685 22127, email [email protected].