Appendix 6

PRESENTATION OF AGENCIES' PROGRAMMES IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC³

- Australia AID (AusAID)

- Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)

- Institute for Research, Extension and Training in Agriculture/School of Agriculture (IRETA/SOA)

- International Board for Soil Research and Management (IBSRAM)

- International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR)

- South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC)

- South Pacific Commission (SPC)

- South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA)

- South Pacific Forum Secretariat (SPFS)

- South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)

- Systems Caribbean

- UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

- University of the South Pacific (USP)

- World Health Organization (WHO)

AUSAID'S PROGRAMME IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC IN FISHERIES, FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURE

(Dereck Rooken-Smith)

Australia recognizes that the Pacific's natural resource base is both fragile and limited. Australia's AID programme is aimed at enabling the people of the Pacific to develop their resources without doing irreparable harm to the environment. Australia's commitment to assisting the people of the Pacific develop their resources in a sustainable fashion is underlined by the fact that the Government has allocated approximately 130 million Australian dollars to the Region in 1995-96. This is additional to the 325 million Australian dollars allocated to Australia's bilateral development cooperation with Papua New Guinea.

I would now like to speak in a little more detail about some of the areas where Australian assistance is helping the people of the Pacific to manage their fisheries and their agricultural and forestry resources.

Fisheries

By any measure fisheries constitute one of the Region's most valuable resources. Nearly one third of the world's marine resources are found in the Pacific and while many of the island States have limited opportunities for land-based development, each of them has economic control of vast ocean areas. The potential for economic development in this area is clear. For this potential to be realized the Pacific island countries need to develop their capability to survey, assess, harvest and manage access to their marine resources. The challenge for the countries of the Pacific is to develop sustainable management arrangements for fisheries which address the risks of over exploitation while improving economic returns.

Australia has consistently advocated initiatives to assist regional nations to manage their fisheries on a more sustainable basis. Australia has also supported a number of regional programmes for fisheries management - particularly the Forum Fisheries Agency and the South Pacific Commission fisheries programme - as well as funding several bilateral projects focused on development in the fisheries sector. The fisheries training project, run through the South Pacific Commission, is one example. This project conducts and coordinates, on a regional level, training in the fishing industry including: training in modern fishing techniques, the completion of a regular fishing bulletin, a "train the trainers" programme and the distribution of safety information. Australia is also working to build the capacity of Pacific island nations to improve the value of their fisheries resources. One example of this is an AusAID pilot project in dried fish production and export marketing on the atolls of Naumea and Nukufetu in Tuvalu.

Forestry

We are all aware of the challenges facing the forestry sector in the Pacific. Any degradation of forest resources, particularly in small island States has far reaching implications for other areas of land and coastal zone management. Poor forestry practices have the potential to damage agricultural areas as well as estuarine environments and coral reefs, all of which have their own importance to the regional economy.

Australia supports forestry activities in the Pacific provided that they are sustainable in terms of level of exploitation and purpose.

Through the South Pacific Forum, the Region has recognized the importance of appropriate logging practices with the adoption of a regional Code of Conduct. Australia has been supportive of these regional efforts. I would like to provide a few examples of the type of work that has been undertaken through the AID programme, to assist the countries of the Pacific to manage their forest resources in a sustainable way.

In Fiji, the Forest Resource and Tactical Planning project provides a practical and effective process for preparing environmentally sound "coupe level" cutting plans, establishing hardwood plantation and harvesting plans for larger areas. This project also seeks to enhance skills within the Department of Forests to implement these processes. It includes: the development of new timber harvesting practices which reduce adverse environmental impact; the protection of areas sensitive to weather vagaries as well as areas of archaeological significance; and funding for training Pacific island countries forestry workers.

In Vanuatu, the Sustainable Forest Utilization project aims to sustain forest utilization through better forest management planning, minimizing the environmental impact of logging operations, maximizing returns to resource owners and government, and optimizing participation in harvesting and processing.

These projects are illustrative of the kind of activities that Australia is undertaking in the Pacific to assist countries to manage and maintain their forests. More detail can be found in the attached table.

Agriculture

Australian assistance to the Pacific is also aimed at developing regional capacity in sustainable agriculture. Among the main threats to agriculture production are the impact of natural disasters, disease and general environmental degradation.

Australia is working in a number of areas to assist the agricultural sector in the Pacific.

In Samoa, the Farming Systems project aims at creating increased rural opportunity and income through improved and sustainable farm production as well as developing economically viable crops for production by the farming community with ecologically sustainable farming systems. The project also aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the social, economic and physical farm environment by farmers, particularly in relation to crop diversification and plant diseases.

In Fiji, the Soil Crop Evaluation project aims to contribute to self sufficiency in food crops and an increase in export earnings, by defining crop nutrient requirements, on the soils suitable for sustainable cropping systems. The project also contributes to institutional development, by strengthening the Government's capability to undertake appropriate farmer-driven research in agronomy and technology transfer from research to the farmer. The project will determine the fertilizer needs of some major crops suitable for sustained cropping in Fiji.

At a regional level, Australia is also working to train people in the use of tree legumes in agricultural systems by providing a training course comprising a series of lectures, demonstrations and practical classes at the University of Queensland. This will be followed by field visits to research stations and commercial properties across Queensland. The aim of the course is to expose participants to the latest information on the potential for increasing the use of tree legumes in agricultural systems, to review their environmental adaptation, and to examine their role in animal production, soil fertility improvement and erosion control.

Australia funds numerous other regional activities and is the major funding agency for the UNDP/SPC/AusAID regional fruit fly programme and has contributed regularly to the FAO/UNDP South Pacific Forestry Development Programme. AusAID is funding the capital works programme for the Alafua Campus of the University of the South Pacific. These facilities, costing approximately 3.6 million Australian dollars, are now almost complete, and will represent a major step forward for agricultural education in the South Pacific.

The Australian Center for International Agricultural Research, which has an annual budget of 30 million Australian dollars, has established itself as a major centre of excellence in the field of agricultural research in the South Pacific and has a broad and diversified programme of activities in the Region.

Concluding remarks

This is not a comprehensive list of the natural resource management activities which the Australian Government is undertaking in the Pacific. There are many others. The examples given here do, however, give you a sense of the Government's priorities and objectives in its Pacific AID programmes.

While Australia remains committed to the Pacific Region, I should emphasise that decisions have not yet been taken on aid funding levels for the next financial year, nor on specific sectoral priorities of project funding. Hence our capacity to take on new project commitments across the AID programme is not known at this stage of the budget cycle. Nevertheless, this meeting will provide a very useful opportunity for us to receive feedback from the Region on new priorities and directions in natural resource management, and to obtain advance notice of the kind of projects where Australian assistance may be sought in the near future.

Selected AusAID Natural Resource Management Activities in the Pacific

3 The presentation compiled in this appendix are those given in written form to the Secretariat. It is to be noted that UNDP's presentation was not made available in written form.