Island Reach Project Coordinator Ronneth John has been accepted to attend a regional conservation training course on Community-based Conservation and Adaptive Management. Ronneth's acceptance is based on his long-time commitment to conservation and his proposal to work with IR to reach remote communities throughout Vanuatu were he can provide leadership and the transfer of skills and knowledge to these communities.
The aim of this 3 phase program is to build and improve the capacity of conservation practitioners, like Ronneth, to achieve widespread natural resource management and sustainable community livelihoods among Pacific Small Island Developing States. The course is a result of a collaboration of multiple agencies and organizations, including the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the University of the South Pacific, and with principal funding from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. The program will take Ronneth to Solomon Islands for a 4 week training in April, after which he'll join us aboard Llyr to implement his project work in central and northern Vanuatu for 4 months, and then he'll return to Honiara for a 3 week period of review, reflection, and reporting, as well as additional training.
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Live & Learn Vanuatu has released their report on Water Security in the Shepherd Group which Island Reach was instrumental in helping prepare. In 2014Island Reach delivered and assisted with the installation of the water catchment system and then we returned, post-cyclone, in 2015, to learn about the effects of the cyclone and the building El Nino. Our two videos are featured in this report.
Learn more at this link: Water Security, Shepherd Group Islands, Live & Learn Vanuatu In December, Island Reach Project Coordinators Willie and Ronneth flew north to Malekula Island to continue working with communities we'd visited aboard RV Llyr earlier in the year. They had a busy couple of weeks working with members of the recently established Napi Nata Lili Environment Network in the NW and the Malamap Netan Netas network in the SE, setting up management committees and developing management plans for their conservation activities. December is also turtle nesting time in Vanuatu, and the team worked with communities in western Malekula, known as the "Turtle Coast," surveying nesting sites, tagging females, relocating nests jeopardized by coastal erosion, and building fences to protect nests from dogs. In all, they counted 83 nests!
In the SE, they surveyed reefs, counting key fish species and percentage of live coral, comparing these in the conserved areas with those in the open areas. They held several community meetings to present their findings and holding small group discussions to consider advantages and disadvantages, and opportunities and threats related to these conserved marine areas. It was an exciting couples of weeks for the Island Reach team and we're all looking forward to returning later this year. Meanwhile, Willie and Ronneth are preparing for their next IR expedition to the far north, remote Bank Islands in late January. Aqualung USA has generously expanded their support of Island Reach this season and they are sending us 43 adult wet suits along with gloves and boots for the Vanua-tai as well as over 100+ youth snorkel packs for reef education activities in remote villages! Thanks Aqualung, the historic Cousteau partner and "First to Dive"!
Our partner, Mission Blue, an initiative of the Sylvia Earle Alliance, has shared a feature on their website about Island Reach. Check it out by clicking here.
Cyclone Pam and now El Nino have brought a humanitarian and environmental crisis to Vanuatu. In this new brief video, Island Reach brings the personal stories of the people of Buninga Island who are now experiencing a severe shortage of water. Produced for Live & Learn Vanuatu (LLV) as a follow-up to our collaboration in 2014 in which Island Reach transported and helped install rainwater catchments for Buninga Islanders, this video was produced along with a written report which considers lessons learned and ways forward.
This month, Island Reach, working with LLV, helped support a delivery of 18,000 liters of water to Buninga by local NGO Wita Aid which is providing relief throughout the Shepherds Group aboard a barge equipped with a water desalinator. If you'd like to learn more, be in touch with us at www.islandreach.org Watch the video here. The significant El Nino underway is bringing a severe drought to Vanuatu. The majority of communities rely on rainwater collection for water security. New plantings made after crops were destroyed by Cyclone Pam are struggling to grow. Malnutrition is rising, especially among children. Food relief typically comes in the form of white rice, packaged noodles, and tinned fish, which fails to nourish children adequately. In the long run, these foods also contribute to the erosion of a healthy, traditional diet. See also this article below from Australian news, ABC. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-03/young-children-hardest-hit-in-vanuatu-drought-driven-by-el-nino/6906560
IR Project Coordinators Willy and Ronneth are busy in Vanuatu with coral gardening projects on Efate and writing a Community Conservation Management (CCA) Plan for Lelepa Island. Ronneth is also planning on heading to Buninga Island to support new Vanua-tai monitor and Area Secretary, Wilson Andrew. Buninga is now facing severe a severe water shortage due to the El Nino. Willie and Ronneth are also preparing materials for two major IR expeditions: one to Western Malekula in November where they will be following up on activities featured in the Trainers of Trainers video, including network building, CCA development at two sites, as well as turtle tagging with Vanua-tai Coordinator, Donald James. (In Vanuatu, Western Malekula is called “The Turtle Coast”.)
In January 2016 they'll head to the northern province of Torba and the Banks Islands where they meet Vanua-tai Alfonse and Sofie (also in the video) to begin building a Vanua-tai network and CCA system in that remote island cluster. These expeditions are also advance preparations for these communities for IR's visits aboard RV Llyr during the 2016 expeditions. IR is seeking funds to support Willy and Ronneth on expedition. Our costs include air and boat transport, and gear including a tent, headlamps and a decent waterproof point&shoot camera for field documentation. To lend a hand please make a targeted donation to Island Reach here to support these activities and expeditions. We have a shipment underway from the US to IR Project Coordinators, Willie and Ronneth. We’re sending them portable netbook computers and cellphones that will allow them to communicate with us from their remote islands via email and to write CCA management plans in the field! Currently they must make a long trip into the capital, Port Vila by boat and truck to get to internet and it costs them US$20 round trip plus internet fees. The costs for these materials and delivery runs around US$600. Please make a donation to support this action.
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