HOME Sustainable Land Management Programme

Sustainable Land Management Programme

  • Cook Islands,
  • Federated States of Micronesia (FSM),
  • Fiji,
  • Kiribati,
  • Nauru,
  • Niue,
  • Palau,
  • Papua New Guinea (PNG),
  • Republic of Marshall Islands,
  • Samoa,
  • Solomon Islands,
  • Tonga,
  • Tuvalu,
  • Vanuatu,
  • Pacific

ENTRY DATE: 09.03.2012 | LAST UPDATE: 09.03.2012

SCALE:

  • Sub-regional Level

TARGET AREA:

  • Rural and Urban

BEST PRACTICE IN:

  • Capacity Building

KEY SECTOR:

  • Land Use Management

FUNDING AMOUNT:

  • USD 100,001 - USD 500,000

Description of Intervention

The Pacific region may not have deserts, but many of the islands are undergoing various forms and extent of land degradation. Broadly defined, land degradation is any form of deterioration of the natural potential of land, which in turn affects ecosystems and people’s livelihoods. Changing weather patterns, increasing human populations and a host of other complex interactions between the socio-economic and bio-physical processes are giving rise to increasing rates of land degradation across the islands in the region and adversely impacting the proper functioning of ecosystems. Since time immemorial, Pacific Islanders have developed ways to use the land and marine resources with respect and in a way that ensures sustainability of bio-diversity, traditions and livelihoods. Modernisation, integration into the global economy, the quest for economic development, rising populations and a host of other factors have given rise to development and exploitation activities that are placing increasing pressures on land resources. In many cases, such development activities have also resulted in reduced levels of land productivity, loss of biodiversity, pollution and rising levels of poverty. In their submissions to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Mauritius Strategy and during participation in the UNCCD, UNCBD and UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP), Pacific Island Governments have continued to seek support from development partners to address these challenges.

Problems to be Addressed

Pacific islanders depend a lot on their land and marine resources with many people still living in and relying on the rural subsistence economy. Due to the relatively small size of the islands, any disturbances to the land can also affect the surrounding marine environment and ultimately the livelihoods of families and communities. In other arid regions of the world, land degradation and extended periods of drought usually give rise to desertification, or the creation of deserts. In the context of the tropical Pacific, land degradation would be the appropriate term to use. Land degradation is one of the main environmental concerns for most Pacific Countries, caused mainly by a number of agricultural practices, namely disc ploughing, shifting nature of agriculture combined with significantly reduced fallow periods, large-scale land clearance for export cropping of taro, and increased reliance on synthetic fertilisers/herbicides. In addition, there is lack of coordination of available land information data, reports and their integration as a resource planning tool to address optimum land functionality with due consideration to ecosystem integrity. There is a need for increased dissemination of this information to government departments and resource users in an improved/updated form, which is user-friendly and allows for rational decision making.

Aims

The programme aims to generate multiple global and local benefits by promoting SLM in 14 Pacific island countries. Often, land degradation issues are not systemically and strategically mainstreamed into national development policies and strategies, such as PRSPs, National Sustainable Development Strategy and other national development frameworks in order to achieve the MDGs. The programme aims to develop individual, institutional and systemic capacities to mainstream sustainable land management through a programmatic approach.

Objectives

To strengthen local and national capacity for sustainable land management, including mainstreaming into national development strategies and policies, improving the quality of project design and implementation, and ensuring that all relevant stakeholder views are reflected and integrated into the process

How it fits into the EbA concept

Project under implementation

Relevant Publications

Web page: Adaptation Learning Mechanism. Project Description.