Conserving Our Coastal Environment: Conservation of Marine Ecosystems in Samoa'

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Conserving Our Coastal Environment Conservation
of Marine Ecosystems in Samoa.

• Status, Challenges Strategies.
• Malaki Iakopo
• Division of Environment and Conservation,
  Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,
  Samoa

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• INTRODUCTION
• The Samoan Islands
• Samoa is a small island nation in the South West
  Pacific.
• 2 main islands Upolu and Savaii.
• Smallest EEZ in the world 120,000 km2

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• PRESENTATION
• - Importance of coastal ecosystems
• - Status of coastal ecosystems in Samoa
• Corals and Coral reefs
• Mangrove Areas
• Seagrass beds and marine algae
• - Threats to coastal ecosystems
• - Conservation strategies and initiatives

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• IMPORTANCE OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS
• The marine environment plays a vital role in the
  daily sustenance of the Samoan people.
• Food source major source of protein.
• Income local income as well as a foreign
  exchange earner.
• Traditional use building materials, medicinal
  values, firewood, thatching.

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• Food source and income

Clams and fish being sold at the fish market.
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STATUS OF COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS IN SAMOA

• i Corals and coral reefs.
• ii Mangrove areas
• iii Seagrass beds

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• i Corals and coral reefs
• - Little is known of the diversity of coral
  species
• Coral reefs of Samoa are limited and fringing in
  nature
• At least 45 species among 14 families are
  identified
• Support fisheries and diverse ornamental species.
  
• Provide materials for medicine and construction.
• Coastal shoreline protection.

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• Status cont
• Coral reefs of Samoa has been
• Severely impacted by anthropogenic factors and
  natural disasters.
• Disastrous events
• 1970s significant outbreak of Crown of thorns
  starfish (Acanthaster planci)
• 1987 Cyclone Tusi
• 1990 Cyclone Ofa

Crown of thorns feeding on a coral
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• Status cont
• 1991 Cyclone Val
• 1994 Mass coral bleaching throughout the
  country
• 1996 Reef fronts recovered significantly from
  these natural calamities (Green, 1996)
• 1997 1998 Further coral bleaching
• 1999 Major petroleum leak in the main harbor
  area (kerosene) and the effects is still unknown

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• Status cont
• 2004 Cyclone Heta
• Despite these disastrous event coral reefs of
  Samoa remain in exceptionally good condition.
• Recently human impacts on corals and coral
  reefs has increased.
• Over exploitation, destructive fishing methods,
  pollution, sedimentation etc have threatened the
  livelihood and the recovery of coral reefs from
  natural disasters.

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• ii Mangroves
• - 3 species found in Samoa
• (1) Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove)
• (2) Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (oriental mangrove)
• (3) Xylocarpus moluccensis

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• Mangroves of Samoa cont
• - Limited distribution confined to the 2 main
  islands covering 10km2.
• - Occur along tidal inlets, at river mouths or as
  narrow fringes along sheltered muddy and sandy
  shores, with protection from intensive wave
  actions.
• - Vaiusu Bay mangle is considered to be the
  largest mangrove stand in eastern Polynesia
  (Annon, 1991).
• Support fisheries and some threatened fish
  species such as mullets and groupers. Stabilise
  shorelines and protect the delicate reefs and
  lagoon ecosystems. Provide materials for medicine
  and construction.

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• Status
• - Mangrove area has declines significantly in
  recent decades ? human impacts
• Natural disasters like cyclones and flooding are
  frequent, but only cause minimal damage to forest
  canopy and seaward forest edges exposed to waves.
  
• - Mangroves recover quickly after natural
  disasters in the absence of human influences.
• - Coastal development and urbanization have seen
  much of the mangrove wetlands being filled in and
  reclaimed.

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• iii Seagrass beds and marine algae
• - Seagrasses marine algae play an important
  role as primary producers and an important
  habitat.
• - 2 species of seagrass
• Halophila ovalis and Syringgodium isoetifolium
• - 198 species of marine algae initially.
  Further research identified 82 new records bring
  the total to 280 species.
• - Distribution of seagrasses is very limited
  throughout the country.

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• THREATS TO COSTAL ECOSYSTEMS
• OF SAMOA
• Threats to coastal ecosystems and the inshore
  environment of Samoa have increased significantly
  in the past several decades. Not only are these
  important areas prone to frequent natural
  catastrophes but they also face increasing
  pressures from human activities.

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• Threats
• 1. Over harvesting and destructive fishing
  methods.
• - Explosive dynamites and poisonous
• chemicals used by locals to stun fish
• species rendering them easy to catch
• has destroyed the marine environment
• and poison ecosystems such as coral
• reefs.
• - Over-harvesting has also caused the decline in
  population numbers of many inshore fish species.
• - Fishing nets with small mesh sizes tend to
  catch juvenile fish important for species
  recruitment

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• Threats
• 2. Pollution
• Steady replacement of corals by algae.
• Direct disposal of household and
• industrial wastes into the
• ecosystems.
• - Poisonous chemicals runoff into
• the marine environment.
• Eg. Agricultural
• (insecticides/pesticides) and
• industrial chemicals.

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• Threats
• 3. Urbanization and reclamation

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• Threats
• 4. Sedimentation and coastal development

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• Threats
• Other important threats
• Tourism industry poor planning careless
  tourists beach development species removal
• Lack of public awareness and education, leading
  into misinformation and negative attitudes
  towards important coastal ecosystems.
• Lack of effective legislations and enforcement of
  existing laws.
• Destructive introduced animals eg. Pigs and
  cattle farms.

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• CONSERVATION STRATEGIES AND INITIATIVES
• Marine Reserves and conservation areas
• Samoa-Marine Biodiversity Protection and
  Management Project
• Village Extension Program
• Monitoring Programs
• Legislation
• Ecotourism

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• 1. Marine Reserves and conservation areas
• a) The Palolo Deep Coral Reef Reserve
• - Proclaimed in 1979 one of the 1st marine
  reserve established in the South-west pacific
  region.
• - Includes a fringing reef, a lagoon, an area of
  outer reef slope and deeper water offshore
• - A thriving and diverse coral reef conserving a
  good variety of habitats. It serves the
  surrounding reefs as an important source of
  recruitment for fish stocks and the
  re-establishment of marine life after cyclones.

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• Marine Reserves and conservation areas cont
• b) Saanapu-Sataoa Mangrove Reserve
• Situated on the south coast of Upolu.
• Scenic estuary and one the largest and best
  quality mangrove forest in the whole country.
• Recreational activities available such as
  canoeing, bird watching and others offer an
  income to the village.
• Jointly managed by the Division of Environment
  and Conservation and the local community.

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• 2. Samoa-Marine Biodiversity Protection and
  Management Project
• Started in 2000, focusing on empowering local
  communities to conserve the marine environment
  and use resources is a sustainable manner.
• Involves 2 large districts (Aleipata and Safata)
  with 20 villages) with the hope of expanding
  once the framework is successful.
• - Compact destructive fishing practices,
  reserving areas to regenerate marine life and
  making practical plans that can best coordinate
  their districts coastal marine resources.

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• 2. Samoa-Marine Biodiversity Protection and
  Management Project cont
• How?
• - The 2 districts designate their marine
  environments as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
  The MPAs for each district covers the coastal
  lengths of their respective villages lands and
  some seaward widths which for Aleipata extends a
  half mile seaward from the edge of the reef
  enclosing its offshore islands, and for Safata a
  mile seaward from its reef.
• - Each village within the district has a
  no-take-zone within the MPA, where removal of
  anything and working within them is forbidden.
  No-take-zones in each districts make up at least
  10 of the total MPA area.

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• 2. Samoa-Marine Biodiversity Protection and
  Management Project cont
• Aleipata MPA and no-take-zones
• -MPA total area 19.44 sq miles

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• 2. Samoa-Marine Biodiversity Protection and
  Management Project cont
• Safata MPA and no-take-zones
• -MPA total area 24.4 sq miles

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• Management
• - A district committee is the decision making
  body of each MPA.
• - Each district has a district committee
  consisting of 1 high talking matai (chief) from
  each participating village involving the village
  chief council system.
• - Each district has developed a MPA Management
  Plan, 2002-2006 to guide the development and
  activities of the MPAs.
• - Technical assistance provided by the DEC FD.
  Funding by the IUCN (The World Conservation
  Union) and The World Bank through a grant from
  the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

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• 3. The Village Extension Program
• This program is similar to the Samoa-Marine
  Biodiversity Protection and Management Project
  but at a much smaller scale.
• Is a community-focused fisheries project, which
  encourages villages to define key problems,
  discuss causes, propose solutions and take
  appropriate actions.
• Working groups include various village groups and
  the fisheries and conservation staff.
• Undertakings for this program include
• Establishment of a fish reserve as a conservation
  and management measure
• The formulation of by-laws to enforce national
  fisheries laws and regulations

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Samoa Marine Biodiversity Protection and
Management Project (MPA)
Village Extension Program
Orange buoys marking no-take-zones
Stakes marking a Fisheries Reserve
Marine officer explaining how to fill in
monitoring forms, to village participants
Stakes marking a Fisheries Reserve
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• 4. Monitoring Programs
• a) Village level coral reef monitoring project
• - Started in 1998. Fisheries Division, Division
  of Environment and Conservation and the
  International Ocean Institute.
• - Provided monitoring equipment and staff
  training. In turn the staff trained members from
  coastal communities on techniques to monitor
  their own marine protected areas.
• b) Fisheries Division monitoring programs.
• - Monitor and survey reef areas which are already
  or pending to be made into protected areas.
• - Provides technical advise to local communities
  on best areas to be made reserves and other
  important information

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• c) Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network-node for
  the South-central Pacific.
• Based under the Fisheries Division
• Assist in monitoring the status of Samoas coral
  reefs
• Data collected will feed directly into the Node
  Centre coordinated by the International Ocean
  Institute

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• CONCLUSION.
• - Very little is known about the biodiversity of
  Samoas costal ecosystems eg. Coral reefs and
  seagrasses
• - Despite frequent natural disasters, coastal
  ecosystems of Samoa are considered to be in
  fairly good conditions. However the increasing
  threats posed by human activities is a huge
  concern ? hinder recovery clearance.
• - Conservation efforts are currently being
  addressed through two different initiatives
  between two different government ministries.
  These initiatives need to share successes and
  fallbacks to achieve maximum success.

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• - Monitoring activities should also be encouraged
  together with village participants.
• - The chief council system should be included in
  conservation efforts to fully incorporate and
  enforce laws alongside traditional village laws.
• - Long-term funding should be secured as well as
  required equipments. Currently there is a lack in
  resources to carry out monitoring and pollution
  tests.

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• - The Government should
• declare necessary national reserves
• implement/enforce specific legislations to
  prevent harmful activities that influence the
  marine environment
• environment impact assessments (compulsory)
• The Government of Samoa has identified
  conservation and sustainable use of coastal
  ecosystems and wise coastal management as a key
  priority for coastal communities. Thus much
  effort has gone into improving conservation
  practices with priority being placed into
  involving village members and the chief council
  system.

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FAAFETAI TELE LAVATHANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND
ATTENTION