Strengthening provincial and national capacity for project implementation in the Solomon Islands (SB5).

Solomon Islands

$118,106

SB5 will strengthen national and provincial capacities for Project implementation in the Solomon Islands by establishing a National Facilitating Committee (NFC) to support the government in ensuring a coordinated approach to implementing measures to conserve dugongs and seagrass habitats.

Current threats to seagrass habitats in the Solomon Islands include those posed by climate change, destruction of protective mangrove barriers, sediment runoff, etc. in lagoons that coastal people depend upon for fisheries and other ecosystem services. However, insufficient information and capacity exists for coastal communities to manage lagoon fisheries that are dependent on seagrass habitats, particularly in view of proposed development that has the potential to bring a number of new stressors to the seagrass beds in the area.

The NFC will act as a coordinating agency, connecting the local-level field work and research activities at the provincial level with government ministries, namely the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM) and the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR), and other implementing partners in this area. It seeks to strengthen coordination between agencies and allow for information-sharing and reporting.

SB5 will also work to reduce poverty by developing the sustainable use and management of seagrasses as an integral part of livelihoods. This will be achieved by raising the awareness of decision-makers on the importance of seagrasses and dugongs as a flagship species. Furthermore, it will seek to promote the results and findings from all projects in the Solomon Islands and devise recommendations for improving the context and implementation of the existing legislation by mainstreaming the role of seagrasses within it.

Deliverables

1. Establish a National Facilitating Committee (NFC) to support the national government in implementing dugongs and seagrass conservation measures.
2. Issue a National Dugong and Seagrass Conservation Strategy for the reference of implementing partners and stakeholders.