Samoa has a Marine Resources Use Policy, and is working towards the delineation of its EEZ with the assistance of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the SOPAC.
Traditionally Samoans rely on marine resources for their well-being and daily required sustenance. Over 70% of villages are located on the coastal fringe of the islands, and subsistence fishing is a major activity of the inhabitants of such villages. Fisheries also play an extremely important role in the economy of Samoa as well as contributing significantly to the health and nutrition of the people. Fisheries are the major income-earner for the country. Offshore fisheries, in particular the tuna sector, have been recently developed and now are the most valuable among fisheries contributing significantly to Samoa’s economy. However, pressures arising as a result of overfishing, inshore environment degradation, ongoing coastal developments, pollution, and natural disasters have adversely affected the coastal resources and marine environment.
6 March 2013: The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention) has reported that during a stakeholder meeting held on the occasion of the celebration of World Wetlands Day 2013, Agostinho da Costa, Secretary of State for Environment and Tourism, signed an inter-ministerial decree for the creation of a National Ramsar Committee in Guinea-Bissau.
The meeting, which brought together over 35 wetland stakeholders, was jointly organized by the State Secretariat for Environment...
26 February 2013: The Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) has released an update on recent progress toward the Western Indian Ocean Coastal Challenge (WIO-CC), and on plans for 2013. Plans include formalizing WIO-CC support mechanisms and communications modalities.
According to the update, which covers the period since the WIO-CC’s Second Regional Technical Meeting in October 2012, progress has been made on formalizing the role of the Consortium for the Conservation of Coastal and Marine...
14 February 2013: The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) has formally launched the Small Grants Country Programme (SGP) in Saint Lucia, at Pigeon Island National Landmark, a key historic site and protected area.
The SGP in St. Lucia will provide grants to civil society organizations (CSOs) with the goal of identifying, replicating and scaling-up best practices in the country and among other Caribbean States. At the launch, Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, UNDP’s Resident Representative, noted that...
