Problem overview:

     Awareness and visions: Initially, attempts to establish forest reserves had been met with strong oppositions from local communities. These communities fear that the establishment will deprive them from their consumption of forest resources. However, with the Environment Units effort to explain the importance and how communities will benefit from forest reserves, they later understood the concept and supported on the idea.

     Framework for coordination: Since there is no framework for environmental legislation and the Environment Unit has no regulatory or enforcement powers, the unit acts as an advisor to the government and a facilitator to the people by educating and assisting the people towards sustainable development.

     Integrating stakeholders: Establishment of forest reserves has been done under the partnership of provincial and national government, NGOs, and local communities, with the Environment Unit as a coordinator and facilitator. The unit believes that the key to success of establishing these forest reserves have been due to cooperation from these stakeholders, especially from local communities.

Background in summary:

     Setting up the Vatthe Conservation Area: The Vatthe Conservation Area is the first national forest park in Vanuatu. It protects 4,470ha of rich and diverse forests on the north coast of Santo. The park was set up as a partnership between the local community, NGOs, the provincial and national governments. The success of the Vatthe Conservation Area offers some insight into how the Vanuatu government and an NGO were able to gain the interest, cooperation and finally partnership with the villagers of northern Espirito Santo Island.

     Positive interaction between the Environment Unit and local communities: In Vanuatu, the Environmental Unit acts an advisor to government ministries, provincial government, and to the public. The staffs see themselves as facilitators, trying to educate and assist the people of Vanuatu (including government people) in achieving sustainable development. When staffs from the unit conducted a survey in 1994, the local people paid interest in possible ways they could make use of their forest resources without resorting to logging. The research effort gave rise to a common between the village people and officers from the Environment Unit to set aside the forest as a conservation area.

     The establishment of forest reserves was a success due to community support: Officials at the Environment Unit believe the key to the success of the project was the active involvement of the village people in the research activity. The open exchange of information and exploration of the forest helped the village people to understand and appreciate the extent of their own resources. It also provided a lengthy opportunity for scientists, government workers and villagers to discuss conservation ideas for the forest area.

Peer Review Committee Good practice rating: (1 for the best, 5 for the lowest score)
Sustainability		Efficiency
2	Improvement in either the environment of economic condition with no harm to the other.	2	Cost efficient.
2	Sustainable over time (not one-off)	Process
Adaptability		1	Participation of the community
3	Location adaptability (can the project be done in other places?)	2	Participation of resource owners/users
3	Socio-cultural adaptability.	2	Partnerships between various actors (Governments, NGO, Academia, Private)
2	Level of development adaptability.	2	Degree of coordination and cooperation between government departments.
3	Style of government adaptability.	2	Ability to attract political interest/support
3	Degree of decentralization adaptability.	2	Procedures for feedback and review.
Comments on this example:       The village people began the project with economic goals and motivations. The idea is to promote ecotourism and considerable time and money has been invested in building a small resort for tourists and to promote this resort. However, access to the site is difficult and transportation from the international airport at Vila to Santo adds to the expense. The Environment Unit is helping the villagers find alternative sources of income from the forest. Sustainability of the project:      Awareness and visions: We can see from this example how awareness raising is important to environmental conservation. Command and control policies, in this case, establishment of the National Parks Act to set up forest reserves, has turned out to be very difficult because there was strong opposition from local communities. However, in the end, when the communities had more understanding on the importance of conservation, they were more than willing to cooperate. Adaptability of the project to other situations:       The project would work well anywhere providing the government is willing to allocate responsibility to the local land owners and resource users and providing government agencies are willing to share resources and information vertically and horizontally Process of decision making and implementation:      Framework for coordination: Although the Environment Unit has no authoritative power to legislate or enforce policies, the unit succeeded immensely in promoting environmental conservation by using a softer approach, which is, awareness raising and educating.      Integrating stakeholders: It is inevitable that when it comes to an environmental matter, a number of parties will be affected. And in this case, the local communities that depend on forest resources for living. Fortunately, Vanuatu was able to come to understanding with the people, thanks to the Environment Unit, therefore, the establishment of the Vatthe Conservation Area was a success. Cost efficiency:      With communities voluntary participating in the management of forest reserves, the government could cut down on so much cost of running the reserve itself.