Mere-Sauwia Village MPA Evaluated

August 18 , 2006--

This small community in the hills of Nguna Island has a huge heart for conservation and natural resource protection. In 1998, in response to foreign logging interest, the Spuaki Conservation Area was established, designating nearly 30% of the village lands for protection.

This month the Nguna-Pele MPA joined the Spuaki Conservation Committee in evaluating the effectiveness of their marine and terrestrial protected areas, under the auspices of the NOAA Management Effectiveness Study (see story below).

Ni-Vanuatu conservation workers interviewed the residents of the community in order to guage their perceptions of changes in the community and the conservation area since its inception. After eight years of continuous protection, the villagers found that several important resources such as coconut crabs, flying fox, wild birds and land crabs have increased in number. One resident called the conservation area “a factory that supplies us with all we need”.

In the marine portion of the protected zone (Spuaki encompasses both land and water areas), giant clams have returned from nearly complete local extinction. Additional important food resources such as the topshell and other marine snails literally cover the reef flat of the protected area. Several women interviewed state that they no longer have to travel far from the conservation area in order to collect enough shells to feed the family.

The crowning achievement of the Mere-Sauwia evaluation was the review and redrafting of the Spuaki management plan. The now-renamed Spuaki Conservation and Management Area has several zones including permanent reserves, a custom tabu place, an agroforestry area, a forest protection area and a tourism area.

Tourism promises to prove successful in Mere-Sauwia due to their unique location on a cliff overlooking the Shepherds Islands. Residents of Port Vila and overseas visitors keen to experience another side of Nguna Island should make the trip. Hiking and wildlife abound, and nothing is as sensational as the view from atop Nguna's extinct Marou Volcano.

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