SAMOA / CLIMATE RESILIENT FORESTS

Samoa's Government is working with UNDP and the Global Environment Facility  and 26 communities across the country to save critical forest areas. UNTV

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:15
• Production Date: 3 September 2014
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME - UNDP
• Subject Topical: AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; FISHING; FORESTRY; CLIMATE CHANGE
• Geographic Subject: SAMOA
• MAMS Id: 1159029

Description

STORY: SAMOA / CLIMATE RESILIENT FORESTS
TRT: 2:15
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICITONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 3 SEPTEMBER 2014, LUATUANUU, SAMOA

Shotlist

1. Various shots, Luatuanuu village, Samoa
2. Wide shot, Helen Clarke, UNDP Administrator, and Naoko Ishii, CEO of GEF (Global Environment Facility) arriving
3. Wide shot, villagers waiting
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Clarke, UNDP Administrator:
"We need holistic ecosystem management, from the mountain top to the lagoon and ocean. This country is getting hotter, it is getting wetter, it is getting more frequent and more intense storms and we have a lot of introduced non-indigenous vegetation that doesn't stand up to that very well. So part of the project is also about planting more appropriate trees which can withstand these effects. And also with the sea level rise and storm surges plants which are more resistant to the salt effect."
5. Various shots, visitors looking at 3-D model of mountains and forests around Luatuanuu, made by the people in the village
6. Various shots, visitors walk through nursery looking at variety of plants and seedlings
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Clarke, UNDP Administrator:
"I'd like to congratulate the village and people of Luatuanuu and the Ministry for getting behind these very far-sighted projects which look at how can we make lives, livelihoods more sustainable in the face of climate change."
8. Various shots, men of the village dancing
9. Various shots, one of the dancers looking after plants in the garden, ocean visible right across the street

Storyline

Luatuanuu in Samoa looks like paradise - with coconut palms, beach and lush rainforest. And yet the next storm may damage the balance of the forest, the next flood threaten the food crops of the village.

Samoa's Government is working with UNDP and the Global Environment Facility and 26 communities across the country to save critical forest areas.

SOUNDBITE (English)Helen Clarke, UNDP Administrator:
"We need holistic ecosystem management, from the mountain top to the lagoon and ocean. This country is getting hotter, it is getting wetter, it is getting more frequent and more intense storms and we have a lot of introduced non-indigenous vegetation that doesn't stand up to that very well. So part of the project is also about planting more appropriate trees which can withstand these effects. And also with the sea level rise and storm surges plants which are more resistant to the salt effect."

Each participating village first created a 3-D model of their forest area, so that they could for the first time look and plan beyond their own backyard.

In the community nursery native species are replanted to improve the productivity of the low-lying agricultural lands instead of encroaching into upland forests.

SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Clarke, UNDP Administrator:
"I'd like to congratulate the village and people of Luatuanuu and the Ministry for getting behind these very far-sighted projects which look at how can we make lives, livelihoods more sustainable in the face of climate change."

No visit in Samoa is complete without dancing and rituals. The sense of joy is visible - and with a more diverse range of fruits and vegetables the farmers have not only healthier food on their tables - they can also sell more on the market and financially survive if the next cyclone levels their coconut trees.