(Photo: (Left -Right) James West Coordinator IEDCR, Roselyn Medisha EPS, Juienne Leinga Supervising PS, Mesrylyn Balq Expenditure Clerk, (center) Hon. Premier Stanley Tehiahua, Allen Medirba SAO, Francis Budenoga Temotu EREPA coordinator, Hon.Richard Sese Teao.EREPA Accountant Zinnzie Ramoifai and MAL Principal Planning Land Use Officer, Alister Talua).
EREPA Project signed Provincial Land Use Forum agreement with Temotu Provincial Government
The Ministry of Environment Climate Change Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM), under the Ensuring Resilient Ecosystem and Representative Protected Area (EREPA) Project signed a letter of agreement with Temotu Provincial Government to operationalise the Provincial Land Use Forum (PLUF) in Temotu Province last week.
Under the PLUF framework, the EREPA Project establishes the provincial level-land use forum for decision-making on land use and resolution of conflicts between natural resource protection and economic development at the provincial level.
The forum aims to strengthen collaborative governance in the area of planning with the desire for stakeholders and planning mechanisms to recognise the role of ecosystems and ecosystem services for improved management of land, forest and water resources.
Apart from key role in decision-making and conflict resolution, the forum will ensure a coordinated development planning that discuss and make recommendations on land-use and overlapping allocation, and to support greater engagement from the province and provincial-based CBOs and NGOs. The coordinated development planning approach also ensures recommendations reach the Protected Area Advisory Committee (PAAC) on the creation of new protected areas.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Temotu Provincial Premier Hon. Stanley Tehiahua acknowledged EREPA Project through MECDM and other line Ministries who implemented this project for making way forward for Temotu people in managing their natural resources both inland and sea, he states:
“My government will form a committee in the next few days so that they can start doing awareness and outreach about the importance of this project”.
“We have been seeing other neighbouring islands within our country suffering from logging and mining and I for one did not want it to happen within my province. The signing that we have done clearly indicate how my provincial government fully agree to continuously work on this project”.
Premier Tehiahua also stated that his government will work closely with MECDM through EREPA Project and co-implementing ministries to ensure continuous support for the completion of the Component 3 of EREPA Project that deals with livelihood support within the Temotu Province.
The operationalisation of the forum will be through cross-sector partnership agreements between provincial governments, MECDM and community partners.
Temotu Province is the first province to operationalise the provincial land use forum mechanism apart from, Guadalcanal, Malaita and Rennell and Bellona whom they have yet to complete their consultation process before any formal signing of any agreement.
(Photo: Temotu Premier Stanley Tehiahua (center) signing the Provincial Land Use Forum Agreement witness by his Supervising PS Julienne Leinga (right) and Hon.Richard Sese Teao (left) with EREPA Accountant rep Zinnzie Ramoifai).
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