(EREPA Project Staff Cathy Unga, Dr. Kristina Fidali, Trevor Maeda and other staff members from Ministry of Forestry and Research, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock with the participants from surrounding communities from East Rennell who attended the workshop, posed for a group photo after the workshop program)
EREPA CONCLUDE THREE DAYS OF COMMUNITY- BASE LAND USE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP IN EAST RENNELL
Ensuring Resilient Ecosystem and Representative Protected Areas in Solomon Islands (EREPA) Project team from the Ministry of Environment Climate Change Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM) has concluded three days of Community Base Land Use Planning and Management (CBLUPM) workshop in East Rennell recently.
The CBLUMP workshop aims to help communities make informed decision about their land use cognizant of many forces of changes confronting communities while fostering sustainable development.
Speaking during the workshop EREPA Chief Technical Advisor Dr. Kristina Fidali share the importance of community base land use planning and management program.
Dr. Fidali stated that the emphasize of the workshop is to develop community-based land management where communities are able to delineate their Protected Areas (PA’s), Sustainable agriculture areas, agroforestry areas, settlement areas and identify improved livelihood activities that EREPA Project could support in the conservation communities.
East Rennell communities have been working towards meeting the requirements under the Protected Areas Act 2010 to declare about 8,000 hectares of tribally owned land legally under the resource managed area category. As such, the community land use planning and management workshop was important not only to delineate the proposed protected area, sustainable agriculture areas and agroforestry areas, but also to develop action plans for effective land use management actions in areas near their communities to act as buffer zone for the proposed protected area.
Also, the Community-Based Land Use Planning (CBLUP) is an important baseline data that informs the development of East Rennell communities’ protected area management plan, and a key process in identifying and prioritising sustainable livelihood activities that EREPA Project can support technically and financially to improve community livelihood under Component 3 of the EREPA Project.
In response East Rennell representative Chief John Mana Acknowledged EREPA through the MECDM for choosing East Rennell people for this land use planning and management program.
“Our people will continue to work closely with EREPA and the Ministry of Environment and other line Ministries like Ministry of Agriculture and also Forestry in looking after our Protected Areas (PAs) and also in looking after our world heritage site which is the lake Tegano world heritage site”.
Mr.Mana also thanked East Rennell communities for their continues support in looking after their natural resources and being custodians of the world heritage area located within their land boundaries.
Technical support for the workshop was rendered by EREPA team under the Ministry of Environment Climate Change Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM) including the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock and the Ministry of Forestry and Research.
Attendees included people from Hutuna, Tegano, Niupani and Tavaitahe in the Eastern part of Rennell Island, Rennell and Bellona province.
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MECDM Press Release