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The "Hazard and Risk Maps" file contains 57 Hazard and Risk Maps that were created for the Port Vila and Luganville study areas under the Risk Mapping and Planning for Urban Preparedness Project as part of the Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction Project (MDRR) implemented by the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department (VMGD).The work was undertaken by Beca International Consultants Ltd (Beca), GNS Science and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA).
The hazards covered are seismic, river flood, wind, coastal inundation and tsunami. Maps showing the severity of each of these hazards have been prepared for various mean return periods from 10 to 2500 years depending on the hazard and the data available. Following compilation of the hazard maps, an urban risk assessment was undertaken and risk maps were produced for each hazard for the various return periods.
The maps are accompanied by a report: Hazard and Risk Maps and Geo-data Report: Planning for Urban Preparedness and a summary document which contains an index to the maps: Hazard and Risk Maps: Risk Mapping and Planning for Urban Preparedness.
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This UNDP-supported, GEF-LDCF funded project, "Vanuatu Coastal Adaptation Project (VCAP)", is working to build resilience through improved infrastructure, sustained livelihoods, and increased food production.
These efforts (with National Government as Key Collaborators) aim to improve the quality of life in targeted vulnerable areasor communities in the coastal zone of the island nation.
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The Effectiveness of Formal and Traditional Learning about Climate and Disaster Resilience in Vanuatu
by Charles Andrew Evan Pierce
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The Secretariat of the Pacific Environment Programme (SPREP) is implementing the Climate Information Services for Resilient Development in Vanuatu (CISRD), or Vanuatu Klaemet Infomesen blong redy, adapt mo protekt (Van-KIRAP) Project. As the first part of this project, Tonkin & Taylor International Ltd (T+TI) has been engaged to provide technical expertise on the Van KIRAP Project and the Department of Water Resources to review and update existing flood mitigation guidelines for the Sarakata catchment in Espiritu Santo Island, and to support the development of flood early warning systems in Sarakata.
This report provides a review of the existing Flood Mitigation Guidelines for Sarakata, Pepsi and Solwei Areas (2011) including the evaluation and identification of gaps in terms of early warning systems and long-term climate change considerations. The review has identified the gaps across governance, institutional arrangements, observations, risk knowledge, warning dissemination, and preparedness and response. The following recommendations are provided to address the identified gaps and to inform the development of updated flood mitigation guidelines:
• Strengthened governance and institutional arrangements, relating to:
− Strengthened policies and institutional frameworks at the provincial level including clear roles and responsibilities.
− Clear standard operating procedures for flood early warning system management. − Development of forums to enable coordination and partnerships.
− Update and finalise the Sarakata Flood Management Plan, including establishment of a monitoring and evaluation plan to ensure effective and coordinated governance of flood disaster risk reduction and to foster sustainable development.
• Strengthened observation, monitoring, analysis, and forecasting, relating to:
− Additional observational equipment and supporting services and capacity.
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Project description: [Brief description of project, key activities and outputs, how will it be implemented?]
Description of Project: The proposed project is an initiative of the Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation (DEPC) under the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), to enhance waste management at the Bouffa Landfill. Bouffa landfill is managed by the Port Vila City Council (PVCC) that is under the Department of Local Authorities (DLA). This proposal seeks the support of the GCF Framework to:
Procure a landfill weighbridge tobe stationed at the Etas Bouffa Landfill in efforts to enhance waste monitoring overtime to ensure that our reporting obligations in waste management are met at the national, regional and international level.
Establishment of an office at the landfill including the gate house.
Institutional strengthening and capacity building for DEPC at the Landfill facility.
Fencing the 57 Hectares of land where Etas Bouffa Landfill is located.
Key Activities and Implementation: There are only four key activities of the project:
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The ‘Coping with climate change in the Pacific Island Region (CCCPIR)’ programme aims to strengthen the capacities of Pacific member countries and regional organisations to cope with the impacts of climate change. The programme is funded by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented through GIZ working in partnership with SPC and SPREP.
The programme commenced its activities in 2009 working with Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu. In 2011 the program was expanded to another nine Pacific Island Countries, namely the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and the duration has been extended until 2019. The programme brief available at http://www.spc.int/lrd/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=478&Itemid=44 gives further details.
At the regional level, the programme aligns with the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific (FRDP). The programme will support countries in implementing key strategic priorities in the area of climate change including, where relevant, their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Programmes for Action (NAPA), National Communications to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and other relevant national strategies, polices and plans.
The overall objective of the programme is that ‘the capacities of regional organisations in the Pacific Islands region and its member states to adapt to climate change and mitigate its causes are strengthened’. This objective will be achieved through six components highlighted below.
Component 1: Strengthening regional advisory and management capacity
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The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) drives substantial variability in tropical cyclone (TC) activity around the world1–3 . However, it remains uncertain how the projected future changes in ENSO under greenhouse warming4–8 will aect TC activity, apart from an expectation that the overall frequency of TCs is likely to decrease for most ocean basins9–11. Here we show robust changes in ENSO-driven variability in TC occurrence by the late twenty-first century. In particular, we show that TCs become more frequent (∼20–40%) during future-climate El Niño events compared with present-climate El Niño events—and less frequent during future-climate La Niña events—around a group of small island nations (for example, Fiji, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands and Hawaii) in the Pacific. We examine TCs across 20 models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 database12, forced under historical and greenhouse warming conditions. The 12 most realistic models identified show a strong consensus on El Niño-driven changes in future-climate large-scale environmental conditions that modulate development of TCs over the o-equatorial western Pacific and the central North Pacific regions. These results have important implications for climate change and adaptation pathways for the vulnerable Pacific island nations.
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Coastal fisheries provide staple food and sources of livelihood in Pacific Island countries, and securing a sustainable supply is recognised as a critical priority for nutrition security. This study sought to better understand the role of fish for Pacific Island communities during disasters and in disaster recovery. To evaluate community impacts and responses after natural disasters, focus group discussions were held with men and women groups at ten sites across Shefa, Tafea, Malampa and Sanma provinces in Vanuatu. The combined impacts of category 5 Tropical Cyclone Pam (TC-Pam) in March 2015 and prolonged El-Niño induced drought have had a profound impact across much of Vanuatu. Terrestrial systems had been disproportionately impacted with substantial shortages in drinking water, garden crops, cash crops and damage to infrastructure. Localized impacts were noted on marine environments from TC-Pam and the drought, along with an earthquake that uplifted reef and destroyed fishing grounds in Malampa province. Communities in Malampa and Shefa provinces also noted a crown-of-thorns outbreak that caused coral mortality. The significant reduction in terrestrial-based food and income generation capacity generally led to increased reliance on marine resources to cope and a shift in diets from local garden food to rice. However, limited market access, lack of fishing skills and technology in many sectors of the community reduced the capacity for marine resources to support recovery. A flexible management approach allowed protected areas and species to be utilized as reservoirs of food and income when temporarily opened to assist recovery. These findings illustrate that fish and fisheries management is at the center of disaster preparedness and relief strategies in remote Pacific Island communities. High physical capital (e.g.
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Released by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), this document provides definitions in the three working languages of the Republic of Vanuatu (Bislama, English, and French) for six natural hazards: cyclones, earthquakes, floods, landslides, tsunamis, and volcanoes.
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The Increasing Resilience to Climate Change and Natural Hazards Project (IRCCNH) is a program of works for Vanuatu to improve the resilience of smallholders and communities to the impact of climate variability and change on food, household water security and livelihoods. The project has been effective since April 2013, but in February 2017 the Government of Vanuatu (GoV) requested a restructure to simplify the project and focus on community-level investments following Tropical Cyclone (TC) Pam.
The revised Project Development Objective is to strengthen disaster risk management systems and pilot investments in select villages in the Recipient’s territory to increase resilience to the impacts of natural hazards and climate variability and change. The proposed support will focus on resilient livelihoods through increased access to fresh water and improved agricultural methods, and will be implemented by the Project Management Unit in the Vanuatu Metrology and Geo-hazards Department (VMGD).
This is the Resettlement Policy Framework for this project.
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Vanuatu, an archipelago of 80 islands with a population of approximately 250,000, is among the most disaster-prone countries in the Pacific. It regularly experiences tsunamis, floods, volcanic eruptions, cyclones, landslides, fires and disease outbreaks. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) ranks Vanuatu twelfth in the Asia Pacific Region for the frequency and severity of its natural disaster.
UNICEF is the co-lead of the Water cluster which, under the leadership of the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), together with the Department of Geology, Mines, and Water Resources (DGMWR) responds to national emergencies.
Collectively, the Vanuatu WASH cluster has recognized that a lack of readily available, officially endorsed, standardized set of key messages and IEC materials to address critical life-saving safe water, sanitation and hygiene behaviours in an emergency context presents a gap in its current disaster risk reduction and management preparedness and response practices.
To address this gap, UNICEF seeks to partner with Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), and NGO that is a member of the WASH cluster and has expertise in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion and Emergency Response to coordinate and manage the preparedness and response efforts of this project. As an implementing partner, ADRA would provide technical support, coordination and management of stakeholder consultations, pretesting, production, prepositioning and provide training to stakeholders in Vanuatu to use the WASH in emergency standardized messages and IEC materials developed.
The materials were launched on 15th july 2016. You may view the details of the launching event here.
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The Climate Council is an independent, crowd-funded organisation providing quality information on climate change to the Australian public. This factsheet contains useful information about the influence of climate change on tropical cyclones, coastal flooding, storm surges, etc.
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The Pacific Islands region is experiencing climate change. Key indicators of the changingclimate include rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, rising air and sea temperatures,rising sea levels and upper-ocean heat content, changing ocean chemistry and increasingocean acidity, changing rainfall patterns, decreasing base flow in streams, changingwind and wave patterns, changing extremes, and changing habitats and species distributions.Currently, the most vulnerable areas include low islands (atoll islands and otherislands that rise only a few feet above present sea level), nearshore and coastal areas,and coral reefs. High-elevation (particularly alpine and subalpine) ecosystems are alsovulnerable. The climatic changes are affecting every aspect of life. Freshwater suppliesfor natural systems, as well as communities and businesses, are at risk. Food security isthreatened through impacts on both agriculture and fisheries. The built environment isalso at risk from coastal flooding and erosion as sea levels incrementally increase. Lossof habitat for endangered species such as monk seals, sea turtles, and Laysan ducks isexpected along with increased coral bleaching episodes, expansion of avian malaria tohigher elevations, and changes in the distribution and survival of the areas’ marine biodiversity.Over the coming decades, impacts are expected to become more widespreadand more severe.
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The environment of Vanuatu including its land based resources are extremely vulnerable to climate-related hazards, such as cyclones strong wind gusts, droughts, heats spells, floods and sea level rise/storm surges. Most of these hazards are precipitated by natural weather phenomena and therefore will be exacerbated by the current and future impacts of climate change. This vulnerability is a threat not only to the livelihoods of the people of Vanuatu but also to a healthy and prosperous nation. This national climate change adaptation strategy (NCCAS) lays out an approach to identify and implement efficient and effective activities to manage the existing and anticipated consequences of climate change for the land-based resources sectors in Vanuatu, namely forestry, agriculture, water, livestock, and biodiversity/ natural ecosystems. These sectors play dominant and essential roles in the economy of Vanuatu and contribute to livelihoods and the general well-being of people and the country as a whole.
The NCCAS is aligned with and builds on existing strategies, policies and action plans. For example, it builds on Vanuatu’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), the Priorities and Action Agenda (PAA) or the Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management National Action Plan (NAP) and sector specific documents like the National Biodiversity Conservation Strategy or the National Water Strategy.It is not just a strategy for government, but actively involves civil society including churches, youth organizations and other NGOs working in the land based resources sector in an active process to cope with climate change in a coherent and strategic manner. For each sector it describes adaptation strategies that are usable, practical and implementable.
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Vanuatu ranks as the world’s most vulnerable country due to its high exposure to natural disasters, scattered island geography, narrow economic base, inadequate communication and transportation networks, and limited capacity to cope with disasters including those caused or exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Annually Vanuatu is impacted by a number of cyclones, which are expected to become more intense under current climatic projections, with coastal communities and ecosystems being most vulnerable and impacted by these events. Vanuatu will be heavily impacted by climate change with future scenarios projecting increased temperatures, sea-level rise, and increased severity of cyclones, increased ocean temperatures and ocean acidification. In addition, an increased likelihood of an increase in the frequency of El Niño events will present its own long-term seasonal challenges. These challenges, combined with rapid population growth spread over 80 islands, an agricultural and coastal-based economy facing acute medium-term challenges and inadequate delivery of government services, especially in remote areas will continue to limit the potential for long-term sustainable development and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
The Government of Vanuatu has been proactive in global and regional dialogues on climate change and finalised its National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) in 2007. The project will explicitly address three of eleven priorities identified in the NAPA including:
1) community-based marine resource management,
2) integrated coastal zone management, and
3) mainstreaming climate change into policy and national planning processes.
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This Urban Risk Management Strategy (the URMS or the Strategy) provides a response to the hazards, risks and urban growth trends identified for Vanuatu’s two urban areas, the greater Port Vila Urban Area and Luganville. It is Stage 3 of the Risk Mapping and Planning for Urban Preparedness Project (the Project) being undertaken by the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department (VMGD) as part of the broader Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction Project. It also responds to the maping and assessment of earthquake, wind, river flood, coastal inundation and tsunami hazards and risks undertaken during Stage 2 of the Project. Moreover, it provides risk informed approaches to strengthen the formal physical planning framework and the informal (socio-political) system by incorporating risk information and risk reduction considerations into processes, policies and community activities.
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Vanuatu is one of the most vulnerable countries to natural hazards on the planet, (World Bank, 2011). More than three quarters of the population are at risk from not just one, but multiple disaster events, including: tsunamis, volcano eruptions, flooding, cyclones and many more. According to the Pacific Catastrophic Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI), undertaken by SPC and World Bank in 2010, Vanuatu can lose up to VT4 Billion in one year due to cyclone and earthquakes. Against this backdrop, Disaster risk management has become a cross-cutting issue that affects all sectors of Vanuatu and all development priorities and programs. Disaster risk management and climate change have been included into the current Priorities for Action Agenda 2011-2016. In September 2012, Vanuatu launched the National Advisory Board on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction (NAB) to better manage and coordinate Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction programs in Vanuatu and facilitate mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction into sectoral policies and planning. The resources provided by this project will strengthen the NAB and assist the Government to conduct thorough hazard and risk assessment in the urban areas and use the data to inform national land use planning policies including the design of a Tsunami warning system for both urban areas.
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The implementation of VCAP this quarter began at Epi sites with the upland and fisheries output activities. The upland team had established one permanent nursery where 2,000 plus fruits and timber trees seedlings are raised for distributing to all farmers in the project sites for reforestation upland at the water catchment areas. The team has also established 3 multi-cropping plots for introducing resilience crops to the farmers and planted vetiver grasses, natangura seedlings, pandanus along the eroded coastlines for reducing the activities for coastal erosions.
Fisheries team has deployed some FADs (Fish Aggregated Devices) at Epi as well for improving the marine resources at the reefs. The consultations with the communities and their VDCs (Village Development Committees) have educated the people to preserve their marine resources by introducing preservation areas along the coasts. The people have learned to improved their lively hoods by following these activities carried out by the fisheries and upland teams.
The project will further the implementation of various activities at Pentecost sites, Tafea outer islands sites as part of the recovery program of cyclone Pam which was mandated by the Government. Project Coordinators will further their various activities to other project sites such as South malekula, South Santo and Torres islands in the coming quarters. These output activities include the upgrade of access roads to the market, health and educations facilities.
Furthermore, the project will also assist the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazard Department(VMGD) for upgrading the Automatic Weather Stations at the 6 Provinces of the Country including the Integrated Weather Forecasting System at VMGD. These systems will provide the automatic early warning system throughout the Country where dissemination of weather information will reach the people in the communities in good times.
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The “Adaptation to Climate Change in the Coastal Zone in Vanuatu” or the Vanuatu Coastal Adaptation Project (VCAP) has recently recruited several key staff members within its Project Implementation Unit (PIU) and has made steady progress in delivering its Annual Work Plan for 2015 by engaging targeted coastal communities in a series of vulnerability assessments and climate change adaptation planning sessions.
As VCAP will support integrated community based approaches for building climate resilience, the PIU has worked closely with the Department of Local Authorities (DLA) and other various partners to develop a standard approach to performing vulnerability assessments and facilitating community-based climate adaptation plans. This “bottom-up” planning process will be complimented by various technical specialists and national level VCAP stakeholders who will further refine and implement components from these community plans in coming months.
Finally, this reporting period culminated in the VCAP Project Board Meeting, where senior authorities from the Vanuatu government and UNDP made important decisions affecting future project delivery and approved the Annual Work Plan and Budget for 2016.
This progress report details the various activities conducted from July through December of 2015. This is the third VCAP progress report produced to date.
This Report features the following Contents:
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Torba is the most northern and isolated province in Vanuatu. The province has an estimated population of 9,359 people and a land-area of 882 km². Its capital is Sola on the island of Vanua Lava. There are two groups of islands in Torba Province, which are the Banks Group and Torres Groups.
Torba is the perhaps the least developed province in Vanuatu. Transport is irregular and difficult. Communication is challenging. Infrastructure is limited on most islands with a few roads and vehicles present on Vanua Lava, Gaua & Mota Lava. Air Vanuatu provides regular service to Vanua Lava, Mota Lava, Gaua & Loh Island in the Torres Group. Small “banana boats” are relied upon heavily, despite frequent rough seas, to access remaining communities. The difficulty and infrequent level of transport in Torba Province has resulted in a much higher pricing for locals when they purchase commonly used goods and supplies such as fuel and tinned foods.
A missionary doctor, who is also a pilot, lives on the island of Gaua and makes routine visits to the islands in the Banks and Torres groups and transports patients to health facilities in Luganville, Santo and Port Vila, Efate as necessary. Additional landing strips for his small plane have been created on some additional islands as well in Torba Province as well but these are not serviced by Air Vanuatu.
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Tafea is the most southerly province in Vanuatu, consisting of 5 islands, some of which are among the most isolated in Vanuatu. Each island in the province has a diverse array of geographic features and natural resources.
The province has an estimated population of 32,540 people and an area of 1,628 km². The most populated island is Tanna, although its land mass is smaller than that of Erromango.Tanna contains over 80 percent of the Tafea’s population. The provincial capital Isangel is located here along with Tafea’s only municipality and its most developed commercial centre,Lenakel. An active volcano called Mt. Yassur attracts a large quantity of tourists to the island. A majority of the soil quality on Tanna is regarded as very rich and prime for agricultural activity.
The three largest islands in Tafea Province are Melanesian, but the smaller two, Aniwa and Futuna, have a distinct Polynesian influence due to early settlers and missionaries from Samoa. Futuna isrich in marine resources, although its rugged terrain composed of sheer cliffs and steep hillsides along with its strong coastal seas provide many challenges to locals.
Aniwa Island is the only coral island in Tafea, while the other four islands are volcanic and reach much higher elevations. Of the outer islands, it has the closest access to Tanna island and provincial services. Water security is a major concern on the island, although Aniwa is rich in its coastal fisheries, orange plantations and has many sandalwood trees.
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Shefa Province is one of the six provinces of Vanuatu, located in the lower centre of the country and it includes the islands of Epi, Efate and the Shepherds Group. It has a total population of 79,212people based on latest estimate by Vanuatu Statistics Office and an area of 1,455 km². Its capital is Port Vila, which is also the capital of the nation.
Epi Island is located in the northeast corner of the province. The Epi Sub-District Office, an integral part of the Shefa Provincial Government Council is located at Rovo Bay, in the Vermali Area Council.
At the time of the 2009 Census, the total population of Epi Island was 5,647 people, which includes the population of offshore Lamen Island. There are four Area Councils on Epi: Vermaul, Vermali, Varsu and Yarsu, collectively containing over 25 villages.
Epi receives an abundance of precipitation, ranging from 2.9m annually in the centre of the island to 2.2m annually on the northwest coast. The temperature on the island varies during hot and cool seasons, but averages approximately 24.9°C at the coast and is a few degrees cooler in the centre of the island.
Epi is seasonal and is warmer from November until April. Like the rest of Vanuatu, the island’s weather is strongly influenced by the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycles. During the El Nino (warm phase) the country is subject to long dry spells. During the La Nina (cool phase) Vanuatu has prolonged wet conditions. Climate change predictions suggest that the intensification of the ENSO cycle will result in more intense wet and dry seasons. While the island has been affected by cyclones in the past, cyclones rarely hit the island. The last cyclone in Epi was in 1994. Cyclone frequency is not expected to increase with climate change.
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As of the 2009 Census, the total population on the island of Santo was 39,606 people. Santo is the second highest populated island in Vanuatu, second only to Efate. Luganville, with a population of 13,167 is the second largest town in Vanuatu and is located on the southern coast of the island, approximately a 1.5 hour drive from the project site. According to the 2009 Census, the annual population growth rate for Santo is 2.4%.
As the largest island in Vanuatu, Santo has an extensive mountain range along its southern & western coasts with many large rivers and creeks extending into the uplands. The eastern coast is relatively flat in comparison and is primarily used for agricultural purposes. A large natural harbor is present in the north called Big Bay, where a significant portion of the island’s population islocated. The interior of the island is inaccessible and populated sparsely by tribes of Ni-Vanuatu living traditional subsistence agrarian lifestyles, many of whom do not speak Bislama or wear Western clothing. A majority of the offshore islands in Sanma Province are located off of the southeast corner of Santo.
There is substantial road access throughout the vast island of Santo, although there are many areas where road access is poor or there is no road access whatsoever and where communities rely only on footpaths or boats for transportation. The road from Luganville to Port Olry, which spans the eastern coast of Santo, is in excellent condition with tar-sealed bitumen and drainage provided through funding from the US government through the Millenium Challenge Corporation and was recently completed in 2011. The wide roads in the main town of Luganville are in good condition despite the need for minor repairs in certain areas and were originally built by the American armed forces during World War II when Santo served as a base for American troops.
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Malampa is one of the six provinces of Vanuatu, located in the centre of the country and consisting of three main islands namely Malekula, Ambrym and Paama. It also includes a number of smaller offshore islands – the small islands of Uripiv, Norsup, Rano, Wala, Atchin and Vao off the coast of Malekula and the volcanic island of Lopevi near Paama (currently uninhabited). Also included are the Maskelynne Islands and other small islands suck as Akam and Avock along the south coast of Malekula. The total population of Malampa Province is 36,722 (2009 census) people and it contains an area of 2,779 km².
Malekula is the most populated and developed island in the province and houses the provincial capital named Lakatoro. Malekula receives an abundance of precipitation. The temperature on the island varies during the hot and cold seasons, but averages approximately 24.9°C at the coast and is a few degrees cooler in the centre of the island. Weather in Malekula is seasonal, and warmer from November until April and cooler and dryer period typically from May to October. Like the rest of Vanuatu, the island’s weather is strongly influenced by the El Nino Southern Oscillation cycles. During the El Nino (warm phase) the country is subject to long dry spells. During the La Nina (cool phase) Vanuatu has prolonged wet conditions.
Malekula is located on active geological faults. The southeastern side of the island experienced major earthquakes as recently as the 1990s and the land, e.g. Akam Island, was reported to have subsided by up to a depth of 1 meter. There are three active volcanoes located within Malampa Province: twin peaks on Ambrym Island and one located on Lopevi Island. The entire province is at a severe risk of tsunamis and earthquakes.
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Following TC Pam NDMO recognised the need for enhanced community based disaster risk management responses. As such over the last year NDMO has been working with its key in country partners to review, revise and update certain processes and tools. One of those DRM processes and tools is the community based disaster assessment process. Community based disaster assessments are the first assessment undertaken following a disaster on the ground in Vanuatu and is envisaged to be completed where possible by trained community disaster and climate change committees (CDCCC) members supported by local and provincial government. This approach is to empower communities in achieving ownership and greater participation in the negative impacts of disasters that directly affect them.
Training CDCCC’s in the community assessment processes and its supporting tools has been ongoing during 2016 in targeted communities within Torba and Tafea Provinces as part of the Yumi Redi Consortium project.
Yumi Redi Consortium in conjunction with UNOCHA has been working in collaboration with NDMO to produce an updated first community assessment form and accompanying guidelines to be undertaken at community level and develop a consolidation, analysis and reporting process of community based assessment data at provincial level. The revised community disaster assessment form and its guidelines were launched by the NDMO during a national training in September 2016.
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This report uses these generic methods to provide recommendations for climate resilient development in the PICs in the following sectors: coastal protection, flood management, water resources management, protection of infrastructure against changes in temperature and precipitations, protection of buildings against cyclone winds, and adaptation in the agriculture sector.
A new World Bank report has highlighted the need for Pacific Island countries to better incorporate climate and disaster risk management into planning and development, while proposing priority investments and policies to boost resilience to the year 2040.
Launched in Fiji today at the Symposium on Climate Change Adaptation in the Pacific Region, Pacific Possible: Climate and Disaster Resilience considers the economic costs of climate adaptation, and proposes adaptation strategies for areas including infrastructure and buildings, coastal protection, water resources, flooding and agriculture, with special consideration given to the unique challenges of atoll islands.
“Climate change and extreme weather events have the potential to adversely affect coastal zones, water resources, health, infrastructure, agriculture and food security,” said Denis Jordy, Senior Environmental Specialist at the World Bank. “And if new investments are not properly planned, they risk exacerbating the impacts of natural hazards and climate change by increasing the vulnerability and exposure of those at risk.”
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A national debriefing workshop to identify lessons learned following Tropical Cyclone Pam (TC Pam) was facilitatedby the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) with support from the Pacific Community (SPC) andthe European Union (EU). Technical support was also provided by SPC through the Building Safety and Resilience in the Pacific (BSRP) project and in close cooperation with sector partners. The Tropical Cyclone Pam Lessons Learned Workshop was held in Port Vila, Vanuatu, from 24 to 25 June 2015 to review key aspects of coordination, including preparation and response. This report summarises the discussions and outcomes from that workshop.
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As part of the preparedness towards any forthcoming disasters and continuous monitoring of the agricultural sector, the RRU in collaboration with FAO and DARD have established an early warning early action system that is run by the Risk and Resilience Unit (RRU) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity (MALFFB) to the agricultural extension officers. The department of agriculture has a total of 45 extension officers that are based on all of the 6 provinces covering almost all the area councils of every island. The early warning early action system is mainly setup as a system monitoring the growth of main carbohydrate crops, vegetables and fruits and also the additional information’s from the officers on any other crops or just any unusual on the agriculture. This report serves to show what is collected from the extension officers and provincial agricultural officers during the seventh round of phone calls and show that if there is a spike in the data, then there would be need of further investigation.
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Climate Change in the Pacific is a rigorously researched, peer-reviewed scientific assessment of the climate of the western Pacific region. Building on the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this two volume publication represents a comprehensive resource on the climate of the Pacific.
VOLUME 1: REGIONAL OVERVIEW
Volume 1 presents an overview of the region: analysis of large-scale climate phenomena such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, seasonal variability and past climate trends and further develops regional climate change projections. Download the report from the links below.
DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT: VOLUME 1
Climate Change in the Pacific. Scientific Assessment and New Research, Volume 1. Regional Overview [PDF, 20.1MB]
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