Aneityum Sets Aside 6,031 Hectares as Community ‘Tabu’ Area
Aneityum island in TAFEA Province has set aside a total of 6,031 hectares of land mainly in the uninhabited interior areas of the central part of the island as a community ‘tabu’ area.
The management plan for the community ‘tabu’ area, which has been named by the chiefs of Aneityum as the “Nanauarehed Tabu Eria”, was launched on March 25, 2024.
This has been jointly drafted and developed with the Management Committee and Chiefs of Aneityum.
The Government’s involvement is through the Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation (DEPC), and the coordination and support of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Integrated Sustainable Land Coastal Management (ISLCM) Project, through financial support of the Global Environment Facility.
The management plan was formally launched by the Minister responsible for Climate Change and Environmental Protection & Conservation, Hon. Ralph Regenvanu, who led a delegation to Aneityum to launch the Nanau'arehed Tabu Eria's management plan. This delegation also included the TAFEA Provincial Government’s Acting Secretary General, Mr Joe Iati.
In his address, Minister Regenvanu, said the community conservation area falls in line with the Convention of Biological Diversity’s target of establishment of protected areas.
He told the people of Aneityum and students from Teruja Secondary School who were present that Vanuatu is also part of this international Convention, which has a target of 30% of the earth's land and sea to be conserved through the establishment of protected areas by 2030.
Aneityum’s conservation area will be management by an established management committee on the island, under the traditional governance from Aneityum’s Council of Chiefs.
Unlike other community conservation areas that have been registered under the Environmental Protection and Conservation Act, Aneityum’s conservation area is not registered based on the request from the Aneityum Council of Chiefs.
The management plan for the Nanauarehed Tabu Eria runs from 2024 to 2029 where it provides a conservation guideline based on the island’s traditional resource management system.
