Yasur volcano_Tanna Island_Vanuatu © Stuart Chape
This Pacific Islands Framework for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas 2021-2025 is the principal regional strategy document for environmental conservation in the Pacific. Its purpose is to guide broad strategic guidance for nature conservation planning, prioritisation, and implementation in our region. It reflects the urgent need for transformative action in response to the multiple accelerating threats, both established and emerging, that are faced by nature and people in the Pacific.
The Framework identifies the key regional priorities for action that are needed to make progress towards the 30-year Vision, Mission and Goals for conservation that were adopted by Pacific leaders in 2002. These regional priorities are presented in the form of six Strategic Objectives for the period 2020-2024. These are:
Empower our people to take action for nature conservation, based on understanding of its importance for our cultures, economies, and communities.
Integrate environmental and cultural considerations into the goals, processes, and trajectories of economic development in the Pacific.
Identify, conserve, sustainably manage and restore ecosystems, habitats, and priority natural and cultural sites.
Protect and recover threatened species and preserve genetic diversity, focusing on those of particular ecological, cultural and economic significance.
Manage and reduce threats to Pacific environments and drivers of biodiversity loss.
Grow Pacific capacity and partnerships to effectively monitor, govern and finance nature conservation action.
Each Strategic Objective is accompanied by selected Action Tracks that representing priority areas for implementation, and which reflect the key themes of discussion at the 10th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas . The Strategic Objectives and Action Tracks were endorsed by the High Level Session of the Conference, and commitments to action have been made in the Vemööre Declaration. The Framework provides Overviews of Best Practice as guidance for work undertaken within each Action Track by Pacific Island countries and territories alongside their key regional partners.
The Framework also presents a set of eight Principles for Conservation Implementation in the Pacific. These constitute a code of conduct for all nature conservation initiatives within the Pacific region, and apply to all stakeholders across all the Strategic Objectives. The Principles are:
Community rights
Conservation from Pacific perspectives
Ownership of conservation programmes
Resourcing for longevity
Good governance and accountability
Coordination and collaboration
Growing Pacific capacity
Reinforcing resilience
Implementation of the Framework is primarily the responsibility of Pacific Island countries and territories, supported by the member organisations of the Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation (PIRT) and other regional and domestic conservation partners and funders.
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