Helping communities adapt to climate change in Samoa

Patrick Fuller of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies at the Thomson Reuters Foundation: ....Climate modellers predict that the effects of global warming – coupled with natural weather events caused by El Niño and La Niña – have caused an escalating pattern of greater extremes in rainfall distribution across the Pacific, together with more intense and frequent cyclonic storms and prolonged periods of drought. Approximately 70 per cent of Samoa’s population and infrastructure is located in low-lying coastal areas, making the population increasingly vulnerable to the projected rises in sea levels.

“In the past decade we had about three major disasters – this is something new,” says Tautala Mauala, Secretary General of the Samoa Red Cross Society. “Flooding caused by Cyclone Evan in 2012 brought Apia to a standstill and also affected the southern part of the mainland. It’s not just the frequency, but the severity of these disasters. They are having a devastating impact on our country.”

Helping communities adapt to the risks posed by climate change is integral to the disaster risk reduction activities of the Samoa Red Cross Society. Under a Community Disaster and Climate Risk Management Programme funded by the Australian Red Cross, support is being provided to communities to become more resilient in the face of disaster threats. The project’s origins are partly rooted in the experience of Cyclone Evan, which highlighted a lack of knowledge among communities on how to prepare for and respond to disasters...

A canoe in Samoa, shot by Teinesavaii, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Enhancing the resilience of tourism-reliant communities to climate change risks

E-Travel Blackboard: On Wednesday, 29th May 2013, the Honorable Prime Minister, the Ministries of Finance, and Natural Resources and Environment together with the United Nations Development Programme in Samoa held a joint event to sign the project “Enhancing the resilience of tourism-reliant communities to Climate Change risks”.

The programme is funded through the Global Environment Facility with a total of US$ 1.950.000 and implemented through the Samoa Tourism Authority with its partner stakeholders in close collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment who is the Operational Focal Point for the Global Environment Facility and administered by the United Nations Development Programme Multi-Country Office of Samoa. Furthermore, this project will be implemented with all relevant partner stakeholders as well as Samoa’s bi-lateral development partners which will be providing co – financing.

The main objective of the project is to increase the resilience of the tourism sector of Samoa through mainstreaming climate change risks into tourism-related policy processes and adaptation actions in coastal communities and tourism operations.

The communites have critical concerns about the effects of climate change which range from fluctuating food production, impacts of drought, coastal erosion, coastal and river flooding as well as water quality and availability, more vector-borne and water-borne diseases, higher risk of forest fires, damage to low-lying infrastructure, and land loss....

A meeting house on Manono Island, Samoa, shot by Sonja Pieper, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license 

Fiji under curfew as cyclone arrives

Stuff (New Zealand): Much of Fiji is now under curfew as it awaits Cyclone Evan - which is threatening to become a devastating category five storm. Radar pictures show that Evan, which devastated Samoa on Thursday night, is about to hit Fiji tonight and into tomorrow.

It is not known what happened to the 15,000 people of the French islands of Wallis and Futuna, which Evan passed over today. The upgrade came as Evan was on top of Wallis Island, part of the French territory of Wallis and Futuna. The islands, the only kingdoms within the Republic of France, are now completely cut off. Authorities there usually take down satellite dishes as cyclones pass over.

The military commissioner for Fiji’s northern district, which includes Vanua Levu, Colonel Ilai Moceica, this afternoon imposed a curfew, saying it was necessary to save lives. Meanwhile the Fiji Navy has warned all seafarers that travelling during disasters not only threatens the lives of those at sea, but also the Fiji Navy.

The latest warning from the Fiji Meteorological Service has issued storm and gale warnings across a wide area of Fiji, including the Yasawa and Mamanuca areas, popular with tourists. All tourists at island resorts off the western coast of Viti Levu have been evacuated to the Nadi area. The service is warning that “destructive winds” may begin several hours before the cyclone centre arrives around midnight.

Weather forecasters are predicting that super cyclone Evan will hit New Zealand's Northland and Auckland area toward the end of the week....

Severe Tropical Cyclone Evan on December 16, 2012