The Vanuatu archipelago is situated in the midst of three significant biodiversity hotspots (New Caledonia, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands), and is a global priority for bicultural conservation due to its high rate of biotic endemism, the endangerment of its native diversity of flora and fauna, and the worrying erosion of the traditional knowledge and cultural practices based in this biological diversity.
Forestry and protected area management project is funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF) with the assistance of Pacific Alliance for Sustainability (PAS) GEF-PAS. The GEF “Forestry and protected area management” project (GEFPAS-FPAM) is implemented in the four Pacific Island nations of Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and Niue.
The Whitewood scientifically known as Endospermum medullosum is one of the high value timber species naturally grown in Vanuatu. To date the Whitewood among four other forestry top priority tree species have been identified as the valuable tree species not only for timbers but is also a climate change resistant forest species.
Knowledge of the flora is an important issue in this country largely covered by forests (over 75%), where almost 80% of the population lives in rural areas and uses natural resources (through collection activities by for example). This flora is intimately involved in cultural life: traditional medicine, food, arts, customs and so on.
Aniwa Community Reforestation Project is one of the smallest existing community project coordinated and managed by the Department of Forests (DoF) focusing mainly on achieving its main objectives which to improve the vegetation cover through rehabilitating the degraded areas on Aniwa.