National Environment and Development Sector Plan (NESP) 2013-2016

The Vision of the present Plan is defined as follows: Samoa’s natural and built environments are well protected and resilient to natural and human-induced hazards, and supporting a sustainable and healthy human population. Whereas its goal is improved environmental sustainability and disaster resilience through Green Growth. In particular, the Plan articulates the afore-mentioned overall Vision and Goal for the environment sector, and the higher level outcomes that it seeks to achieve. Furthermore, it reflects the overall Vision and Goal of the Strategy for the Development of Samoa (SDS) and in doing so, clarifies how the national goal and vision will be achieved in the qualities of the natural environment that the present Plan represents and is responsible for.
The Plan’s primary purpose is to define and articulate the key strategies for achieving the Environment Sector and SDS goal of ‘environmental sustainability and disaster risk reduction’. It is based on the findings of the State of Environment Report but is a forward looking and prescriptive document that sets out strategies and measures for addressing the key environmental issues facing Samoa. Moreover, other related purposes are to: 1) discuss issues and impacts on the environment that stem from activities of other economic sectors including agriculture, water and sanitation, infrastructure and energy, tourism; 2) seek to complement other sector strategies with environmental related issues by identifying specific areas of concern that need addressing in those sectors; 3) identify sector strategies for pursuing the overall national goals of environmental sustainability and disaster resilience set out in the Samoa’s Development Strategy (SDS) 2012-2016; 4) promote multi-agency coordination to ensure cross-cutting issues are implemented and not duplicated; 5) propose arrangement for implementation, coordination, monitoring and reporting.
The present Plan reaffirms the Principles of the Rio Declaration 1992 underpinning the notion of equitable and sustainable development. These principles are laid down in Appendix 1. The Plan is also cognizant of the outcome statement of the Rio+20, entitled, “The Future We Want”, and its commitment to “…freeing humanity from poverty and hunger as a matter of urgency” (UN General Assembly, 2012) and thereby to benefit all” (ibid., para 6).
The present Plant shall be reviewed and updated regularly to keep abreast of changing circumstances, new information and new emerging issues and priorities. The timing of these updates should seek to bring environmental sector planning in line with the national development planning process, i.e., Samoa’s Development Strategy 2012-16.
Chapter 5 deals with Key Environment Sector Objectives (KESO) and lists them as follows: 1) To implement strategies for rehabilitating, protecting and conserving priority terrestrial (upland, lowland and coastal) habitats and species; 2) To implement strategies for rehabilitating, protecting and conserving threatened marine habitats and species; 3) To implement strategies for the restoration of habitats critical to species and recovery of species populations of conservation concerns; 4) To implement strategies for protecting key environment resources such as forests land, water and fisheries; 5) To implement strategies to reduce the vulnerability and increase the resilience of Samoa’s urban and rural built environment; 6) To strengthen scientific understanding of Samoa’s habitats and species and geosciences to better inform planning for environmental sustainability and for strengthening community resilience; 7) To develop and implement a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) Programme towards a Low Carbon Energy Sector; 8) To facilitate the direct participation of local communities (village councils, women, and youth) and private land owners in the planning and management (including monitoring) of habitats and species in areas under communal/freehold ownership and control; 9) To strengthen policy, regulatory, financial and strategic planning and management framework for environmental sustainability and disaster resilience; 10) Strengthen national capacity for environmental management, coordinate the NESP implementation, environmental monitoring and assessment ; 11) To implement habitat/ecosystem-based strategies to support climate change adaptation and mitigation. The text consists of 9 Chapters and 5 Annexes.