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World Water Day focuses attention on nature-based solutions to the Pacific’s water and sanitation challenges

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Water is nature

22 Mar 2018 | Suva

Could the answer to the Pacific’s water and sanitation challenges be found in nature?

Today the Pacific marks World Water Day, a day designated to acknowledge and celebrate the importance of our fresh water resources. This year’s theme ‘Nature for Water,’ is an opportunity for the Pacific to explore nature-based solutions to the water and sustainable development challenges we face in the 21st century. Nature-based solutions include measures such as planting trees to replenish forests, reconnecting rivers to floodplains, restoring wetlands and utilizing natural technologies such as composting toilets. Such approaches can be a sustainable and cost-effective way to help rebalance the water cycle, mitigate the effects of climate change and improve human health and livelihoods.

 

Nature-based solutions are already being utilized by Pacific nations such as Vanuatu, which has chosen World Water Day to launch a new management plan for its Tagabe River catchment. The catchment is Port Vila’s only source of potable water, supporting the growing needs of residents, agriculture and industry. The plan aims to protect this natural system through measures such as catchment rehabilitation and the establishment of protection zones to safeguard water quality from pollutants.

Commemorating the launch, the Hon. Alfred Maoh, Vanuatu’s Minister of Lands & Natural Resources, acknowledged the importance of the catchment to the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of Port Vila residents. “Citizens of Port Vila rely on the Tagabe catchment as their primary water source, and the plan takes an integrated approach to ensure it is safeguarded into the future,” he said. “Importantly, the plan will strengthen the role of the Tagabe River Management Committee in the sustainable management of this critical water source”

The launch will be followed by active awareness-raising in the communities to ensure that current waste disposal practices show due regard for the management plan. The communities have shown respect for the progress made to date in the Tagabe River catchment and their support for the implementation of the plan is anticipated.

According to the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Director-General, Dr Colin Tukuitonga, nature-based solutions can support the efforts of Pacific nations to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “By helping protect fresh water sources and reducing pollution, nature-based solutions can be a key part of efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goal 6, which commits to achieving universal access to safe water and sanitation by 2030,” he said. “This is particularly important for the Pacific, which as a region continues to lag behind the rest of the world in securing safe water and sanitation for its citizens.”

More information on World Water Day can be found at worldwaterday.org.

 

Media contact:

Dave Hebblethwaite, Water Security and Governance Coordinator, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or +679 9983059

Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 April 2018 09:30  

Newsflash

Yaren, July 3, 2012: Nauru is pushing forward with action to deal with one of the country’s most significant development hurdles, water and sanitation.

“In February this year Nauru released its first National Water and Sanitation Policy to address the significant threats, identify key response areas and ensure the water and sanitation needs of a wide range of stakeholders is met,” Haseldon Buraman, National Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Coordinator, said. “We have since produced an implementation plan to turn that policy into action.”

Water supply and sanitation issues in Nauru are amongst the most complex and challenging in the world. Frequent and severe droughts, increasing demand for freshwater, and pollution threats to its limited groundwater supply put Nauru in a precarious situation. Added to this is Nauru’s reliance on aging infrastructure and energy-intensive desalination, the challenge of securing sustainable funding sources, and coping with the projected impacts of climate change.

These are all issues that the Government of Nauru hopes to overcome through applying an integrated approach to managing its scarce water resources.