SPC Geoscience Division

ESAT Project

Tuesday, 23 April 2013 09:45 Molly Powers-Tora
E-mail Print PDF

The Environmentally Safe Aggregate for Tarawa (ESAT) Project is designed to protect the fragile beaches of South Tarawa in Kiribati from damage caused by unsustainable sand and gravel mining. By providing an alternative supply of construction aggregate from the lagoon basin, the project aims to meet South Tarawa’s rapidly growing demands while also reducing pressure on its beaches.

The project is funded by the European Union and jointly implemented the SPC's Geoscience Division and the Government of Kiribati’s Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resource Development (MFMRD).

Large and unsustainable volumes of beach aggregate (sand, gravel and cobble – estimated at 70,000 m3/year in 2006) are removed from South Tarawa’s beaches every year. The fact that this is happening despite fears over shoreline instability and sea level rise, suggests that every possible effort to protect shoreline systems should be made.

ESAT offers a pragmatic “no-regrets” climate change adaptation response to this problem by providing an environmentally sustainable alternative which can reduce pressure on South Tarawa’s fragile beaches and bolster resilience in natural beach systems.

 

The single largest budget item in this project is the MV Tekimarawa-- a 40-m steel, open-water capable vessel with a shallow draft for lagoon work and a total payload of 300 tonnes.

ESAT also implements an awareness and behaviour change programme focused at community understanding and participation (Ara Bike Reirei) and also undertakes routine awareness events with schools.

The project also supports school curriculums through its efforts with the “SandWatch” programme. Comprehensive and strategic efforts to maintain community outreach and consultation are also underway, involving contracts to local NGOs who implement the ESAT Communications Strategy.

 

 

 

 

 

Project Overview

esat_poster

 

For more information contact:............................................................................................................................................. Christopher Mark Day - ESAT Project Manager

Email : Click here

 

Last Updated on Monday, 13 June 2016 14:58  


Newsflash

Thursday 16 March 2011, Papeete, French Polynesia – French Polynesia will receive technical expertise and funding from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) to mitigate the risks of natural disasters facing the country.

In a ceremony bringing together the Government of French Polynesia, the French High Commission, the European Union and SPC, President Gaston Tong Sang praised “the perfect symbiosis” between all parties. He remarked that “when we all pull in the same direction, we can achieve high results to the benefit of our people, particularly the most vulnerable.”