Bio-diversity

The coconut crab, Birgus latro is a locally endangered species. Resources are threatened to be wiped in the process of overharvesting of resources for local food and small cash income for many families. In Tanna, local community traditional leaders had taken initiative to protect the resources by setting up closed harvesting areas to allow regeneration of habitats for crab stock replenishment. Baseline studies shown that the resources was almost no crab found in major crab habitats on Tanna. Reasons for decline of resources due to not only overharvesting but also the unsustainable lowland deforestation for subsistence gardening and for timber production. The project will assist the local traditional leaders to plan and advocate the protection and conservation of the resources and their forest habitats amongst the communities and provincial and national government. The project will help communities, community base organizations to developed local policies to eliminate unsustainable deforestation lowland coastal forest for crab regeneration. Operational Programs: Biodiversity Conservation

Vanuatu