Bio-diversity

The existing situation in the community and specific problems Ecosystems in many areas of the Solomon Islands are under threat to a number of national and localized issues. The causes of these issues can be complex but largely relate to high population growth, the pressures from Western-style culture and external sources, and a loss of traditional knowledge. In the surrounding areas of the Tawatana village community, there are a number of serious local issues that have caused a detrimental impact on the local environmental resources and community. Problems associated with logging activities in the community are: Pollution of water sources Depletion of the area s biodiversity Increased tension between pro-logging people and anti-logging people Other problems in the community are: Poor land management practices and overuse of land which results in poor soil quality Excessive harvesting of the marine environment which leads to a degradation of marine life and marine ecosystem Inadvertent destruction of culturally significant historical sites Decline in health of local people due to introduction of cheap, processed and imported foods. The local area supports over three thousand people, the majority of these being young people, aged between 10 and 20 years, who will be future custodians of the resources in the area. It is imperative that to support these young people in learning the skills required to sustainably manage their environment, they are provided with the locally developed frameworks and practices that enable this capability. It is the objective of this project to assist with the community driven development of this framework and associated practices. How these problems and needs are addressed by this project: This project will apply a community-driven approach to the implementation of a sustainable development framework that allows the local community to utilize the local environment for food and income generation purposes, as well as ensuring the conservation of the local environment. An area of land has been set aside for use by the project to develop and apply the framework. It is a critical body of land which includes the two main rivers that supply the main source of water to the three thousand people in the local area.

Solomon islands