Ecosystems, Climate Change and Development Scenarios, Vanuatu

Abstract

Port Vila is the capital and largest city of the Melanesian island nation of Vanuatu, and is situated on the southern coast of Efate, the third largest island in Vanuatu. Metropolitan Port Vila is where more than a quarter of Vanuatu’s total population live. In 2016 the population of the city was approximately 75 000 and current growth rates are as high as 8% per annum. Population growth in Port Vila is much higher than in other provinces and the city is attracting internal migrants from all other islands in Vanuatu. Most new internal migrants reside in outer urban or peri-urban settlements where they do not generally have formal access to housing or land for growing food. Tropical Cyclone Pam (TC Pam) in March 2015 was one of the most severe cyclones in living memory, causing at least 16 fatalities and more than US$360 million worth of damage. Efate was one of the worst affected islands by TC Pam because of the infrastructure and population concentration in Port Vila. Vanuatu’s experience of TC Pam, followed immediately by a severe El Niño-Southern Oscillation drought which caused widespread food shortages, highlighted the vulnerability of Vanuatu to natural hazards and other risk factors. The Pacific Ecosystem-based Adaptation to Climate Change (PEBACC) Project responds to these vulnerability challenges. The five-year Project (implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)) explores and promotes Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) options for adapting to climate change in the Pacific region. EbA is the practice of strengthening ecosystems to increase people’s ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change. It draws upon knowledge of ecosystem services and is based on the premise that if ecosystems are protected, remediated, or regenerated, this leads to healthier ecosystems, more ecosystem services, and therefore greater human well-being and resilience to the impacts of climate change. The current study continues the PEBACC project in Vanuatu. It builds on an earlier PEBACC study that undertook a baseline ecosystem and socio-economic resilience analysis and mapping appraisal of the Port Vila Metropolitan area. The methodology approach adopted provided for mainly desk-top review work, supplemented by four key workshops (including one in Port Vila), interviews with Port Vila stakeholders, and brief field inspection in Port Vila." (From Executive Summary)