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Samoa's National Environmental Capacity Strategy (NECS) is drawn on the assessment and analysis of priority thematic and cross-cutting capacity needs. These needs have identified priority actions for capacity development and opportunities to promote synergies across the 3 Conventions which are highlighted as project profiles in the NECS. Strategies to implement these project profiles including means of monitoring and evaluation of outcomes are also highlighted in the NECS.

Biosafety issues are becoming very contentious today given the uncertainty of the impact of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the environment, biodiversity and the people. There are those that view GMOs as an answer to alleviating world hunger and mitigating global health problems through the introduction of new and technologically advanced GMO for food, feed, food processing and pharmaceuticals. Then there is the other group that argue that GMOs pose a risk to the environment, biological diversity and the safety and health of the people.

The National Capacity Self-Assessments (NCSA) projects assist developing countries and economies in transition to assess capacity to meet requirements under the United Nations Convention for Biological Diversity (UNCBD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). UNDP is supporting 116 countries to prepare a NCSA. This Resource Kit is the core of UNDP's technical backstopping to those countries. Its purpose is to guide Project Teams through every step of project implementation, from project signature until project cb- sure.

This First Country Report to the Conference of the Parties for Niue is being submitted around the same time as the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) and 2nd Country Report, to complete the outputs under a UNDP-funded Enabling Activities project. Given its timing it has been decided to format this First Country Report according to the headings used for the ‘Synthesis of Information contained in National Reports... ‘ (UNEP/CBD/COP/4/11/Rev.1). More detailed information is available in the NBSAP.

Each cultural group in Vanuatu has its own traditional approaches to the management and conservation of biological resources. These are still widely practiced, but in some areas are declining in influence as ni-Vanuatu society and culture change in response to introduced economic and social values and new technologies. Since independence traditional approaches to conservation have been supplemented by a range of measures introduced by government and non-government organisations, and individuals in the private sector. Most of these have focused on species of commercial value within the development priorities of the key economic sectors of agriculture, forestry and fisheries.

The Vanuatu Government signed the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) at its launch in 1992 and ratified it in 1993. As a party to the CBD, the government is obliged to report to the other convention signatories on in-country biodiversity management activities and to develop a strategy and action plan to manage and conserve Vanuatu's biological diversity. The first national report was prepared by the NBSAP project team and was sent to the CBD Secretariat in December 1997. This paper is the first national biodiversity conservation strategy and action plan.

The traditional land tenure system and the customary rights to use land and sea resources are now part of the national constitution. All land in the Republic belongs to the custom owners and their descendants and rules of custom form the basis for ownership and use of both the land and off-shore resources. Within this system the chiefs played, and in most regions continue to play, an important role in regulating the use and management of natural resources for the benefit of the people they represent.

It may be possible to tell that a species is likely to be invasive, for example because it has been a problem elsewhere. However it will be difficult to say with certainty that a species will not be invasive. A species in it's natural place is not considered invasive may behave differently in a new environment.

Biological diversity is the variety and variability of all species of plants, animals and microorganisms, as well as the ecosystems they compose. It serves and sustains our lives in countless ways by providing food, fuel, shelter, and medicines. Conserving biodiversity is in our self-interest.