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The Regional Technical Support Mechanism (RTSM) and Rapid Response Fund (RRF) is a collaborative undertaking of all Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP) agencies and their associated development partners and donors. It is a true reflection of the Pacific island region, which promotes the spirit of cooperation and collaboration. The establishment of the RTSM and RRF is a step towards a ‘transformative change’ that is taken by the CROP agencies, to efficiently serve the priority and needs of Pacific Island Countries and Territories in relation to climate change adaptation and mitigation The purpose of this Manual is to guide the members of the RTSM Project Committee (PC), the Working Arm of the CEO Subcommittee on Climate Change and Disaster Resilient Development (WARD) and the RTSM Coordinator (RC) on the operations of the RTSM and associated RRF. It sets out the standards of probity, transparency and accountability that contributors and potential contributors to the Fund expect in the governance and operations of both the RTSM and RRF. The Manual includes an RTSM & RRF Policies and Procedures which lists the types of assistance available, and how to request assistance under the RRF. As part of the ‘scaling up of good practices’ approach, the standards as set out in the Manual also provide an example for countries that do not have Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) country tracks and are interested in replicating such a mechanism to administer and manage climate change funding. The RTSM PC and the WARD may approve amendments to the Manual and associated RTSM and RRF Policies and Procedures.

In the Cook Islands, the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) project focuses on coastal zone management on Mangaia Island. The project is helping to ‘climate-proof’ coastal development, and to develop an integrated coastal management policy and plan for Mangaia

On all islands in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) rainwater is the primary source of freshwater, putting the country at high risk from droughts. The water sector was therefore chosen by the RMI Government to benefit from the PACC project, and the project has been working since 2008 to increase the country’s resilience to drought events. This report details the process undertaken in the PACC demonstration project, to design and implement various measures to enhance Majuro’s water reticulation system.

The Pacific POPs release reduction through improved management of solid and hazardous waste project was developed with the aim to improve poor regional waste management, the principal source of unintentionally produced POPs (dioxins and furans) emissions in the Pacific region, and therefore help address the obligation of Stockholm Convention Parties to reduce, minimize and where feasible, eliminate dioxins and furans. An Inception Meeting to increase stakeholder awareness of the project and to build stakeholder engagement is considered a critical component of project management by the Implementing Agency. This meeting was held in November 2013. The Project Inception Report presented here is the corresponding reporting requirement for this meeting specified in the Project Document (ProDoc)that includes a detailed narrative describing: i). the institutional roles and responsibilities of the project partners; ii). stakeholder engagement commitments; iii). progress on project establishment and start up activities; iv). a detailed project management plan; v). a project supervision plan; and vi). a monitoring and evaluation plan suitable for progress tracking purposes.

Reduced emissions of unintentionally produced POPs (uPOPs) is hoped to be achieved under the GEFPAS project through a range of funded initiatives including the provision of quality vocational training of semi-skilled waste employees. It was envisioned that this would involve the development and delivery of a waste management vocational training course at a regional institution. The overall project objectives related to the training were to create a program that would: · Develop a solid waste management vocational training program in conjunction with regional institutions; · Routinely train course participants to become waste management trainers using the ‘trainthe-trainer’ concept; and · Ensure long-term sustainability and continuity of the training program with regional institutions.

This is a brief overview of the work carried out under the Marine Debris Demonstration project to help strengthen the and enhance good waste practices in Samoa The project is a partnership between the Government of Samoa, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), SPREP and the communities and private sector in Apia. There are four main areas in this project; community and media awareness; improved waste management in the ports of entry into Samoa in particular the Samoa Port and Samoa Airport; waste disposal facilities within the UNSIDS venue and the accommodation providers; and working with the communities to improve waste practices in Apia areas. This short film was produced for The Last Straw - Preventing our Oceans from becoming Dumps side event during the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States. The final documentary on this project will be completed and made available this year.

Lack of biological knowledge of invasive species is recognised as a major factor contributing to eradication failure. Management needs to be informed by a site-specific understanding of the invasion system. Here, we describe targeted research designed to inform the potential eradication of the invasive yellow crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes on Nu'utele island, Samoa. First, we assessed the ant's impacts on invertebrate biodiversity by comparing invertebrate communities between infested and uninfested sites. Second, we investigated whether an association existed between A. gracilipes and carbohydrate sources. Within the infested area there were few other ants large than A. gracilipes, as well as fewer spiders and crabs, indicating that A. gracilipes is indeed a significant conservation concern. The timing of male reproduction appears to be consistent with places elsewhere in the world, but queen reproduction was outside of the known reproductive period for this species in the region, indicating that the timing of treatment regimes used elsewhere are not appropriate for Samoa. Worker abundance and nest density were among the highest recorded in the world, being greater in May than in October. These abundance and nest density data from baselines for quantifying treatment efficacy and set sampling densities for post-treatment assessments. The number of plants and insects capable of providing a carbohydrate supply to ants were greatest where A. gracilipes was present, but it is not clear if this association is causal. Regardless, indirectly controlling ant abundance by controlling carbohydrate supply appears to be promising avenue for research. The type of targeted, site-specific research such as that described here should be an integral part of any eradication program for invasive species to design knowledge-based treatment protocols and determine assessment benchmarks to achieve eradication.

The Noumea Convention was negotiated under the framework of UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme and adopted in 1986. The Convention and its two related Protocols (Protocol for the Prevention of Pollution of the South Pacific Region by Dumping; Protocol Concerning Co? operation in Combating Pollution Emergencies in the South Pacific Region) entered into force on 22 August 1990.