Loru Forest Project, Vanuatu – The Nakau Programme // GO BACK
The Loru Forest Project, managed by the Nakau Programme, protects 166 ha of tropical rainforest on eastern Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu.
The project combines coastal rainforest protection with agroforestry, with a special focus on producing the agricultural commodity Melanesian Chestnut (Canarium indium) for participating community members.
Actively Contributes To
Actively Contributes To
- Generating employment opportunities as forest rangers and within community enterprises.
- Supporting the development of new micro-enterprises such as tourism businesses and tree nurseries. Support will also be given to agroforestry enterprises for timber, fruit and nut production.
Actively Contributes To
- The project is owned by the Serkar Clan of indigenous ni-Vanuatu landowners of Loru, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. The clan consists of five extended families of some 50 individuals descended from Chief Serkar (1913-1997). The landowners have given up rights to clear land for coconut plantations in exchange for the opportunity to sustainably manage local land to generate revenue for local economic development.
- This project also provides governance and management support and capacity building for community enterprise at Loru. This is to help the Loru landowners manage the rainforest conservation project and develop spin-off community businesses - the first of which is a community business producing and selling agroforestry produce (e.g. Canarium nuts) from adjacent lands that they own and manage.
Actively Contributes To
- Maintenance of forest cover promotes climate change resilience through regulation of watersheds and reduction of soil erosion which lessen the impacts of droughts, flooding and extreme weather events.
Actively Contributes To
- The project protects over 293 ha of tropical rainforest on eastern Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu which provides habitat for the critically endangered Vanuatu Megapode bird (Megapodu freycinet layardi), and the critically endangered Coconut Crab (Birgus latro). It is also home to several endemic birds including the Vanuatu Kingfisher (Halycon farquhari), the Vanuatu Flycatcher (Neolalage banksiana), the Vanuatu Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus tannensis), the Vanuatu White-eye (Sosterops flavifrons), the Santo Mountain Starling (Aplonis santovestris), the Vanuatu Imperial Pigeon (Ducula bakeri), and the Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis).
- The rainforest also provides valuable protection from cyclones, floods and droughts for the Loru local people.
This ex-post project will generate 2,442 Plan Vivo Certificate per year, with registration and first issuance due in Q2, 2016. The project works with about fifty indigenous ni-Vanuatu landowners of the Serkar Clan, descended from Chief Serkar (1913 - 1997). In order to protect the rainforest, these landowners have given up the rights to land clearance for coconut plantations.
The project site provides habitat for the critically endangered Vanuatu Megapode bird (Megapodu freycinet layardi) and the critically endangered Coconut Crab (Birgus latro). It is also home to several endemic bird species including the Vanuatu Kingfisher (Halycon farquhari), the Vanuatu Flycatcher (Neolalage banksiana), the Vanuatu Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus tannensis), the Vanuatu White-eye (Sosterops flavifrons), the Santo Mountain Starling (Aplonis santovestris), the Vanuatu Imperial Pigeon (Ducula bakeri), and the Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis).
The project aims to support its participants by providing governance and management support, as well as transferring skills, knowledge through capacity-building for setting up community enterprises at Loru. This will provide a long-term incentive and sustainability driver for the Loru landowners to manage the rainforest conservation project by developing community businesses based on agroforestry produce.
| ABOUT THE PROJECT |
|---|
| Location:
Espirtu Santo (Vanuatu) |
| Operational Since:
2013 |
| Project Coordinators:
Live & Learn Vanuatu, Nakau |
| PVCs Issued to date:
9,768 |
| Area of Land under Management:
293 ha |
| Participants:
50 |
Project Interventions:
|
| Milestones:
2015: Validation 2015: First Verification 2016: Registration 2017: Second Verification 2019: Winner of UN Equator Prize |
| Coordinator Details: |
| Further Programme Details:
Visit the Nakau Programme Website |
Project Location
Audit
Reports
Additional
Documents
June 2019 | Congratulations to the indigenous Ser-Thiac family of the Loru Forest project for winning the Equator Prize 2019! The Equator Prize is one of the United Nation’s most prestigious awards, distributed biennially to projects that show outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. For more information, please read Live&Learn's press release, or visit the Equator Prize 2019 Winners page.
May 2017 | There has been a recent visit to the Loru Forest Project by Swedish investors Opus and Nakau's partner ZeroMission. View the photos
November 2018 | An interview with Kalsakau, a landowner of the Loru Conservatuon Area, shows the importance of this land with respect to reducing conflict. This is an example of the many co-benefits, beyond carbon sequestration, provided by tropical forest conservation. Watch the video
February 2017 | Over the past month land owner and field officer Riman organised family members to clear merremia (invasive vine) from Loru Conservation Reserve in Vanuatu. This critical work is accelerating rainforest regeneration. View the photos