NiaTero - 2020 Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 19
PASIFIKA
In 2020, we launched our Pasifika Strategy to strengthen
Indigenous guardianship of Islands and Ocean, and to
elevate the influence of Pasifika identity in shaping policy
and action on guardianship.
Our Islands work began in solidarity with the Solomon
Islands Government’s Sky Island
Pledge to protect some of the largest
remaining forests in the region.
Grants have been made to Indigenous
partners across Sky Islands regions
of Kolombangara, Guadalcanal, and
Malaita, strengthening community
forest protection and supporting the
design of long-term financing. Work
includes reconnecting youth and
elders within ancestral homelands,
enhancing Indigenous capability to
gather and influence civil society and
political leadership, and support for legal action to stop
illegal logging. A Sky Islands educational and retreat center,
Imbu Rano Lodge, is now revitalized; monitoring capacity
is strengthening, political will is expanding, and key Sky
Islands cases are in the courts.
NIA TERO - THRIVING PEOPLES. THRIVING PLACES.
Indigenous-led storytelling continues to inspire the
scope of the Pledge. Initial partnerships in Vanuatu and
Kanaky, and a developing partnership with an alliance of
frontline organizations and leaders in Papua New Guinea, is
supporting subnational versions of the Pledge. Across the
region, legal capacity is growing,
emblematic cases are advancing,
and people are standing up to center
the sacred, life-giving force of Sky
Islands.
Work on Oceans with Indigenous
guardians in the Cook Islands is
strengthening the Marae Moana
marine domain protected area
by reconnecting youth with
Maori values and practice, and
by designing customary and
government co-management.
Despite progress towards securing the 50-nautical mile
customary zones around all islands, partners are concerned
about government intentions to advance deep seabed
mining exploration in 2021. In response, our Pasifika Team
produced a Position Statement on Deep Seabed Mining
REGIONS - PASIFIKA
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