End of PACC Project

On March 31, 2015; the FSM PACC Project ends. We will no longer post in this blogsite, but to get news related to climate change  in Oceania, please visit pacificclimatechange.net
Thank you.

Climate Change Song from Kosrae, FSM - Tessa Abraham

Corals everywhere could lose their colour in 2015 - NOAA

Corals everywhere could lose their colour in 2015 - NOAA   http://www.rtcc.org/2015/02/18/corals-everywhere-could-lose-their-colour-in-2015-noaa/

Islands Threatened By Sea-Level Rise - Business Insider

Islands Threatened By Sea-Level Rise - Business Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/islands-threatened-by-sea-level-rise-2015-1?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/islands-threatened-by-sea-level-rise-2015-1?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/islands-threatened-by-sea-level-rise-2015-1?op=1

FSM PACC Terminal Evaluation

Mr. Shin Furuno, a consultant from SPREP, will be in Kosrae to do the FSM PACC Project Terminal Evaluation from November 18 to the 21^st. He will visit the island stakeholders to interview them about the project. His first visit will be to Honorable Lyndon Jackson. During the first day on Kosrae,  he will visit the Director of  DT&I, Mr. Weston Luckymis and KIRMA’s Director P. Robert Jackson.  On Wedsday, he will talk with the Department of  Administration director, Mr. Alik Isaac. On Thursday he will meet Mr. Switson Robert  from the Department of Finance and the Mayor of Tafunsak with some of the landowners of the Pilot project road . Afterwards, he will be taken to the road from Lacs to Lacl. FSM PACC Director, Mr. Simpson Abraham and the Administrative Official, Mr. Ginny Jose; will be with Mr. Furuno during all the process.

Mr. Simpson Abraham, Hon. Lyndon Jackson and Mr. Shin Furuno.

FSM PACC Project Video Filmed.

The second week of December, the FSM PACC Project, had a team of filmmakers to film a video about the project.  The team from New Zealand, known as Prospekt Mira, interviewed government officials, some  pilot road beneficiaries, areas affected by climate change and adaptation strategies to cope with those changes.

 

         Mr. Alokoa Jonathan tells the team how high the waves reached during the 2008 storm surge.

 

 

 

The Prospekt Mira team has filmed other PACC projects in Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Fji, Samoa and the Cook Islands. The FSM PACC Project video will be completed in two or three months. It will be presented on Kosrae, the other States of  Micronesia and other Pacific and international countries. This video about Kosrae’s project, will be presented to donor agencies to showcase Kosrae vulnerabilities and work done to be more resilient. We are grateful to everyone that participated in this video.

Rev. Soloman Mongkeya, one of the road beneficiaries while being interviewed by the film crew.

 

 

The Prospekt Mira tean is a non profit organization, who are passionate about sustainable development.The members are: Mrs, Andrea Egan, Producer; Mr. Luke McPake, Director; Mr. Joe Hitchcock, Director of Photography and Mr. David Angelson, Sound Technician. For more information on the team, please contact: http://prospekmira.org/

 

 

International Day for Disater Risk Reduction and the World Food Day

On Friday, October 17, FSM PACC, the DCO and IOM, celebrated the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, IDDR and the World Food Day, WFD. The IDDR activity focused in the aging population. The 8^th grade students from Kosrae, wrote essays on taking care of our elderly and handicapped people during disasters. Five females were the finalists of this contest.  The second part of the day’s activities, was the visit of two senior citizens from Utwe and Tafunsak. They explain us the ways to preserve food, with examples like furoh, Ik salt, Kirahk and others. These were food that was made before and after a disaster that level most of the food trees. This year activities were focused in Sansrik Elementary School.

 

 

Applying cost-benefit analysis principles to climate change and disaster risk in FSM

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Published on 14 October 2014

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The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has partnered with key agencies in the region to deliver a specialised cost-benefit analysis training workshop for government officials in Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia.

The workshop took place last week as part of the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) - a project that seeks to pilot and demonstrate ways in which climate risk and resilience may be integrated into core development planning and implementation by providing incentives for scaled-up action and initiating transformational change.

Pictured above: Workshop trainers and participants in Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia

Organised in response to a request from the Kosrae State Government, the workshop aimed to strengthen the capacity of key ministries to apply cost-benefit analysis to development projects, taking into account climate change and disaster risks.

The Governor of Kosrae State, the Hon. Lyndon Jackson was instrumental in facilitating this activity and established a Steering Committee to drive the situation analysis to identify three initiatives that would be the focus of SPREP's work. The other two initiatives are central agency appraisal functions and monitoring and evaluation for decision-makers. Asked about the importance of the workshop Governor Jackson said:

"It is well documented that Kosrae is extremely vulnerable to climate change and disaster risks with most of our people and infrastructure located on the coastal fringe. We have and will continue to experience a lot of flooding, storm surges and coastal erosion. Building local capacity to develop quality proposals that will assist us to effectively address these risks is a priority for my administration and for the people of Kosrae."

Participants at the workshop welcomed the training and the new resources that were made available to them as part of this activity. Mr Alik Isaac, Kosrae State Director of Administration and Finance, explains:

"Since the late 1980s, numerous books and guides have been published to establish a systematic cost-benefit analysis but none of them have included case studies that are relevant to decision-makers in the Pacific. It was good to have a guide with local case studies launched at this workshop."

This PPCR activity is administered by ABD and implemented by SPREP through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Office of Environment and Environment and Emergency Management in the Federated States of Micronesia. The World Bank and Secretariat of the Pacific Community are also part of the programme that will be assisting Kosrae.

PPCR Project Manager, Luatutu Andre Volentras, welcomed the close collaboration of SPREP, SPC, USP, USAID, UNDP to jointly deliver the cost-benefit analysis training, noting that this was consistent with the PPCR philosophy of building on current development partner initiatives and not taxing the limited absorptive capacity of many Pacific island countries.

The training was carried out by Aaron Buncle, Baljeet Singh, Marco Arena and Markand Bhatt.

Article written by Mr. Andre Volentras.

Adaptation stories from the northern Pacific highlighted in Majuro | Climate Change

News release from SPREP.

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30 September 2014, Majuro, Republic of Marshall Islands - Delegates to the 25th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme today had the opportunity to hear first-hand accounts of success stories and lessons learned arising from the world class Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) programme.

The PACC programme is the first major climate change adaptation initiative in the Pacific region. Since it began in 2009 the programme has been demonstrating best-practice adaptation in three key climate-sensitive areas: coastal zone management, food security and food production, and water resources management.

With the programme slated to wrap up in the first quarter of 2015, an emphasis for the next six months (aside from evaluation activities) will be on collecting and disseminating the vast array of insights, results and impacts deriving from more than five years of intervention.

While PACC has operated in 14 different Pacific islands, the focus of today's event was on the unique experiences of northern Pacific countries.

PACC Coordinators Joseph Cain and Abraham Simpson presented on the PACC interventions in Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia respectively, painting a comprehensive before and after picture of risks and opportunities.

Mr Peniamina Leavai (right) with Mr Joseph Cain (centre) and Mr Abraham Simpson (left) at today's event.

For Mr Peniamina Leavai, SPREP's Adaptation Planning Officer for PACC, the high level of audience interest and engagement indicated that today's event was a great success. Mr Leavai explains:

"There is a real appreciation that PACC has the capacity to live on through the development of new programmes based on our lessons and best practices. That capacity to address climate change across different sectors - through incorporating risks and trying out resilience measures - was made clear."

"And importantly, it was great to note that almost all of our knowledge management products were picked up by interested parties. It goes to show that exchange of information is valued and that PACC experiences are important in helping us to shape our future programmes and projects."

By way of example, Mr Mosese Sivovou of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) commented at the event that the results, tools and frameworks from the PACC programme are being referred to and used by other resilience projects in the region. The lessons learned from PACC support the effectiveness and relevance of other programmes and ensure that efforts are not duplicated.

Mr Peniamina Leavai presenting at today's PACC side event.

For more information about PACC, please visit http://sprep.org/pacc

The PACC programme is funded by the Global Environment Facility and the Australian Government. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is the regional executing agency and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the implementing agency.

Tsunami Training Workshop

A tsunami training workshop was conducted in Kosrae from September 17-19 for Tsunami threat assessment and decision making.  The trainers were Dr. Laura Kong, Director of the International Tsunami Information Center in Honolulu; Mr. Charles "Chip" Guard, Warning Coordination Meteorologist from Guam, Rev. Eden Skilling from the FSM Weather Service and Mr. Nena William as the Disaster Coord ination Officer for the State of Kosrae.

 

FSM PACC personnel joined the other stakeholders to learn about the new Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) messages. These  messages contains the data from earthquakes, which can be used to determine the probability of generating tsunamis and estimated times of arrival.

The PTWC will give the information and each country should evaluate the need to evacuate. Kosrae State will be in contact with the FSM Weather Station in Pohnpei to determine the need to make tsunami warnings. Another tool we got in the training is a software that give us the location, magnitude and depth of the earthquakes, to visualize were it was and the potential to generate a tsunami. With these new products, Kosrae is better prepared to evaluate the need of evacuation  before a tsunami reach the island.

 

From left to right: Mr. Nena William, Dr. Laura Kong, Rev. Eden Skilling and Mr. Chip Guard.

El Nin~o Warning

A chart which shows the current weather conditions of El Nin~o, La Nin~a and Neutral years, has been produced by Coastal Engineer, Mr. Douglas Ramsay. He works for New Zealand's, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd. Mr. Ramsay prepares Kosrae tide tables from the data gathered by the FSM PACC meteorological instruments and also updated the Kosrae Shoreline Management plan.

The chart has an arrow showing the strenght of the current state and also the changes expected in terms of rainfall, drought, temperature, typhoon ocurrence, sea level, trade winds and coral bleaching.

This warning can be accessed in kosraecoast.com

Kosrae State Joint Action Plan in Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change

A consultation meeting on Disaster Risk Management & Climate Change Adaptation, was held in Kosrae State from August 26 until September 6, 2014.  Consultants from SPC and the National Government Office of Environment & Emergency Management, OEEM; facilitated the consultation. The purpose of this consultation was the collection of inputs from Kosrae stakeholders, and prepare the  Kosrae Joint Sate Action Plan, KJSAP on DRM and CCA.

The KJSAP, will implement National Government policy goals, it is State driven, allows for multiple perspectives by consulting different sectors/stakeholders. The plan aligns with the State, National and Regional approach of integrating disaster and climate risk.

The consultation  was conducted by the Kosrae Disaster Coordinator, Mr. Nena William; SPC consultants, Mrs. Anna Gero and Noah Tokavou  and OEEM’s James Lukan and Cindy Ehmes. The stakeholders consulted included, The Governor’s Cabinet, Government agencies, NGO’s, Municipal leadership, Disable persons, Youth & Women’s Councils, Church leaders and Senior citizens.

 

The final meetings presented the findings from the different sectors consulted. The key hazard most mentioned was the high sea/swells with 17 inputs from a total of 35. Other findings were the gaps in financial & physical capacity, which need to be improved. The island’s capacity on human, social & environment issues fared better.

Kosrae State Governor, Hon. Lyndon Jackson, merged the Kosrae Disaster Coordination Office and the FSM PACC as one office to be consistent to the local CC legislation on December 2013.  The FSM National Climate Change Policy & Disaster Risk reduction was passed by the FSM Congress in September 2013. Kosrae was the first State to held this consultation, the other three states will be next.

 

 

1st Disaster Risk Management Conference.

National Government OEEM Director, Mr. Andrew Yatilman.

The First Disaster Risk Management Conference was held on the Pohnpei’s Governor’s Conference Room, from June 16-20.  Subjects discussed during the conference included: Damage Assessment for households and for communities, Response & Recovery Planning, Early Warning System by the National Weather Service. There were other presentations by the National Government’s Office of Environment and Emergency Management, the NGO’s International Organization for Migration and the Micronesia Red Cross Society. Mr. Simpson Abraham made a presentation about the FSM PACC Project and its achievements. With the rest of the Kosrae’s Delegation, we updated Kosrae State information for the disaster management checklist. The few checklists we prepare will guide the emergency responders to orderly approach the disaster.

Mr. Abraham makes a presentation on the FSM PACC achievements.

Ribbon Cutting and Benediction of Pilot Road.

On May 29,2014; the FSM PACC project had the Ribbon Cutting and Benediction Ceremonies for the completed Pilot Road. The road from Lacl to Lacs in the Tafunsak Municipality, was climate proofed to make it more resilient to the expected increase in rainfall and sea level rise in  the future.

The Ceremonies took place at the entrance of the Pilot road.

 

The activities begun at 9:00 Am with an openning prayer by Rev. Soloman Mongkeya. The Opening remark was done by the Hon. Governor of Kosrae state, Mr. Lyndon Jackson. The guest speakers for the activity were the FSM Vice President, Hon. Alik Alik, SPREP's Deputy Director General, Mr. Kosi Latu. The second prize winners of the Climate Change Song competition, the Rabbit Island Youth Choir, sang to the delight of the people present. Two more remarks were done by Mrs. Sian Nivinson, as Personal Representative for the Australian  Ambassador and the Mayor of Tafunsak , Mr. Jacob George.

 

The Lelu Gospel Choir sang to the public prior to the Blessing of the project by Rev. Takeo Likiaksa. Then the Ribbon Cutting proceeded and afterwards the Benediction  was done by Rev. Livinson Taulung. Also present at the Ceremonies were Mr. Miguel Ordon~ez, from the USA Embassy; Mr. John Palmer from SPC North REP; Mrs. Louise Dutertre from SPC and the FSM Ambassador to Fiji, H.E. Gerson Jackson.

 

 

Ribbon Cutting, from Left to Right: Mr. Nena William, Master of Ceremonies, Mrs. Louise Dutertre, Mr. Kosi Latu, Hon. VP Alik Alik, Hon. Lyndon Jackson, Mr. Jacob George and DT&I 's Director Mr. Weston Luckymis.

 

 





5th Annual Public Health and Hospital Emergency Preparedness Summit

Participants from the four States and the National Government (Office of Environment and Emergency Management), participated on the 5th  Annual Public Health and Hospital Emergency Preparedness Summit which was held on Kosrae from April 14 - 17. FSM PACC Coordinator, Mr. Simpson Abraham, made a presentation about climate change and how could affect the health of the people of the FSM. He talked about how changes in the future climate as more rainfall, will cause more floods and mosquitoes breeding, leading to more mosquito borne diseases as Dengue fever.. He also mentioned the saltwater intrusion that is affecting taro patches in the FSM's atolls, as a result of the sea level rise,which can endanger the food security of the islanders.

Climate Change and Mangroves

The Climate Change awareness team visited  Lelu Elementary School to show an instructional video on Climate Change and how affects our mangroves. This video, prepared by  the Pacific Climate Education Partnership, PCEP from Hawaii with our local experts from KIRMA,  FSM PACC Project, the DOE’s PREL Project and the Science Coordinator; was presented to 3, 4 and 5^th grade students.

Mrs. Ruthey M. Luckymis from KIRMA presents the video to 3rd grade students.

 

 This video includes interviews to mangrove users and we selected Senior Citizens of both sexes to describe us the changes occurred in our mangroves, its tress and animals.  Students had the opportunity to learn about changes degrading the ecosystem and how to minimize negative effects to make us less vulnerable to the expected changes in future climate. After each presentation, we met with the teachers to ask them suggestions to improve the video depending on age group.

Carlos Cianchini from FSM PACC talks about mangrove trees to 5th grade students.

Pilot Project for Climate Resiliense, PPCR

The first week of March, week we received the visit of SPREP’s consultant, Mr. Aaron Buncle.  He came for the PPCR  project  (Pilot Project for Climate Resilience). This project aims to pilot and demonstrate ways in which climate risk and resilience may be integrated into National, State and Sectorial development planning.  Mr.  Buncle met with local agencies and organizations during the week and facilitated a worshop last Friday.  Policy processes were recollected from the participants to fine tune to achieve results. Mr. Buncle is met with  National agencies in Pohnpei during the 3rd week of March.

Mr. Aaron Buncle

 

Another  team of consultants came to Kosrae during the second  week of April  to work on the development of SPC’s Pilot Project for Climate Resilience (PPCR). The objective of this project is to improve the use of local, National and regional knowledge and information on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. This will strengthen the capacity to manage climate change risks to food security and the critical infrastructure. The consultants met with the Governor and the project’s Steering Committee members on Monday. The rest of the week, the consultants met with the different stakeholders from Fisheries, Agriculture, Water and Coastal Zone Management to gather information of current status of work and their needs. Kosrae and Christmas Island were selected among the different countries in the Pacific to carry on this project.

 

The consultants team was composed by Bruce Chapman ( leader), Arthur Webb ( coastal processess), Ian White (Water), Mary Taylor (agriculture) and Ursula        ( fisheries).

 

The Kosrae Shoreline Management Plan – Repositioning for Resilience

Last March 21^st , The Kosrae Shoreline Management Plan, was officially presented to Kosrae Governor Honorable Lyndon H. Jackson. During the closing ceremonies of the 4^th FSM Environmental Conference, Mr. Fenno Brunken of the German Cooperation Agency (GIZ), gave the Governor the document. The new Plan is a revised and updated version of the original one prepared in the year 2000.

On July 2012, a group of consultants came to Kosrae for this project. The consultants were Mr. Douglas Ramsay, a coastal engineer at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in New Zealand; Dr. Arthur Webb, a coastal process advisor with SOPAC and Mr. Fenno Brunken , a CC advisor with GIZ. They met wih the Governor and different stakeholders.

 

During April 2013, Mr. Ramsay came to Kosrae and met with the Governor, his Cabinet, the State Legisature, representatives of the housing and utilities, the engineers and the general public in the five villages. He presented the varied impacts of coastal erosion and some adaptation strategies to make us more resilient to the expected changes in the futures. Sea walls are temporary solutions, a best alternative will be moving inland. Extreme changes are not expected in two generations, but we should nonetheless begin preparing now.

 

The consultants suggested the rehabilitation and improvement of the existing farm roads as an alternative to the threatened coastal road. These roads will be climate proofed with the guidelines to be developed from the FSM PACC Pilot Road Project. Mr. Ramsay based his analysis of the Kosrae’s coastal erosion by his extensive experience on the island from 1998 – 2000, while working for Kosare Resource Management Authority (KIRMA). He prepared the Original Kosrae Shoreline Management Plan of the year 2000.

 

This Management Plan was funded by the German Technical Cooperation Agency, GIZ and SPC North Pacific.

 

 

To download a copy of the Kosrae Shoreline Management Plan, please go to kosraecoast.com

El Nino Signs Detected, Presaging Global Weather Change - Bloomberg

El Nino Signs Detected, Presaging Global Weather Change - Bloohttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-15/el-nino-signs-detected-presaging-global-weather-change.html?cmpid=yhoomberg

Winners of the Song and Art Contests

During the closing Ceremony of the 4th FSM Environmental Conference, the winners of the FSM PACC's Song and Art contest. The theme of both contests was the "Impacts of Climate Change in Kosrae" The winnwer of the song contest was Miss Trisstesa H. Abraham, a 7th grade student of Lelu Elementary School, the second prize went to the Lik Boys Choir from Lelu.

Miss Trisstesa H. Abraham performs the winning song during the Environmental Conference Closing Ceremony.

The winners of the art contest received their prizes the same activity. Four  winning entries were from Utwe Elementary School and one from Sansrik E. S.

The winners of the art contest, from left to right; Mellahlyn, Tamara, Martha, Latisha and Shana.