The news on climate has been hard to read lately. But one thing that keeps us going is knowing we are working with partners and communities to keep Pacific rainforests healthy and people protected from the worst of the impacts.
Cyclone season is always a tough one for communities in Vanuatu — and 2023 was particularly brutal with twin category four Cyclones Judy and Kevin followed by Cyclone Lola. Many communities were impacted by both extreme weather events.
Nakau’s local partner Live & Learn Vanuatu worked closely with some of these communities — including in central Malekula — helping people to rebuild homes, repair infrastructure and re-plant gardens.
Hearing from the people who experienced these cyclones highlighted how healthy forests are critical to climate resilient communities in Vanuatu, and the importance of working with people to protect and restore forests and other ecosystems.
Here are five ways they say forests help strengthen their climate resilience:
1. Forests protect homes, gardens and infrastructure: In Malekula, community members reported houses closer to healthy forest were less affected by the strong winds compared to the homes further away from the forest. They also saw how homes near forest that had been cleared or degraded had no good storm buffer to protect them from strong wind. These more degraded forests were also hit hard by the cyclone, leaving less timber for rebuilding.
“We’re lucky we have our forests to protect us as a windbreak from the cyclones” — Kariman, Akte Forest Ranger
2. Forests provide shade and clean water during extreme heat: When houses and gardens are destroyed, there is no respite from the heat that follows in the immediate aftermath of a cyclone. Locals in Malekula experienced sunny, hot and dry weather right after the recent cyclones and the forest provided a place for them to cool down and source fresh drinking water.
“When we suffer droughts and heat following cyclones, the forest provides a cool shady place for us” — Mary, community member
3. Forests are a source of food: Food sources after extreme weather are largely dependent on how gardens survived. Often during cyclones and high winds, crops from local gardens are uprooted. However, once it is safe, taro and other root-based crops can be collected and stored for up to two weeks.
Forests still play an important role. To supplement their diet, some Malekula locals hunted in the forest for additional protein from birds, coconut crabs and other small animals. Forest timber also provided fuel for cooking, and in some places in Vanuatu food like island cabbage and bananas (below) is grown in the canopy of the forest.
“Recovering from cyclones would be much harder if we didn’t have our forests. We rely on them for hunting and food after disasters” — Georgie, Village Chief
4. Forests provide materials to rebuild after a storm: Many locals said they relied on the surrounding forests for building materials after cyclones. Sourcing local timber sustainably, they could repair house posts and significant structural damage without having to rely on deliveries from Port Vila.
5. Forests support healthy marine life: Forests play an important role in holding soil, preventing it running into swamps, mangroves and fringing reefs during a rainstorm. In Malekula, residents have seen how cyclones and heavy rain caused soil to pollute mangroves and swamps in areas where more trees had been cut down.
When forests are protected, people are protected
Despite a ban on the export of round logs from Vanuatu, many forests across the island nation remain severely degraded. Some of this is from commercial agriculture. Some is from the impact of logging in the past, where invasive species have replaced native trees. And some of it is from the pressure of development — roads, new houses and expanding gardens.
On East Santo in Vanuatu, the Loru Forest Conservation Area is one of just a few healthy forest areas found on the island.
“On Santo we don’t have many places like Loru ,” says Chief Skip Ser. He is a key member of the Ser Clan, who own the Loru Forest Conservation Area and who run a conservation carbon project by protecting the darkbus and restoring surrounding areas.
“Inside the conservation area, we have bushwalking for visitors, we have birdwatching, we have big forest, we have big trees,” he explains.
“We have lots of animals too. We have coconut crabs. We have 24 bird species including five endemic species. We plant native fruit trees to ensure birds have enough food and so they stay in the conservation area. If we did not take care, we would lose them. Our children would not get to see them … so that is one reason why we conserve the forest at Loru.”
Khole village has been lucky with cyclones over the last year. They suffered only minor damage with Lola. But they know a cyclone could hit any time, and they have helped prepare their community well for the impacts of extreme weather by keeping the forest intact, ensuring important habitats remain, and growing food gardens in the shade of establishing native trees.
Kaltabang Fred was a Loru forest ranger for six years and he has seen the forest become healthier each year it is protected, with more birds and animals returning to the forest.
“We plant native trees, especially Natapoa. When they’re blooming and bear fruits it attracts flying foxes and birds that come to eat the fruits and satisfy their needs. They benefit from it. We can now see most of the birds and flying foxes are coming in to populate the Loru Conservation Area,” says Kaltabang.
Ranger duties are now in the hands of Chief Skip and junior ranger Rocco Viran. But they don’t work alone. There is a crew of both old and young Serthiac members and Khole village residents who chip in to help manage the forest and nearby agro-forestry plots where food gardens and native seedlings are reforesting degraded areas.
“Now we are also training our youth in future to take over the responsibility and taking care of this project as we are today. It is our young people who will take care of the project and maintain for our future generation,” says Kaltabang.
Learn more about the Loru Forest Carbon Project.
Recent project expansion work in Loru is supported by Climate Resilient by Nature through the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and WWF-Australia in partnership with Live & Learn International.
