BLOSSOM — Biodiversity and Landscape restoration for Oceanic islands using Sustainable Strategies and innOvative Methodologies

New Caledonia is navigating a political and socio-economic crisis while climate change intensifies droughts, heat and floods. Despite being a world-leading biodiversity hotspot, the value of many endemic plants remains little known or used by communities. BLOSSOM acts in two contrasting areas—the Loyalty Islands (Maré, Lifou) and the North (Koumac)—to restore priority landscapes, safeguard water and soils, and open livelihood options. By pairing spatial analysis with hands-on training, the project helps communities and youth leaders plan smart, low-cost renaturation and turn endemic species—including, not only, sandalwood—into shared assets.

BLOSSOM is a community-centred restoration programme that recognises today’s fiscal constraints and the need to link adaptation with new, locally grounded opportunities. The project multiplies native and endemic species in nursery systems (with in-vitro support for priority taxa) and deploys them through mixed plantings and assisted natural regeneration. Economic and cultural co-benefits are diversified: sandalwood is one option, but food, medicinal and service-providing species also feature. To place efforts in the right locations, teams use GIS, multi-criteria cost–benefit analysis and constraint-based optimisation to co-define priority sites with customary and municipal authorities. The Loyalty Islands and the Northern Province differ ecologically and socially, yet face the same core challenges : water security, soil loss, invasive species pressure and fragile livelihoods. BLOSSOM therefore invests in capacity building—youth leader cohorts, practical trainings, bilingual materials—and in open, respectful dialogue so that communities can appropriate the tools and knowledge they need. Monitoring tracks survival, growth and simple indicators of ecosystem services and well-being, feeding iterative improvement and policy-ready lessons..

Objectives of the project 

BLOSSOM pairs GIS-guided prioritisation with nursery-based restoration and participatory fieldwork. CBNNC (IAC) provides botany, conservation planning and stakeholder facilitation; UNC supports in-vitro and chemotype work.

• Objective 1 — Restoration for communities. Restore ≥10 ha across Koumac, Maré and Lifou; produce ≥5,000 native/endemic plants (~14,000 targeted at Koumac); maximise co-benefits of endemic species (water, soils, cultural uses) and increase the number of wild endemic species integrated into restoration operations; safeguard local sandalwood lineages; install bilingual field panels and run participatory plantings.
• Objective 2 — Skills, nurseries and livelihoods. Train ≥30 youth leaders and ≥120 community members (seed collection, nursery, planting, monitoring); set up/strengthen nurseries (Koumac polyvalent nursery and community-linked units); provide “species & uses” factsheets and site videos; pilot work assignments for trained crews during campaigns.
• Objective 3 — Decision support & scaling. Provide GIS layers, multi-criteria cost–benefit and constraint-based optimisation dashboards for provinces/communes; co-define priority sites with customary/municipal partners; publish practical methods and host learning events to enable replication.

Social inclusion and gender equity

In customary rural contexts, decision-making is often male-led; women, youth and persons with disabilities face barriers (language, transport, schedules, facilities). BLOSSOM integrates GEDSI from inception to practice:

• Analysis & data. Inception GEDSI scan; sex/age-disaggregated attendance and beneficiary tracking; barrier mapping (mobility, care duties, safety); consent and safeguarding embedded.
• Inclusive design. Target ≥40% women participation where relevant; outreach via women’s groups/youth councils; facilitation in Drehu/Nengone/Nêlêmwa–Nixumwak; accessible venues; travel stipends/child-care solutions when feasible.
• Skills & leadership. ≥30 youth leaders trained (nursery, restoration, monitoring), with women encouraged as trainers and spokespersons; code of conduct and grievance channel active.
• Accessible materials. Bilingual/trilingual factsheets; subtitled videos, plain language, alt-text; field panels readable and inclusive.
• Fair opportunities. Transparent selection for paid field assignments; rotating speaking roles; recognition of women-led nursery micro-teams.
• Outcomes/lessons. Early consultations show higher women/youth attendance with local-language facilitation and transport support; disability-friendly venues increase participation; aligning events with customary calendars sustains engagement. Continuous feedback loops inform adjustments and are reported semi-annually.