Our climate change

@ Kiwa Initiative

To wrap up the presentation of the WISH+ "Watershed Interventions for Systems Health Plus", Integrated Watershed Management in Melanesia for Biodiversity, Climate Resilience and Community Health Benefits, team members, watch this video to learn more about the project's Regional Coordinator

Alice Latinne works closely with teams on the ground in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to facilitate the implementation of all project activities.

@ Kiwa Initiative

Dr Alice Latinne, the WISH+ regional project coordinator, is currently working with the WCS PNG field team based on Manus Island, in Papua New Guinea. Her role is to develop the #KiwaInitiative WISH+ work plan and assist the team with site selection and field activities on the island.

@ Kiwa Initiative

The Kiwa Initiative Secretariat and AFD - Agence Française de Développement team went with WCS-Fiji to Vanua Levu to visit the third regional project WISH+.

This third regional project supported by Wildlife Conservation Societyy has the objective to implement integrated watershed management to enhance biodiversity. 

What are the main objectives of the project?

Implement integrated watershed management for biodiversity, climate resilience and human health co-benefits as well as providing a model for managing systems health for the Pacific that is upscaled through decision-support tools, long-term sustainable financing and effective public policy.

Facilitate investment in Nature-based Solutions for safely managed drinking water, sanitation, and wastewater in high-risk watersheds, identified through innovative decision-support tools, while simultaneously delivering on outcomes for multiple sustainable development goals.

Facilitate transmission of lessons learned through regional networks to influence policy and innovative practices.

@ Wcs – Kiwainitiative

The Kiwa WISH+ project is the 3rd project of the Kiwa Initiative®. The project implemented by the Wildlife Conservation Society – WCS Melanesia aims to integrate watershed management at key sites in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, while developing financing mechanisms to enable the large-scale delivery of human and ecosystem co-benefits.

Why this project? Why on these sites?
Melanesia is globally recognized for its exceptional biodiversity and high levels of endemism. However, it is also extremely vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, extreme precipitation droughts and temperature changes.

Fiji's native forests are distinguished by their high levels of endemism, but are experiencing continued degradation in small coastal watersheds.

Solomon Islands has experienced intensive logging since the 1990s which has resulted in social impacts as well as impacts to water quality and downstream resources

 Papua New Guinea experienced a 15% net loss of forests between 1972 and 2002, and 8.8% of forests were degraded (Shearman et al. 2009) 

@ Wcs – Kiwainitiative

The WISH+ project consists of 3 main work streams to build community climate resilience on specific sites in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

Focus Component 1: Targeted, large-scale implementation of watershed interventions.
Objectives: Implement high-priority watershed interventions in existing project sites and monitor impacts to systems health.

Focus Component 2. Creating opportunities for scaling up and sustaining funding for Integrated Watershed Management.
Objectives:
1. Develop integrated watershed models to prioritize other geographical areas within the 3 countries for investment in targeted NbS and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions.
2. Build the case for establishing and operationalizing a National Watershed Fund in Fiji.
3. Build capacity and opportunities for sustainable financing in Papua New Guinea.
4. Identify options for public and private sector financing in the Solomon Islands.

Focus Component 3. Knowledge sharing to initiate regional replication of innovations.
Objectives:: Facilitate the transfer of lessons learned through regional networks to influence public policies and practices.

@ Wcs – Kiwainitiative

[WISH+ Component 1: Targeted, large-scale implementation of watershed interventions to improve systems health]

On-site project implementation will occur in targeted watershed and coral reef areas in the Vatu-i-Ra (Fiji) and Bismarck-Solomon Seascape (PNG, Solomon Islands).

While the headwaters of the watersheds are largely undisturbed, downslope areas are under development pressure from human population growth, logging and agricultural activities, which can disrupt a range of ecological and hydrological services for local people.

To maximize and maintain the benefits of these ecosystem services 🪸, the integration of wetland conservation and wise use through holistic integrated watershed management is essential.

The following solutions will be implemented:

#1 Intervention in critical watersheds

- Work with landowners to integrate their Water and Sanitation Safety Plans into broader sustainable land use management and ensure that the rules are implemented.

- Conduct targeted workshops and trainings to build the governance capacity of traditional leaders, resource management committees, and local committees to coordinate and implement integrated watershed management.

- Work with interested communities to protect biodiversity-rich forests and rehabilitate degraded watersheds through reforestation.

- Install water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure in selected villages and watersheds where there are critical needs to improve water quality and security that cannot be fully addressed with NbS.

#2 Monitoring and surveillance

- Conduct rigorous baseline and endline ecological, biophysical, and socioeconomic monitoring to measure impact and outcome indicators that will allow evaluation of direct and indirect results related to the activity's interventions.

- Collect data on syndromic diseases thanks to key informant surveys.

@ Wcs – Kiwainitiative

WISH+ Component 2: Create opportunities for scaling up and sustaining funding for Integrated Watershed Management

The WISH+ project team will develop decision support tools** aimed at identifying priorities for investment in Nature-based Solutions (NbS), as well as financing mechanisms to support their long-term implementation in Melanesian countries.

The aim is to provide guidance to the governments and landowners on optimal locations to invest in #NbS and other watershed interventions, as well as what types of actions work best in different contexts to achieve outcomes for biodiversity, climate, health & well-being.

**Examples:

- Maps of watersheds that are high risk for downstream impact to human and environmental health.

- Easy-to-use interactive tools that will allow decision-makers to identify the most appropriate watershed actions given local conditions.

The following solutions will be implemented:

#1 Planning support

- Engage local end-users to contribute to the development of models to identify high risk watersheds.

- Provide training to national and provincial government staff on how to use risk maps and interactive tools to prioritize watershed management action.

#2 Sustainable financing vehicle development

- Build the business case for investing in integrated watershed management to avert future healthcare and environmental rehabilitation costs.

- Develop and expand sustainable financing vehicles, including the PNG national Biodiversity and Climate Fund, tailored to national and local contexts to enable long-term delivery of social, ecological, and climate co-benefits through investments in NbS and water, sanitation and hygiene within high risk watersheds.

@ Wcs – Kiwainitiative

[Component 3: Develop knowledge sharing to initiate regional replication of innovations] 

Throughout the implementation of the project, the WISH+ team will share its approaches, data, and learnings through various communication channels to encourage replication by others in the Pacific.

For instance, the WISH+ team will:

1. Provide opportunities to disseminate lessons learned from this project within the region and globally, including through hosting the second Oceania Planetary Health Forum.

2. Engage in regional and global policy dialogues to work towards embedding the language of systems health approaches into agreements that influence resourcing for #NbS.

3. Facilitate meetings of the National Advisory Groups (NAGs) and cross-sectoral coordinating committees for the project.

4. Host webinar and podcast series to promote systems health approaches that use NbS and improvements to water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure to achieve co-benefits for biodiversity, climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and human well-being. 

@ Kiwa Initiative

A two-day Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (#GESI) Workshop was facilitated for twenty-two participants of the Wildlife Conservation Society Fiji and Papua New Guinea programs as well as a partner organisation to equip them with knowledge and skills to implement gender sensitive approaches through Kiwa WISH+ and other projects.

WCS-Fiji Country Director, Paul van Nimwegen said that the workshop was facilitated by GESI Consultant, Ms Anna Cowley who shared her wealth of experience and technical expertise in the area of mainstreaming GESI through awareness and dialogue as foundations for social change.

“Twenty two participants from WCS Fiji, the Fiji National University as well as our colleagues from the WCS Papua New Guinea program are now more aware of gender equity and social inclusion principles in their line of work and will be able to ensure that marginalised groups, including women, children, elderly and persons with disability are not exposed to additional vulnerabilities,” he said. “The interactive space created through the workshop encouraged the team to engage in dialogue and reflect on their experiences in the field,” said van Nimwegen.

“These skills will be useful for the work that WCS Fiji does such as carrying out GESI analysis for beneficiary communities which are critical in addressing equity and inclusion issues in order to ensure that resource management plans are effective and fair for all,” he said.

@ WCS Melanesia

Wildlife Conservation Society Melanesia is carrying out a gender risk assessment work with communities in the Solomon Islands, as part of the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (#FPIC) process of the regional Kiwa WISH+ project. 

This process is part of a global Environmental and Social Impact Assessment to develop gender-sensitive risk monitoring indicators for the project.

The Gender Risk Assessment was enabled thanks to the collaboration of the Kiwa Wish+ partners, The University of Queensland and the University of Sydney.

@ Wcs – Kiwainitiative

The WCS-Fiji and WCS Solomon Islands had their kick-off meetings to introduce the WISH+(Watershed Interventions for Systems Health) project.

The purpose of the kick-off meeting was to explain the deliverables expected to the staff from Fiji and the Solomon Islands. Clear expectations have been shared, including matters related to financial management, procurement, the environmental and social commitment plan, and communications.

The integrated watershed management work will achieve co-benefits for public health, biodiversity and climate by working with communities, partners, and the government to better manage watersheds for healthy people & healthy places.

@ Wcs – Kiwainitiative

The WISH team and WCS Melanesia Regional Director Stacy Jupiter (PhD) went to Papua New Guinea for the kick-off meetings introducing the WISH + (Watershed Interventions for Systems Health) project.

The kick-off meeting explains the deliverables expected to the local staff in PNG. Clear expectations have been shared, including matters related to financial management, procurement, the environmental and social commitment plan, and communications.

A parallel training was also completed with the PNG team earlier this month – both the team on Manus who will be implementing the site-based work there, and the larger PNG team during a meeting in Goroka.

The integrated watershed management work will achieve co-benefits for public health, biodiversity & climate by working with communities, partners, and the government to better manage watersheds for healthy people & healthy places.

@ Wcs – Kiwainitiative

During the Kiwa Initiative Steering Committee in July 2022, the next phase of the regional project Watershed Interventions for Systems Health (WISH+) has been launched.

The Kiwa “WISH+” new regional project of EUR 4.8 million will focus on integrated watershed management and will be implemented by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) at key sites in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

This project will intervene in targeted watershed and coral reef areas in the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape (in Fiji) and the Bismarck-Solomon Seascape (in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands).

Dr. Stacy Jupiter, Regional director for the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), said “WCS and our partners really appreciate the focus of the Kiwa Initiative on using Nature-based Solutions to simultaneously achieve multiple benefits for nature, people and climate.

We are excited to be launching the next phase of our Watershed Interventions for Systems Health (WISH+) where we will work with communities and government to better manage watersheds for healthy people and healthy places”.

@ Wcs – Kiwainitiative

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) launched on November 23 the Kiwa WISH+ project in Papua New Guinea, in presence of Ms. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, French Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships.

Through systems health and Nature-based Solutions approaches, the Watershed Interventions for Systems Health Plus (WISH+) project, funded under the Kiwa Initiative, will deliver co-benefits for climate resilience, biodiversity and human health and well-being in Papua New Guinea.

Under the new Watershed Interventions for Systems Health Plus (WISH+) project, more than 2,000 people will benefit from improved watershed management through implementation of Nature-based Solutions and water and sanitation interventions at key sites in Manus Island watersheds, where clans have agreed to conservation deeds. In addition, the WISH+ partnership will work with the Government of Papua New Guinea and the new national Biodiversity and Climate Fund to enable financing to replicate the model across other priority sites in the country where there is high risk to human health and the health of downstream ecosystems.

Dr. Adrian Tejedor, Country Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Papua New Guinea program, said that WISH+, as part of the Kiwa Initiative, will focus on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to improve resilience to climate sensitive diseases and protect biodiversity in upstream watersheds and downstream coral reefs. “Through WISH+, WCS and our partners from the University of Sydney and University of Queensland will work with government and communities to improve the health of coastal communities. Management actions will also improve access to clean water, support biodiversity conservation, and strengthen climate resilience and livelihoods in coastal communities,” he said.

The Kiwa WISH+ regional project is funded with €4.8 million (PGK 17.5 million) from the Kiwa Initiative with co-financing of €1,8 million (PGK 6.5 million). The project will be implemented at key sites in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands and will run through June 2026.

@ Wcs – Kiwainitiative

A concluding workshop of Phase 1 of WISH - Watershed Interventions for Systems Health project, a program implemented by the Wildlife Conservation Society – WCS, in partnership with the University of Sydney, Edith Cowan University and Fiji National University, was held on 12-13 October in Suva.

This event was an opportunity to communicate on the results, challenges, lessons learned and impact of the WISH Fiji project.On this occasion, phase 2 of the program, now called “WISH Plus,” funded by the Kiwa Initiative was launched in Fiji. This will expand the scope of the project by working regionally at key sites in Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.This Kiwa "WISH+" project, worth €4.8 million, will focus on integrated watershed management and is the third regional project under the initiative.Click here to read more about this project  https://bit.ly/3STXwT4