Solomon Islands

The PACRES programme implementation sites in Solomon Islands are Barana, Mataniko, Botanical Garden, Honiara and Honiara CBD. Key areas of implementation include watershed adaptation, riverbank stabilization, urban greening; landscaping master plan and nursery expansion.

• Identification of Change Agents completed.
• Grants and proposal writing training held on 21 – 22 April 2022.
• Rights-based approach, gender social inclusion training held on 14 – 15 July 2022.
• Joint Mission between PACRES USP and SPREP over 23 – 29 July 2022.
• Review of Guadalcanal Provincial Government’s 3-year Development Plan.
• Community Leadership and Governance training held on 11-12 October 2022.
• Nursery Training held on 13 – 14 October 2022.
• Community-based Resources and Business Management (CBRBM) training workshop held on 19 – 20 October 2022.

Climate change issues in Solomon Islands

Prominent climate change impacts in Solomon Islands include natural disasters, increasing frequency of extreme rainfall, tropical cyclones, landslides and droughts. To address climate change issues, Solomon Islands has a national climate change policy, a disaster risk management Act and Plan, and other sectoral plans policies and strategies. In addition, work on a resilience development framework is currently in progress. The existing limitations for community resilience development includes functional and technical capabilities for developing, implementing and monitoring community development programs and projects. Capacity needs at local government and community levels include lack of competency and proper governance to implement plans and policies. None the less, various climate change adaptation and environment management programmes are implemented in Solomon Islands through the government and various agencies.

Capacity Needs Assessment

Focused Group Discussions (FGD) were used to identify capacity needs at the PACRES sites. A total of 40, 21 females and 19 males, participated in the activity from the Guadalcanal Provincial Government, Barana Nature Heritage Park, Tandai House of Chiefs, Tandai Ward Development Committee and Barana Community. Prominent climate change impacts from tropical cyclones, storm surges, floods, landslides and droughts include water and food security, and health and sanitation issues after/during natural disasters, which are compounded by little government support. Key capacity needs identified included:

• Need for proper development framework at Provincial Government level.
• Lack of technical skills at local levels.
• Limited capacity for financial management.
• Financial constraints.
• With respect to disaster risk management: lack of social responsibility and leadership at local government level, slow delivery of relief supplies and lack of preparedness.
• Lack of technical capacity for developing, implementing and monitoring climate change adaptation and environment management projects.
• Disconnect between national and sub-national governments.
• Need for literacy training at community governance level and for women.
• Lack of management plans to guide the role of Chiefs Council. Need for leadership and governance training for community governing bodies.
• Need for training in alternative livelihood planning for women, reporting and proposal writing skills.
• Need for awareness on climate change, disaster risk management and natural resource management.

Local/Community Action Plans

As an initial step towards mainstreaming climate change and disaster risk management, the following local action plans are identified for PACRES geographical locations: Barana Community Heritage and Nature Park Management Plan.