Samoa

Samoa is comprised of nine volcanic islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Officially known as the Independent State of Samoa, the country is governed as a parliamentary democracy that incorporates aspects of Samoan traditional custom [1]. Together the nine islands have a total land area of 2,934 sq km and 403 km of coastline, and are distributed over a 120,000 sq km Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The two largest islands – Savai’i and Upolu – account for 99% of the country’s total land area [3].

In 1994 Samoa ratified the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – a legally binding international treaty intended to create a long-term strategy for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. Along with many other provisions, the CBD requires all Parties with a marine jurisdiction to establish a “comprehensive, effectively managed, and ecologically representative” network of marine protected areas [3]. The current CBD target for marine protected areas is to create a global MPA network that effectively conserves 10% of the world’s marine eco-regions by 2020 [4].

Records of the total number and coverage of MPAs in Samoa vary among sources. In its 2009 “4th National Report to the CBD”, the Samoan government reported a total of 75 marine protected areas with a total coverage of 120,152.67 sq km* (including Samoa’s entire EEZ, which was designated in 2002 as a sanctuary for whales, turtles, and sharks [5]). Excluding the EEZ, total MPA coverage is approximately 152.67 sq km*. The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) also lists a total of 75 marine protected areas; however this number includes six terrestrial protected areas with a marine component [6]. While the WDPA does not report Samoa’s total MPA coverage, a report by Govan et al. (2009) put the total coverage of all Samoan MPAs listed by the WDPA at 209.1 sq km.

Samoa’s MPA network consists mainly of community-owned marine protected areas established through partnerships between local villages and the Samoan government [6]. Excluding the Samoan EEZ whale sanctuary and the terrestrial protected areas listed by the WDPA, marine protected areas in Samoa have been established through three major initiatives: (A) the creation of Palolo Deep Marine Reserve – Samoa’s only nationally designated MPA – established in 1974 under the National Parks and Reserves Act [7]; (B) Aleipata and Safata Marine Protected Areas, two large community-based MPAs established through a partnership between the villages of the Aleipata and Safata Districts, the Samoan government, and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and World Bank [8]; and (C) the Village Marine Reserve network established by local villages throughout Upolu, Sava’i, and Manono [9] with support from the Samoan Government through the 1995 Fisheries Extension Program [10].


 * Samoa’s 4th National Report to the CBD calculates total MPA coverage as 120,114.37 sq km; however this total excludes the coverage of an important MPA category – Samoa’s network of Village Marine Reserves (see fourth paragraph). To provide a more accurate total, the figure reported here includes the estimated coverage of the VMR network (38.3 sq km) listed in Govan et al. (2009). It is important to note that while the 4th National Report states that there are 71 currently active Village Marine Reserves, Govan et al. reports there are only 51.

Cited Sources:

[1] US Department of State – Background Note: Samoa http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1842.htm

[2] BBC News – Samoa Country Profile http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15655855

[3] CBD Article 8 “In-situ Conservation” http://www.cbd.int/convention/articles/?a=cbd-08

[4] Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 http://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/rationale/target-11/

[5] Samoa’s 4th National Report to the CBD http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/ws/ws-nr-04-en.pdf

[6] Govan, H. et al. 2009. Status and potential of locally-managed marine areas in the South Pacific: meeting nature conservation and sustainable livelihood targets through wide-spread implementation of LMMAs. SPREP/WWF/WorldFish-Reefbase/CRISP. 95pp + 5 annexes. http://www.sprep.org/att/publication/000646_LMMA_report.pdf

[7] Lovell, Edward R. Palolo Deep National Marine Reserve: a survey, inventory and information report / by Edward R. Lovell and Foua Toloa. – Apia, Western Samoa : SPREP, 1994. http://www.sprep.org/att/publication/Retro/Nature-Conservation/Palolo_deep_SPREP_RSS.pdf

[8] MNRE Newspaper – Aleipata and Safata Marine Protected Areas http://www.mnre.gov.ws/biodiv/documents/Newspaper/030824_Aleipata%20&%20Safata%20Marine.pdf

[9] Tiitii, Ulusapeti, Ann Trevor, and Jennifer Kallie. Government of Samoa. Fisheries Division, MAFFM. Community-owned protected areas in Samoa. 2001. http://www.mnre.gov.ws/documents/forum/2001/7-Tiitii-Trevor-Kallie.pdf

[10] King, Michael, and Ueta Faasili. "Village Fisheries Management and Community-owned Marine Protected Areas in Samoa." Naga, The ICLARM Quarterly. April-June. (1998): 34-38. http://worldfish.catalog.cgiar.org/naga/na_2300.pdf

Additional Sources:

Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat – Member Countries http://www.forumsec.org.fj/pages.cfm/about-us/member-countries/?printerfriendly=true#samoa

CIA World Factbook - Samoa https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ws.html

CBD country profile for Samoa http://www.cbd.int/countries/?country=ws

Mulipola, Antonio P. "Community-based Marine Protected Areas in Samoa." Country Report prepared for the Polynesia Sub-regional Workshop on Community-based Marine Protected Areas. 1999.

http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/basch/uhnpscesu/pdfs/sam/Mulipola1999WS.pdf