ReliefWeb

A ground-breaking ceremony was held in the community of Talafo’ou in eastern Tongatapu on 15 August to celebrate the beginning of a project that will contribute to protecting vulnerable coastal communities (Talafo’ou, Manuka, Makaunga, Kolonga, Navutoka and Nukuleka) from the impacts of climate change, especially sea-level rise. Interventions in these coastal communities have been prioritised under Tonga’s Joint National Action Plan for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management, 2010–2015. This coastal protection project is part of the Global Climate Change Alliance: Pacific Small Island States (GCCA:PSIS) project funded with EUR 11.4 million by the European Union. It is implemented regionally by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and nationally by each of the participating governments.

The purpose of this project is to trial different coastal protection measures along a six-kilometre stretch of low-lying coastline. The six villages and road in this area are already vulnerable to coastal erosion, the impacts of which will be exacerbated by sea-level rise. The measures consist of a series of ‘hard engineering measures’ – offshore breakwaters and semi-permeable groynes – combined with ‘soft engineering measures’, in particular beach nourishment and the planting of indigenous coastal plants and trees.

'This is an exciting project that will illustrate for Tonga how well different types of coastal protection measures perform. This project will not only provide coastal protection for the villages in eastern Tongatapu but also provide lessons and good practices for Tonga and other Pacific Islands facing similar climate change impacts,' says Dr Gillian Cambers, Project Manager, GCCA: PSIS Project. The construction of these protection measures is expected to be completed in early 2015, after which the measures will be carefully monitored.

The six communities have played an important role in the planning and consultative process that preceded the ground-breaking ceremony. Mr Manu Manuofetoa, the Tongan GCCA: PSIS project coordinator, explained, 'I was overwhelmed by the support from the communities and I salute them for their hard work; without the communities' support the ground-breaking ceremony would not have been epic.'

The project has involved more than two years planning as feasibility and engineering studies had to be completed, as well as an environmental impact assessment. 'The planning phase was a learning process and a very important part of the project, as we hope to replicate the lessons learnt from the coastal protection measures, in order to build resilience to climate change impacts nationally,' said Ms Luisa Tuiafitu Malolo, Director of Climate Change. Now the intensive planning is turning into reality as communities and the government of Tonga see the coastal protection measures taking shape.

Each of the GCCA: PSIS project countries: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Tonga and Tuvalu, are implementing a climate change adaptation project. These projects focus on different sectors: freshwater, health, agriculture and coastal resources, and protection.

For more information please contact: Gillian Cambers, GCCA: PSIS Project Manager, gillianc@spc.int