Sapapalii village community based on the island of Savaii is no exemption to the environmental changes that are now experienced all around Samoa, which are primarily caused by a combination of human and natural disturbances. The impacts of such changes are observable on the mangroves themselves. The villagers indicated the following changes/issues specific to their mangroves, all of which are considered continually deteriorating and have thus caused the overall degradation to the entire mangrove ecosystem. This is a grave concern for the village as revealed.
(1) Mangrove area is getting smaller compared to the past years;
(ii) High mortality of mangrove trees especially the old/matured ones (mangrove loss) and reasons are unknown;
(iii) Mud crabs are less abundant and smaller in size;
(iv) Fin fish (resident and visitor) are less abundant and are rarely seen in the estuary and fish reserve;
(v) Flooding during heavy rain from the rivers bordering both sides of the mangrove area thus causing sedimentation and pollution and even spread out in the receiving lagoon;
(vi) Erosion of mangrove area boundaries now affecting adjacent land property;
The project will aim to conduct a mangrove biodiversity audit with the in kind support of the Government of Samoa through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Envrionment. The participatory approach will include village members especially the unempolyed youth. The audi report will determine the management plan for both the mangrove and the existing marine protected area. The village council will be involved in the process to ensure there is support on the controls of the over use of the ecosystems heavily degraded with man made problems.