Two new rainforest Community Conservation Areas (CCAs) were officially opened recently on the island of Savai’i in Samoa.

The CCAs were developed in partnership between the village communities, the Samoa Conservation Society, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) and the Forestry. The CCAs are part of the continued Forest Protected Area Management project which is implemented by FAO and funded by the Global Environment Facility.

Community Conservation Areas are an approach to conserve critical areas of forest under communal land ownership where the communities have full control over all management decisions but are supported by technical partners to develop and manage the reserves.  The CCA approach builds on traditional approaches in Samoa to conserve natural resources such as tapu areas (areas that are off-limits) and seasonal bans on the harvest of birds, bats or particular fish to ensure long term sustainability.