The Natural History of Santo.

As an island state, Vanuatu has a biodiversity that is unique in many ways, with many endemic

species of fauna and flora. The Government of Vanuatu, through its Ministry of Lands

and Natural Resources, which is responsible for biodiversity management, has given its full

support to the Santo Global Biodiversity Survey. We, the people of Vanuatu, are grateful to

the expedition team for conducting this research on an island of our country. We live in a

world where development is accelerating to the detriment of the biodiversity. Vanuatu is not

immune from that, and this is why, as unique as we are, we are urged to know what our

biodiversity has to offer to the world.

This biodiversity expedition conducted on the largest of the Vanuatu Islands has shown us

how much species bounty a single island can hold. This makes us wonder how much there

is in the whole of the archipelago. Today we have a book that all Vanuatu citizens can be

proud of. This book will not only make Vanuatu known to the world of science, it will also

make Vanuatu known to the rest of the world. The results produced in this book will not

only help the country move forward in establishing its long term planning and policies, but

it will also help us to respond more dearly to international requirements and reporting as

requested by the international community as a whole.

Beyond contributing greatly to knowledge of the whole of Vanuatu in terms of its biodiversity,

The Natural History oJ Santo will also impact education. It will be used as a mean of

thought to our present but mostly to our young generations for their learning path, and will

boost their interests in taking up studies in the field of sciences.

It is with great honour and on behalf of the people of Vanuatu that I would like to thank all

the Santo 2006 expedition team for producing such a state of the art book that will contribute

immensely towards the development of Vanuatu as a country.