Directory of Wetlands of Vanuatu - 2014

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Directory of Wetlands of Vanuatu

Wetlands are among the world’s most productive (and threatened) ecosystems and the

services that they provide to humanity are significant. In order to effectively conserve and

manage wetlands, a first step is to document and understand their distribution and status

through conducting detailed baseline wetland inventories. Across the Pacific region, The

Directory of Wetlands in Oceania 1993 documented available information on the distribution,

status and values of wetlands in Pacific Island Countries and Territories, however, much of

this existing information needs updating.

For the 2014 update of the national wetland inventory, the boundary of each site was

defined following discussion between consultants and the national agency responsible for

wetlands. It was based as far as possible on information in the original Directory (Scott 1993),

which in many cases was open to wide interpretation. For some sites it was possible to

expand the site to include additional wetland areas and wetland types, including marine

types such as coral reefs, which were contiguous and hydrologically connected. This

approach enabled ecologically integrated sites to be defined, which should assist

management planning.

The site boundary shown in this update serves to define the scope of information in the site

account and has no legal status except in the case of listed Ramsar Sites. It was fully

intended that these site boundaries would be subject to adequate discussion through

consultation with landholders and other stakeholders. As time and resources available for

the 2014 update were limited, the extent to which this was achieved by the national

authorities was limited. The site boundary therefore should be regarded as provisional,