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,