Solomon Islands and Vanuatu - OceansWatch to aid Cyclone Pam victims

by OceansWatch on 16 Apr 2015 OceansWatch New Zealand is collecting funds for the cyclone relief effort and is being guided as to how the money should be spent by their Solomon Islands directors. As soon as the cyclone season is over and it’s safe to depart New Zealand, OceansWatch yachts and cruising yachts supporting the cause will be departing New Zealand loaded with Aid supplies and specialist teams to help Vanuatu islanders get back on their feet again and to develop resilience to future negative climate change impacts.

Cyclone Pam has left a huge amount of damage in its wake through the North East Solomon Islands (Temotu) and Vanuatu. Some lives lost, many houses damaged or completely destroyed. Fruit trees gone, gardens washed away or covered in debris, just root crops left in most instances.

In Vanuatu the emergency has been big enough to trigger International Aid, so whilst the job is massive, already hundreds of volunteers and many planes are arriving with Aid supplies. Temotu has been affected as badly as Vanuatu, but as less people live there it has not triggered an International Aid effort, leaving the communities there with little help. As this news bulletin goes out a week after the cyclone hit them disaster teams have not arrived and OceansWatch are the only group to have done an on the ground assessment.

OceansWatch, being a relatively small organisation feels that it would be best to have a larger impact in Temotu (the easternmost province of the Solomon Islands) than a small impact over the whole of Vanuatu, so they are currently concentrating their efforts in Temotu. They also plan to help the more inaccessible northern group of Islands in Vanuatu if they have unmet Aid needs.

OceansWatch New Zealand is collecting funds for the cyclone relief effort and is being guided as to how the money should be spent by their Solomon Islands directors. To date, funds have been used to pay for a needs assessment of Fenualoa Island, where OceansWatch have a good knowledge of all villages and a strong network. Communities there need tarpaulins and emergency food now. They also need chain saws to clear fallen trees from houses and gardens, seeds to replant and some roofing iron for their water tank catchments. It is expected that other agencies will supply the tarpaulins and the government is arranging emergency food supplies. OceansWatch has decided to provide chainsaws so that villages can make an immediate start to clearing and replanting. All safety gear and petrol will also be provided and a chainsaw mill too, so that bigger trees can be utilised for rebuilding supplies. OceansWatch are also paying for local seeds to be sent from Honiara so that replanting can begin as soon as possible.

As soon as the cyclone season is over and it’s safe to depart New Zealand, OceansWatch yachts and cruising yachts supporting the cause will be departing New Zealand loaded with Aid supplies and specialist teams to help the islanders get back on their feet again and to develop resilience to future negative climate change impacts.

In 2015, to support community resilience OceansWatch will:

- Undertake marine surveys to gauge the effect of the cyclone and to locate the best possible places for resilient marine reserves. They will work closely with local resource owners when doing this work as part of their Reef Guardian Program.

- Undertake Climate Change community needs assessments and adaptation plans to help these vulnerable communities adapt to the effect of Climate Change and climate-induced disasters such as Cyclone Pam.

- Assist in the development of Sustainable Livelihood projects so that communities can self-fund their own adaptation strategies and development.

OceansWatch needs funds to support their cyclone relief work (ALL donations go directly to fund their aid work, nothing is spent on wages or admin.) and also need people with yachting experience to assist in New Zealand right now.

OceansWatch is a registered charity in New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, the USA and the UK. More information about their work is available at their website

OceansWatch cyclone relief fundraiser is here

OceansWatch offices can be contacted at operations@oceanswatch.org, skype skipperchrisbone or phone +64 9 4344066