Are our ecosystems at risk of being lost? ^Featured

  The workshop is coordinated by experts from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) through the Ministry responsible for Environment.

According to the IUCN, a Red List of Ecosystem is a tool to evaluate the risk of disappearance of the ecosystem. 

It is a global standard for assessing the risk of the ecosystem and for other nations to start using RLE’s methodology to assess the risk of collapse of their ecosystems and develop their own Red Lists.

Veronica Ruiz, Nature-Based Solutions Programme Officer – Global Ecosystem Management Programme – from  the IUCN Headquarters in Switzerland said, “The purpose of this workshop is to build the capacity of experts in Tonga and explore further applications of the protocol in Tonga through coordination and collaboration between key stakeholders.”

Ms. Evia Tavanavanua – RLE Focal Point from IUCN Oceania Regional Office – said the workshop focuses on mangroves, which is the most threatened ecosystem in Tongatapu.   “Hopefully after this training, participants can apply the RLE methodology for mangroves in Tonga. 

We could then develop a joint action plan on how to move forward and to maximise the use of funding to address the most critically endangered mangrove areas. 

The ultimate objective of the workshop is to enable us to do an RLE assessment of the mangroves in Tongatapu, using the data that participants will bring from their respective Ministries.”

“We hope that the risk assessment workshop will assist our Department, working in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, in identifying priority areas for restoration of degraded mangroves”, says Lupe Matoto, Director of Environment.  “We have recognized the critical role of biodiversity and ecosystem services for human well-being, therefore, combining socio-ecological and environmental risk assessments for environmental and climate decision making”.

The RLE workshop is part of an overarching regional project called “Mangroves for Pacific Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction” funded by the Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund (Japan) and Tonga is fortunate to receive funding to pilot the RLE Risk Assessment within the Pacific.