Mt. Tabwemesana Conservation Area and Eco-tourism Project

Mount Tabwemasana Conservation Area and Eco-Tourism Project Mount Tabwemasana is the highest mountain in Vanuatu, standing at 1879 meters (6165 feet) and is a product of volcanic activity (though now extinct) from the Pliocene Epoch. It is home to a number of endemic species, most notably the Santo Mountain Starling (Aplonis santovestris). The Santo Mountain Starling, or "Matawele" as it's known by local people, is only found in the highlands around Mt. Tabwemasana at elevations over 1200 meters. The Matawele is very elusive and was thought to be extinct until sighted by a scientific expedition in 1991. The Santo 2006 All Taxa Biological Inventory Project recently completed a one week survey on and around the area of Mt. Tabwemasana and some interesting discoveries were made, most notably a new species of insectivorous bat and a new species of Schefflera (tree). This brief expedition allowed for sampling and collecting, but additional work on these samples is currently ongoing (e.g., genetic tests in the lab), and these studies will likely lead to the recognition of even more new species. (I found many interesting species of bird on this trip, like the Guadalcanal Thicketbird, but no Matawele…..yet).
In addition to the innate conservation value of this area, eco-tourism associated with the Conservation Area will provide a long-term, sustainable income to the people of Kerepua. After the last Development Committee meeting in the village, the community and Chiefs agreed to commence a tourism project and to build two small tourist bungalows. The community will provide all the building materials and labor to construct the bungalows, but they lack the resources needed to purchase other necessary items, such as cement for building toilet and bathing facilities, cooking pots and pans, and bedding. The bungalows will be operated as a community project. Women from the village would provide meals and the men would serve as guides and porters on trekking and research trips. Additional income can be generated through activities related to eco-tourism, such as the sale of handicrafts, and cultural activities. Establishment of the eco-tourism project is a hugely important for obvious ecological reasons, but it will also showcase how sustainable (versus exploitive/extractive) development is preferable for the long term interests of villages such as Kerepua. It may also serve as a model for sustainable development in other parts of Vanuatu, and throughout Melanesia.

Project Update - After many meetings with the Chief and custom land owners, we have filled out all the paper work and filed it with the government, so it'll likely take awhile to be processed and signed by the Prime Minister and other governmental functionaries. Our bungalow is complete and sleeps eight, we have bought mattresses and bedding for five beds and have built a toilet and kitchen. We recently hosted Stephen Totterman, who writes reviews for locally owned bungalows in rural Vanuatu, which should be good online publicity, you can check it out at http://www.positiveearth.org/bungalows/SANMA/kerepua.htm We have delayed the construction of or second bungalow for the time being, because we are quite busy with our other projects and do not expect a huge influx of people traveling to the Conservation Area this year. We also hope to start hosting scientific groups that will be off shoots from the Santo 2006 Project in the future. No word on the Conservation Area status from the government, but we expect to hear soon and don’t expect any problems. There are scheduled trail improvements for the next dry season as well, as the trail is quite harrowing in some places. With new direct flights from Australia to Luganville, Santo, Kerepua hopes to be in a good position to take advantage of a likely increase in eco-tourism on the island in the next few years. Santo has often been referred to as the sleeping giant with respect to tourism in the country, and it seems like that giant is finally waking up.