I

0TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEM MAPPING FORWESTERN SAMOA:

SUMMARYPROIECT REPOTTT, AND

PROPOSED NATIONAL PARKS AND RESERVES PLANw

Sam H. Pearsall and W. Arthur Whistler

March 199'1,

Prepared for theGOVERNMENT OF WESTERN SAMOA

by the

SOUTH PACIFIC REGIONAL ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM

EA$TWEST CENTER,

and the

ENVIRONMENT AND POLICY INSTITU]E

Significant contributions v/ere made by the following:

L'INSTITUT FRANqAIS DE RECHERCHE POUR LIEXPLOITATTON DE LA MER

*lrlha{I!g!.!lE---wip-

abJf,EIITER

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY

,ffin#conseryanE

THE UNTTED STATES AGENCY FOR TNTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

THE I'NITED STATES NATTONAL SCIENCE FOT'NDATTON

iiiiiii

tl

'T'TIE {'NIVERSNTY O.r' IXATIATT GEOdITAPIIY DtsPART.I+IEUB

fHE WORITD WILDIIIFE nnaD -- US

wwn

I

o

r.!.1.

ADDRESSES OF PRINCIPLES:

Sam Pearsall, DirectorSouth pacific Conservation Data CentersThe Nature Conservancy2825 South King Street #3302Honolu1u, HI 96826 USAIfor copies of the technical report]

Dr. Art Vfhistler, EthnobotanistUS National Tropical Botanical Gardenc/o University of Hawaii aotany DepartmentSt. John Btdg. #ALO3190 lilaile WayHonolulu, HI 96822 USA

Dr. Lawrence Hanilton, Research AssociateEast-West Center, Environment And Policy InstituteL777 East-lfest RoadHonolulu, HI 96848 USA

Peter Thomas, Protected Areas officerSouth Pacific Regional Environment ProgrammeB. P. D5Noumea Cedex, NEW CALEDONIA[for copies of this Publication]

IV

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge and express our appreciationfor the kind assistance of the following individuals, withoutwhom this work would have been either irnpossible, a lot moredifficult, or at least, not as nuch fun:

Ms. Fay Alatilima (Government of Western Samoa)Hon. Vaiao Alarilina (Government of Western Samoa)Dr. Steve Brohrn (Governnent of Western Samoa)Mr. Dennis Grossman (The Nature Conservancy)Dr. Larry Hamilton (East-West Center, Environment and Po1icy

fnstitute)Mr. Malaki fakopo (Government of Western Samoa)Dr. cary Johnson (United Nations GRID program)Dr. Evelyn Klinkrnann (East-West Center, Environment and Policy

rnstitute)Dr. Molly Kux (United States Agency for International

Development)Dr. Beverley Lear (consultant)Mr. Bruce Leighty (World Wildlife Fund -- US)Dr. Nancy Lewis (university of Hawaii, Geography Department)Dr. Lionel Loubersec (ltrnstitut Frangais de ReCherche pour

lfExploitation de Ia Mer)Dr. John Mayer (university of Hawaii, Department of rndo-

Pacific Lanquages)Mr. Ron McCleod (fornerly, Government of Western Samoa)Mr. Mark Muckelheide (United States peace Corps)Dr. Brian Murton (university of Hawaii, Geography Department)Dr. James osborn (united states Agency for rnternationar

Developnent)Ms. Linda PearsallMr. Kalati Poai (Governrnent of Western Samoa)Mr. Iosefatu Reti (South Pacific Regional Environment Programme

and Government of Western Samoa)Mr. Sam Sesega (Government of Western Sarooa)Mr. Siaosi Taesali (Government of Western Samoa)Mr. Vita Tanielu (university of Hawaii, Department of rndo-

Pacific Lanquages)Mr. Peter Thomas (South Pacific Regional Environment Prograrnme)Mr. Magele Tuilaepa (Government of Western Sarnoa)Mr. Napoleone Vaiaso (Government of Western Sarnoa)

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

AMATAGA MA LE FAAIIUGA O MANATU AUTU . . . 1

fNTRODUCTION AND STI'{MARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . 8

CHAPTER 1: INSTITTITIONAIJ BACKGROT'ND TO THE PROJECTThe Request from the Government

of Western SamoaThe EAPI/SPREP Project . .Help from Other Agencies . .

BACKGROI'ND ON WESTERN SAI4OA .Physical Geography . .Biological DiversityPeople and Land in Western SarnoaLand TenureProtected Areas in Western Samoa

aa

13

131313

1515T71B2023

28

2832

49

575757595960

61

53

CHAPTER 2:

CHAPTER 3:

CHAPTER 4:

CHAPTER

CHAPTER

aa

.a

OVERVIEW OF TNVENTORY METHODSMapping the Terrestrial Ecosystems

of Western SamoaData Managrement

PRIORTTY ECOSYSTEMS F'OR CONSERVATIONNational Conservation PrioritiesInternational Conservation Priorities

PRIORITY SITES FOR CONSERVATION

A CONSERVATION I{ETHOD O 'Background . .An Alternative to ConsiderThe Local- Conservation Trust . . i .The Resource Conservation ConcessionComments and Reconnendation

404047

5:

6;

C}IAPTER 7: CONCLUSION

REFERENCES CITED . . . O''

v1

PI,ATE 1:

PI,ATE 2:

PLIITE 3:

PLATE 4:

PI,ATE 5:

PI,ATE 6:

PI.ATE 7;

PI,ATE 8I

PI-ATE 9:

PLATE tr.O s

FI,A,T.E 11I

ColorKeytothe![aps.... . . . . . .Distribution Maps of Savaifirs

Native Eeosysterns . . r . . . . .Distribution Uaps of f Upolurs

Native Ecosystems -. . . . .Map o:f Savairirs priority Ecosystem

Occurirences i . . . . .,. . . .Map of |Upolu|s priority EcosysternOccurrgncgs . . . . . . .. . . .Punataenoto Swamp Fores-t, part of Site 1Xylocarpus Mangrove, part of Site 2 . .Fanuatapu Island, part of Site 4 , .Satanapu - Sataoa Mangrove, part of Site 7Map of Savairirs priority

Conservation sites I . . . . . . .Map of tUpolu's priority

Co,nsgrvationSites, r. . . . . . . .

P ,AtsES

Page

.22

..25

33

34

38

38

42

4'2

45

46

?6

vii

L:

2i

3:

AI'{ATAGA MA LE FAAI I UGA O I,IANATU AUTU

(TNTRODUCTION AND SIUI4ARY OF RECOMI',TENDATTONS)

I te LggT na amataina ai se galuega faapitoa e le Malo o Samoa

i Sisifo ma na fesoasoani i ai le South Pacific Regional Environ-

ment progranme (SPREP, Nounea, New Caledonia), faapea le East-west

Center (EWC, Honolulu, Hawaii), faatasi rna isi mau faalapotopotoga.

o autu o lea galuega:

ia faafanuaina tulaga tamaoaiga tau vaomatua ma laufanua o

Samoa i sisifo;

ia faia se faaituga poo fea o nei tulaga tamaoaiga tau

vaomatua ma laufanua e aupito taua ina ia puipuia; ma Ie

ia faatuina se fuafuaga a Ie Malo e puipuia ai nofoaga aupito

lelei mo tulaga tamaoaiga tau vaornatua ma laufanua aupito

taua.

O lea galuega ua maeta nei, ma o kopi o ia faafanua o loo

failaina i ofisa o Ie Divisions of F'orestry ma le Environment and

Conservation i Apia, Samoa i Sisifo, faapea rna ofisa o le EWC ma le

SPREP.

O le lisi lea o tulaga tamaoaiga tau vaomatua ma laufanua e

taua tele ina ia puipuia e faavae i le seasea mauaina ma e iai

tulaga e ono afaina ai i totonu o Sarnoa i Sisifo.

1: Vaomatua Vai-Ialoa Maupurepute Fefiloi(Mixed Upland Species Swamp Forest)

2z Togo Xvlocarpus(Xylocarpus Mangrove)

3: Vaomatua Vai-laloa pandanus Turritus(Pandanus turritus Swamp Forest)

4z Vai-tuloto(Freshwater Lake)

5: Vaomatua Vai-laIoa Laugatasi Fefiloi(Mixed Lowland Species Swamp Forest)

6z Vai-laloa Herbaceous(Herbaceous Marsh)

7t Togo Rhizophora(Rhizophora Mangrove)

8: Vaomatua Metrosideros Montane(Metrosideros Montane Rain Forest)

9: Laufanua-Mutia(Native Grassland)

10: Vaomatua Tu-matafaga(Coastal Rain Forest)

l-1: Vaomatua Tu-tuasivi(Ridge Rain Forest)

L2z Togo Bruouiera(Bruguiera Mangrove)

13: Vaomatua Littoral(Littoral Forest)

14: Vaomatua puaoa(Cloud Forest)

o tulaga tanaoaiga tau vaomatua ma laufanua o loo i lalo safaamaonia e aoga ma taua tere pe a faatusa i se vaaigra aofaifaaaleralolagi, ona e seasea maua i nisi eleele o re kelope, po o

}e foliga mai o le a mate ma mou ese atu, pe ona o le tele nafu

foi o ia ituaiga tamaoaiga o loo rnaua naro sanoa i sisifo lava'

1: Vaomatua Tu-matafaga(Coastal Rain Forest)

2t Vaomatua Metrosideros Montane(Metrosideros Montane Rain Forest)

3: Vaomatua Cyathea Disclinax Montane(Cyathea niscfimax Montane Rain Forest)

4z Vaomatua Montane(Montane Rain Forest)

5: Vaomatua Eleele-Maualalo cVathea Disclimax(Cvathea Disclinax Lowland Rain Forest)

6! Vaomatua Laugatasi Maualalo(Lowland Rain Forest)

7i Vaomatua Puaoa(Cloud Forest)

8: Vaomatua Vai-laloa Maupurepute Fefiloi(Uixed Up1and Species Swamp Forest)

9z Vaomatua Tu-tuasivi(Ridge Rain Forest)

10: Vaonatua Vai-laloa Pandanus Turritus(Pandanus turritus SwamP Forest)

11: Vaomatua vai-1a10a Eleele-Maualal0 Fefil0i(Mixed Lowland Species Swamp Forest)

L2z Vai-Ialoa Herbaceous(Herbaceous Marsh)

o le lisi o nofoaga aupito taua-maualuga mo Ie puipuiina

saunia e faavae i mafuaaga nei:

l_: ia puipuiavaomatua ma

totonu lava

le tulaga faaolaolaina-lautele o tanaoaiga taulaufanua i tulaga maualuga faalelalolagi poo

o samoa i Sisifo.

2: ia puipuia Ie tulaga aupito tele po o se vaega o se tulaga otamaoaiga tau vaomatua ma laufanua e tutupu i sarnoa i sisifo.

puipuia Ie tulaga tau tuaroi o nei tanaoaiga tau vaomatualaufanua ina ia puipuia ai o latou tuaroi fealoari taitasi.

3: ia

ma

4z ia puipuia oga-eleele ma tuafoi olaufanua rnai i nofoaga matafaga eia feola ai meaola ma natura ofelelei o Ie vaomaoa ma perai ma

ia tamaoaiga tau vaomatua matau i tuasivi o atumauga inale vaomaoar d€ maise manu

5: ia puipuia rnea-tutupu i turaga tanaoaiga tau vaomatua malaufanua taitoatasi i le itu i Matu ma le itu i Saute o motuo Savaii ma Upolu ina ia faarnautinoa ai Ie faaolaina nafaaauau pea o ia tulaga tamaoaiga tau vaonatua ma laufanua naii faalavelave e pei o afa ma isi faalavelave faanatura1e-maralofia faapena.

o nofoaga o loo i lalo o loo lisiina e faavae i l-ona taua rnoIe puipuiina:

13 Lona - Punataemoro Forests(e aof ia ai rna le Afu o Afulilo) '

2z Vaomatua Laugatasi i SaIarilua(SaIa' ilua Lowland Forests)

3: Vaomatua i Fusiluaga(Fusiluaga Forest)

4z Motu i aleiPata(A1eiPata Islands)

5: Vaomatua Laugatasi i FalealuPo(Fa1eaIuPo Lowland Forests)

6: Vaomatua Laugatasi i taga(Taga Lowland Forests)

7 i Vaomatua Tu-matafaga Togo i Saanapu Sataoa(saranapu - sataoa Mangrove and coastal Rain Forest)

8: Eleele tu-mauga o Savaii(Highlands of Savaii)

gz EIeeIe Maualuga Ogatotonu o Upo1u(Central UPoIu UPIands)

1o: E1eele Maualuga i Sasare o UPolu(Eastern UPoIu UPIands)

11: EIeeIe Laugatasi o Gagaifoolevao ma Matautu(Gagaifoolevao and Matautu Lowland Forests)

L2z Mauga o Taitorelau(Ut. Taitorelau)

13: Vaituloto i sisifo o upolu faatasi ma LanutoroWestern Upolu Montane Lakes (e aofia ai ma Vaituloto Lanoto-'o) .

14: Eleele Laugatasi i Aropo ma Ie Lava(Atopo Lowland Ecosystems and Lava Flows)

15: Vaomatua Tu-matafaga i APoIina(Apo1ima Coastal Rain Forest)

15: Vaomatua Laugatasi i fafua(Tafua Peninsula Lowland Forests)

L7 2 Vaomatua Laugatasi i le PuPu(o Le PuPu Lowland Forests)

18: Tarnaoaiga Vaomatua/Laufanua Tu-matafaga i I.tulivai(MuIivai Coastal Ecosystems)

L9: Vai-1aloa i Ie Tolotolo i Musugale(Musugale Point Herbaceous Marsh)

2Lz Vai-Ialoa i le Tolotolo i Mulinutu(Cape Mulinufu Herbaceous Marsh)

22: Vai-laloa i le Tolotolo i Malaema1u(Malaemalu Herbaceous Marsh)

232 Vaomatua i Ie Mauga o Fao(Mt, Fao Rain Forests)

242 Togo i Falelatai(Falelatai Mangrove)

25: Togo i Vaovai(Vaovai Mangrove)

26:. Vaomatua Laugatasi ma 1e Tofe i Situpapa ma Lata(Si'upapa - Lata Cliffs Lowland Rain Forest)

Mulimuli, sa faaofiina ma faatuina se manatu pe faapefea onapuipuiina, ma e aofia ai faalapotopotoga tau puipuiina faatasi manuru ma aiga e anaina eleele ma fanua, ina ia faia ni malitiega epui-puia ai a ratou aia-tatau, ma re faavaeina o ni feagaiga mo lepuipuiina o nei tulaga tarnaoaiga tau vaomatua ma laufanua. Iafaatuina matiliega-puipuia e sui ari tupe-atiina'e (inivesi) afaalapotopotoga puipui, ma o tupemaua mai i atiinare (inivesi) iafaaaogaina mo le atiinareina o pisinisi fou a Samoa i sisifo ma isipolokalame atiinate mo e e anaina nei vaomatua ma laueleele, efaavae i Ie faaaogaina o ia tulaga tamaoaiga i se faiga e onopuipuia ai mo Ie lumanari.

6

O l"eng1 tipott wa f,aauilgLna ltnr le faaaloalo te.trre i. I"E s4lo s

Sadoa t EleLfo. € i J,atou na tue$,qi,nan e Ie Eas'U weist genter Ina "]f,ts'

Sout- FAclfrii,c negd|eDal &rvirqrulert\t ProEramne, faebaqi na Le Uo'a€etre

s lsL. Gaall$frrot-ollBtogro Ela EeEOaES.anl ma],as3 nai I l€ir€jl taumfl+iga"

tla firafj,:af,,i.a{na Lanra i maGqu o-mq P lel1et a$Aooa sa matqq fa{a ga

fa-aGinof.na al. lene$ gsluegra -

I

1. Itlixed Upland Species Swamp Forest2, XvLocarBus l{angrove3. Pand.anus tr.lrritgs swanp Forest4. Freshwater Lake5. Mixed Lowland Species Swamp Forest6. Ierbaceous ![arsh7. Rhizophora lfangrove8. $tetrosideros Montane Rain Fo,rest9. Grassland (native)10. c:odstal Rai-n x'orest11. Ridge Rain ForestL2, Bruguiera Mangrove13. Littoral ForestL4. Cloud Forest

The folJ-owing ecosyrstene were co:n-sidered to b of glorbal,itnportance because of, global rarity or endangered status or becauseof the coneentration of species, found only in Western Samoa:

- 1. Coastal Rain Forestt 2'. Metrosideros Montane Rain F,orest

3. Cyathea Dissllmax Moratane Rain Forest4. Dtontane Raln Forest5, Cyathea Discli.maN Lowland. Rain Foriest6. Lowland [tain Forest7. Cloud Forest

I

l_.

8. Mixed Upland Species Swarnp Forest9. Ridge Rain Forest10. Pandanus turrj.tus Swamp Forest11. Mixed Lowland Species Swanp Forest12. Herbaceous Marsh

rn order to preserve viable occurrences of high priorityecosystem types, a list of high priority sites for conservation hrasprepared based on the folrowing goals (in priority order):

to conserve viabre occurrences of ecosystems that have highglobal or loca1 ranks (the previous lists) ,.to conserve the rargest occurrence or practicar section of anoccurrence of each ecosystem found in western samoa;to conserve occurrences of normally linked or adjacentecosystems in order to conserve their inter-relationships;to conserve broad bands of native ecosystems extending fromthe coast to the interior highlands in order to provi-dewildlife corridors, especialry for forest birds and flyingfoxes, and to provide, if possible, uptand to coastar. hydro-logic units; andto conserve occurrences of each priority ecosystem on bothnorth and south sides of both savai'i and rupolu in order toinsure against ecosystem extinction during major naturaldisasters such as hurricanes.

2.

3.

4.

5.

r-0

The following sites, based on the previous criteria, are

listed in 'order of priority for conservation:

1. Lona Punataemoto Forests (including Afulilo Falls)

2. SaIa'ilua Lowland Forests

3. Fusiluaga Forest

4. Aleipata Islands

5. Falealupo Lowland Forests

6. Taga Lowland Forests

7. Saranapu - Sataoa Mangrove and Coastal Rain Forest

8. Highlands of Savaiti

9. Central tUpolu Uplands

10. Eastern rUpolu Uplands

11. Gagaifoolevao and Matautu Lowland Forests

1-2. Mt. Talito I elau

13. Western rUpolu Montane Lakes (including Lake Lanotolo)

L4. Atopo Lowland Ecosystems and Lava Flows

15. Apolima Coastal Rain Forest

16. Tafua Peninsula Lowland Forests

L7. rO Le Pupu Lowland Forests

18. Mulivai Coastal Ecosystems

19. Musugale Point Herbaceous Marsh

20. Apolinafou Herbaceous Marsh

2L. Cape Mulinufu Herbaceous Marstres

22. Malaemalu Marsh

23. Mt. Fao Rain Forests

11

I

24. Falelatai Mangrove25. Vaovai Mangrove26. Sirupapa - Lata Cliffs Lowland Rain Forest

Finally, a method for conservation is proposed that establish-es partnerships between conservation organizations and rocal ownersof customary lands through the use of protective agreements and theestablishment of local conservation trusts.

This report is respectfully subnritted to the government ofwestern sanoa by the south Pacific Regional Environment programme,the East-west center, and the many other organizations thatprovided assistance. The authors are gratefur to have had theopportunity to do this work.

L2

CHAPTER 11

INSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT

In 1gg5, the Government of western samoa requested that the south

pacific Regionar Envirorr."ri erogr.me (19861 sponsor a project todevelop a pran for a systern of

-protected nature reserves in thecountry. There was an ""i=ti"g

parks and protected areas plan(Holloway and Floyd tg75)-t but if was not Uasea on a comprehensiveinventory of the country's native ecosystems' The new

plan was tobe based on such an i-nventorY '

The EAPI/SPREP Project

BeginninginLgsT,discussionswereheldbetweenSPREPandtheEast-West Cen€er Environm""l-""a Policy Institute (EWC EAPI)

on the

possibilit' oi-Lonductinq th" propo=e&. project. B]t^october 1988'agreement had1""t reachedr-""a-in! projict-fegan of f icially

on the

first of January-1SSS under in" a,ttpicel. of EAPI, with Dr' LawrenceHamilton, n"s"ir"n Associate, overseeing the -management

of theproject at EApI and Mr. peter'Thomas, Prjtected Areas Officer' as-project manager at SPREP'

The EAPI/SPREP contract called for a definition of the mairterrestrialecosystemt'ypesforWesternsamoa'asetofmapsalLz2O,OOO showing the mappable units of native ecosystemst

an(

revision of ;;;'Ig75 naiitnar .parks and protected areas plan t(

form a new proposal for a- natitnaf system of reserves (EAPI an(

SPREP Le88).

HeIp from other Aqencies

Dr.LionelLoubersaeofthelnstitutFrangaisdeRecherchtpour I'Exploitation de Ia ltlt (IFREMER) provided the EAPI/SPREIproject withl sPoT satefiiie irnage for tlie western two thirds o:the island of Savaiti. During January.1990, Pears-all, Loubersacand other p"rrorlnel fron tne Station ebfyn6sienn?. d:,T6l6d6tectio:in papeete,

-tititi, French Polynesia (the Station) preparetcontrast enhanced spor ="{"iiit" ir.g"= of tn"

western two thirdof the island of Savairi'

Theprojectwasalsointendedtoprovid.e.basicdatafordoctoral dissertation in preparation by iearsall' To further

thiend, the United States Ha-tio?raf SciencL Foundation (NSF) providean additional grant via in" U"iversity of Hawaii Socia1 Scienc

lthis chaPter isreport (PearsaIl and

cond.ensed from chapter 1 in the technicalWhistler L990).

13

Research fnstitute to support the project. The principal investi-gator of record for that grant was Dr. Brian Murton, Chairman ofthe University of Hawaii ceography Department,

Basic support for Pearsall during the first two thirds of theSPREP project was provided by EAPf through a graduate studentfellowship, again under the supervision of Dr. Hamilton. EAPI alsoprovided a field studies grant to support travel and expensesassociated with Pearsallfs visit to the Station in Papeete.

In January 1988, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) entered into anagreement with the United States Agency for International Develop-ment (AID) to evaluate the possibility of building a ConservationData Center program in the South Pacific Region. This project wassuccessful, and in october 1989, ArD, TNc and the world wildlifeFund (v{wF) established a two year project. The first cornponent ofthat project was to demonstrate a pilot conservation Data Center inwestern samoa using the ecosystem data gathered during theEWC/SPREP project. During the last third of the Western Samoaproject for SPREP, Pearsall and rnost of his expenses were supportedunder the ATD/TNC/WWF project.

L4

CHAPTER 2

BACKGROUND ON WESTERN SAIITOA

Phvsical Geocrraphv

western sarnoa is a tropical island state with a terrestrial surface;;-;;;roxirnatety 2,g;o kmz on tqo large and several very sma1lislands. These include the inhabited iilands of Savairi (approTi-nately 1, 820 k*2) , ^ 'Upolu (approxinately 1,,100_ -kq'.) , 1p?+lli(appr-oximately z tcm21 , ild Manono (approximately 5 km'). ApolimaIies in the aiolima'strait between Savairi to the west and tUpoluto the east. 'U.no.to is included within the reef on the western endof 'Upolu. Several additional very small, unoccuplgd islands liewithiir or on the reef systems of rUpolu and Savaiti. The mostsignificant of these are Fanuatapu, Nimura, Nurutelet Nuf ulua (theel6ipata Islands east of tUpolu), and Nurusafere (south of tUpolu).Cn" i"ographic center of we-stern.samoa is at 13o 30t south latitudeand L73o west tongitude. The north to south latitude extent is 11o- 16o south and the west to east longitude extent is 1740 3Or - LTLowest. Western Samoars Exclusive Economic Zone is approximatelyiir.ooo kmZ. Contiguous countries are Tokelau, American Samoa,Tonga, and Wallis ana Futuna (Bier 1980, Bunge 1984' Curry 1955'Oouglas L969, Eaton 1985, Franco et al. 1982, t"lotteler 1986 'Run6borg 198o; USDS office of the Geographer 1985, whistler 1983a).

DahI (1980, after Udvardy Lg75) places Western Samoa in thesame biogeographic province as Waltis and Futuna and American samoai"""f"aiig

-swaln's -Island) in the Oceanian Realm. Udvardy (1984)includes the archipelago'in the Central Polynesia biogeographicprovince.2

AII of the islands are volcanic in origin, lying near thgnorthern terminus of the Tonga Trench at the subduction juncturg_9fthe pacific and Indo-Austratian plates (Jarrard and Clague L977).There have been six major periods of vulcanism, beginning in thepliocene and continuing to the present (Kear and Wood l-959, 1"962iTrotman LgTg). The isiand of Sivai'i is still considered active,with its most recent eruptions producing lava flows between 1905and 191-1 (Douglas 1969; Kear a-na Wood 1959 | .L962) . 'Upo1u isolder, and, as tne result of weathering and erosion, generally morerugged (Curry 19551 Kear and Wood 1959 ' Lg62; Merlin and Juvik1985; Wright L962, 1963).

Maximum etevations range from 11858 m on Savaiti, 1-1100 mtUpolu | 2OA m on Nurutele, L65 m on Apo1irna, and 5O m on Manono,

ztt is important to note that the biogeograptric .r'provincestfof Dahl and Udvardy are not based on the same criteria or opera-tional at the same scale.

onto

15

near sea-level on the srnallest islands (Douglas L969p Kear and Wood1959, L962i Paine 1989). Wright (1962, ]-963) describes the soilsof Western Samoa. Wright's work was extensively revised in 1989and 1990 (ANZDEC Ltd. and DSIR Division of Land and Soil SciencesL990). That study lists 87 soil series that are classifiedaccording to the standard US soil taxonomy (USDA SoiI Survey StaffL975, l-988) and correlated with Wright and with the FAO and UNESCOclassification (UN FAo and UNESCO L986). curry (l-955) defines L2landform regions for Western Samoa. Working in rO Le pupu - pureNational Park, a United Nations Development Advisory Team described10 land systems (landforn associations) and approximately 20landforms (Ollier et aI. L9791.

The clinate is generally tropical and rnild, having wet and dryseasons. The southern and western sides of the main islands tendto receive more rainfall than the eastern and northern sides due toprevailing southwesterly trade winds and orographic effects (Kearand wood 1959, L962; wright 1963). rn Apia, on the northern coastof fupolu, rainfall averages 2,87o mrn/year with the heaviestrainfal-l in January (424 mn) and the lightest in July (96 mn)(Taylor L973). on the windward south and southeastern shores,annual raj-nfall averages between 5,OOO and 7,OOO mm (Carter 1984).At higher elevations, rainfall averages 5,OOO mm at IrOOO melevation and 7r0oo nm above l-,200 m on savaiti (paine 1999).There are no abrupt rainfall transitions; wet and dry seasons gradeinto each other (Taylor 1973), Droughts are common (curry isss,L962'). The mean annuar temperature in Apia is 260 c (core et al.1988, Curry L962). Wright (1963) provides a more comprehensive ifsomewhat ress current overview of western samoars clirnate.

Major hurricanes are rare (Bunge L984). prior to l-990,hurricanes struck the country in 1939 and 1-966 (Skowron L?BT), buton 2 February 1990, ofa, the worst hurricane in 1"69 years hit theislands. Wind speeds in Apia were measured at 1BO km/hour, and thestorm lingered in Western Samoa for most of four days and nights.The north shores of the islands were most seriously affected bystrong winds from the north and storm surges as the eye of thastorm passed just west of savairi (ulafaIa 1990). wind speeds atFalealupo on the western tip of Savairi probably considerablyexceeded the measured speeds in Apia.

In western Samoa, environmental gradients are quite steep,with cloud forests occupying the upper erevations on savairi,montane and nid- elevation rain forests on the larger islands, andcoastal and littoral forests on nost islands. The coastalecosystems include rock and sand strand communities, isolatedmangrove forests, and extensj-ve fringing reefs. Most of thecoastal forests have been replaced by gardens, plantations,virrages and, in Apia, urban deveropment (cameron waz, DougrlasL969, Thomas 1984).

L5

Bioloqical Diversitv

Using a four leveI hierarchical classification, WesternSamoars terrestrial ecosystems can be classified as follows:

I. TerrestriaL Environments (majority of nutrients from soil)A. Hydric

1. Coastal Depressions, Craters, and Montane Valleys€r. Swamp Forestb. Herbaceous Marshc. Mancrrove

B. Mesic1. Coastal Plains and Tuff Cones

a. Coastal Rain Forest2. Lowlands and Foothills

a. Lowland Rain Forest3. Ridges

a. Ridge Rain Forestb. Fernland

4. Mountainsa. Montane Rain Forestb. Cloud Forest

5. Riparian Areasa. Riparian Woodland

c. Xeric1. Ash Plains

a. Grassland2. Recent In1and Lava Flows and Cinder Cones

a. Volcanic Succession3. Volcanic Talus

a. Montane ScrubD. Littoral (Halic/Xeric)

L. Rock Coasts, Sand Beaches, and Dunesa. Herbaceous Strandb. Littoral Scrubc. Littoral Shrublandd. Littoral Forest

Whistler (L992) estirnates that Western Samoa supports 775native vascular plant species of which approximately 30t of theangiosperms are endemic, including the endernic genus Sarcopygme.There are about. 280 genera of native angiosperms (more than anyother archipelago in Polynesia) (Whistler 1990, L992). Inaddition, there are about 25O introduced plant species. Whistlerlists 47 threatened plants.3

3whistler has an article on the rare plants of Western Samoain preparation.

L7

There are 2L butterfly species in Western Samoa (DahI 1986).western samoa has L species of swarrowtair butterfly. rt isendemic to the Samoas, and considered to be threatened (Collins andMorris 1985). only 2 endernic endodontid snaiLs evolved in Samoa.This relatively low original diversity (for Polynesia) of endodon-tid snails is probably attributable to an endemic ant that preys onthem. There are 9 endemic charopid snail species and 8 endemicpartulid snail species. Introduced ants have produced many LocalsnaiL extinctions among these groups, and endemic snail species arenow restricted to high elevations (Dahl 198G, Kondo 1980, solemL976-L982). Approxirnately 15 (mostly narine) invertebrates areconsidered threatened in Western Samoa (Dahl 1986, Eaton 1985,Fitter 1986, IUCN cMC and fCBP 1988, fUCN/SSC Mollusc SpecialistGroup 1987, Lewis et al. 1988, Paine L989, solem L976-r9gz, wells198s).

Western Samoa supports 11 species of reptiles (Brown 1957)including 7 species of lizards and 1 snake (Dah1 1986). None oiWestern Samoars terrestrial reptiles is considered threatened, butall narine turtles that visit the islands are considered threatenedor endangered on a global basis (Balazs 1992, Eaton 1985, Fitter1986, Groonbridge and Wright L982, IUCN CMC and ICBP 1998).

of 43 resident bird species in western samoa, eight areendemic (Pratt et al. L987). Most resident land birds have one ormore subspecies endemic to Western Samoa (personal communication,David Blockstein 1989). Nine bird species are considered to bethreatened (Chanbers 1985, Collar and Andrew 1988, Dahl L996, fUCNcMc and rcBP 1988, KRTA l-988, King et aI. 1981, Mountfort andArlott 1988, Paine 1989, Pratt et al. 198?).

The archipelago supports one sheath-tailed bat and two flyingfoxes or fruit bats. AII three are considered threatened (Buitonand Burton 1987; Dahl 1986; rucN cMc and rcBp 19gg; paine 1989;personal.communication, Merlin Tuttle 1988, 1990) . Six cetaceans(whales and porpoises) that visit Samoars waters are consideredthreatened (Burton and Burton L9a7, rucN cMc and rcBp 1988,Thornback et al. L978).

People and Land in Western SamoaThe Sarnoan Islands were probably first settled by Austronesian

speaking, proto-Polynesian people around 3,OOO BP (Bellwood 1980,Bunge 1984). Directly or indirectly, these islands $/ere (atongwith Tonga) very likery the origin of polynesian voyaqes-whichsettled the remainder of the Polynesian region from Hawaii to thenorth, the Marquesas to the east, Easter Island to the southeast,New Zealand to the south, and Polynesian outliers in Melanesia andMicronesia such as Kapingarnarangi AtoII to the west (Bellwood1980). Europeans first settled in Samoa in 1830 when the Reverend

18

John Williams of the London Missionary Society arrived from Tahiti(Holrnes L974, Runeborgi 1980).

A number of histories of post-European Samoa have been written(e.q. Davidson 1967, Meleisea J.987). Important characteristics ofpost-nuropean Western Samoa are the rapid assimilation of Chris-Lianity into the samoan culture; the willingness and ability ofSamoan people to interact flexibly with Europeans in political andeconomical matters; and the unwillingness of Sanoans to abandonFara Samoa (the Samoan way) which includes traditional concepts ofvillage life, politieal consensus, the authority of chiefs, Iandtenure, and human relationships with the environments of Samoa(Holmes L974, Meleisea L987, Ngan-Woo 1985).

Western Samoan relationships with colonial administrators,beginning with the Germans in 1899 and ending with independencefrom New Zealand in L962, were rarely rel-axed (Bunge 1984, DavidsonL967, Thomas 1984). Western Samoa was the Pacificts first islandstate to achieve independence from its colonial masters (DavidsonL967, Meleisea LgA7r, and the tradition of providing regionalleadership is well established and very strong.

In traditional Samoan viltages, village affairs are controlledby a fono (council) of'aiqa (family) Matai (heads or chiefs)(Holmes L974, Meleisea 1987, Omeara 1-987). Since Samoan descent istraced through both parents, most Sarnoans can claim relationshipswith several Matai, but in practice, Samoans feel most closelyrelated to the Matai of the 'aiga with tuhich they reside (HolmesL97L, L974). In theory, any Samoan can succeed a Matai to whom heor she is retated, but in practice, brothers and sons most oftenare elected to the title. A strong, demonstrated cornmitment to thewelfare of the taiga (service) is the most critical qualification(Holmes L97L, t974). In the fono, the Matairs actions arecontrolled by the relative rank of his or her title, and accordingto whether he or she is a Tulafale (tttalking chieftt) or an Aliri("high chief r') (Holmes L9741 . AIif i have forrnal power and higherrank. Tulafale are instigators and implementors. Decisions aremade by consensus strongly influenced by deference to titular rank(Holrnes L97t, Omeara L987, Runeborg 1980).

Following independence, the Matai were the only WesternSamoans who could vote, be elected to the national parliament, beappointed judges to the Land and Titles Court, or hold publicoffice (Crocombe L97L, Omeara L987r. A referendum held in 1990resulted in universal adult suffrage, but elected public officescontinue to be restricted to Matai.

The Matai has the pule (authority) to allocate the use of thefaigafs land (Holmes J97L, L9741 Omeara 1987). This authorityincludes the ability to grant rights of use, to determine laborobligations, and to receive a share of the incone or crops (HolrnesL97L, L974i omeara L987; Runeborg 1980). The Matai does not have

19

the right to alienate the land without the consensus of his raiga(Holmes 1971 , L9741 Thomas 1984,. but see omeara 198;J.--u=l-ri;;i=are heritabte with approval from the Matai (i"i;;= Lg7a, rs74).rAiga lands.typicalry incruae- "iir"g" house lotsr gir'dens,plantation lots, and ianily ,.=".*r"-sections (typically in tarogardens and sw-i-ddens) (Holme-s 1g74, Runeborg 1980). Farniry reservesections usually run in strips rrbrn'Itr" c6ast iiti" the mountains(Holnes L97L, Merlin and. .ru'vix rgb:l . rn addition, there arevillage lands' These are typi"urrv-r-#ewood and medicine gatheringareas, beach landings, reef- and rigoon areas, .and praying fields,but also incrude unused rands- wlrich-miy ue cr;in;a iy the ,aiga byestablishment of use (Holmes 1971, omeara ,rgg7, Thomas 19g4). whena piece of land is cleared_ for "="r-it becomes appurtenant to aMatai titre (Holmes r974, o_meara Lg'g7, Runeborg i6'eol . Finarry,there are district lands claimed uv'tr"aitionir -i"ro.r, districrcouncils (rnade up of the ranking ua€ai of the district villages).District rands aie high rnountaii ranas used prinariry for huntingand gathering (Holmes L97L, t974).

Land Tenure

During the period between first European settlernent and theestablishment of samoa as a free and neutrll nation for the firsttime in 1889, much land was arienated i.o. the samoans by Europeans(Horrnes 197L, Meleisea 1987-). - pgring ih" period rron 1Bg9 to 1899,alienation of rands was .rbrriaaen,' ""a arien rand claims hrereevaluated by a fact-finding trirunar and, if ,r"-""=ury, by thesamoan supreme court- A claim was n"i "urstantiatea unress it hadbeen occupied and worked for at least 10 years and unre=" p.oor oipayment (excluding firearrns and.riquoS) dould ue presented. Mostclairns were evaruited during ini=-p=.rl6a, so when'c"rr.rry annexedwestern sanoa in 1899, the alstinct'1on letween customary rands andarienated lands was well estabrist"a-in"rro"" igiil lt"r":.=ea 1982).The German administration restricted rurtner arienaiior,, but rargetracts of arable lowrands were alienated by the government itselffor corporate prantation deverot;;f-f'orr"" L'TL). A Land andTitres cornmission was establisfred to''resolve issues of tenure(Meleisea L997, Runeborg 19gO).The New zearand adrninist_ra.tio1 (frorn 1919) recognized threecrasses of land in the samoa Act of 1921. These were crown Lands(fornerry German estate and goverrr"r,t i-anas1 , European Lands, andsamoan Lands (non-alienated

1.ng.=_i-- 1HJrr". Lg7L, -Tiavolo 19g4) .The samoa Act estabrished that titie io- smo"n Lands was vested inthe crown as trustee in perpetgilv ri.r. 19g6). samoan Lands couldbe taken for p-u-lclic puriosis (Tiivolo-rsa+1. The Land and TitlesProtection ordinance of 1934 broadened the ci"rrr;= ability tomanage samoan rands and re-estabrished the Land and Titres court tosettle disput-es -regarding land tenure and succession to Mataititles (Cole 1996, freleis6a 1e87).

20

When Western Samoa achieved independence in L962, its newconstitution classified all land as Customary, Freehold, or Public(after the New Zealand classification) . Customary Land !'tas noionger held in trust by the government (Meleisea-L987, Runebo.rg1985). Alienation of customary Land was forbidden with theprovision that the new parliarnent could authorize and regulatelicen=es and leases of Customary Land, and Customary Land could betaken for public purposes (CoIe L986). Furthermore, all land belowthe high-w-ater mark was decl.ared Public Land (CoIe 1986). The Landand fitles Court was retained (Meleisea L987, sesaga and Burgess1984). The Western Samoan Trust Estates Corporation (WSTEC) wascreated as a public corporation to manage the old German estateslands. In 1965, the Alienation of Customary Land Act was passed bythe parliament allowing the Matai to lease Customary land foreconomic development purposes with approval from the Ministry ofLands (Meleisea 1987, Sesaga and Burgess L984, Tiavolo 1984). TheAlienation of Freehold Land Act of 1-972 strictly regulated theatienation of Freehold Lands to non-resident corporations andindividuals (Tiavolo L984). fn L977, dn act was passed allowingWSTEC to sel-l certain of its lands as free-holdings for development(CoIe 1986).

Table 1. Twenty Year Land Tenure Trend in Western Samoa(Cole l-986, Holmes 1971)

The Land and Titles Court settles disagreements concerningsuccession to Matai title and pule over Iand. Court decisions arenot subject to appeal. The court is heavily influenced by custornand by the reconmendations of the local fono (Sesaga and Burgess1984). Historically, the Court did not register Customary Landsper se, but instead registered the Matai titles (Thonas 1984).Leases of Custonary Lands could be voluntarily registered (Eaton1985). Public and Freehold Lands were registered by metes andbounds, o[ cadastral rnaps, and by recorded deeds of transfer(Sesaga and Burgess L984, Tiavolo 1984). More recently, the Courthas begun formal registration of titles to and leases of CustomaryLands (Me1eisea L987, Tiavolo 1984).

2L

Land Class

44,9OOPublic(inc1. wSTEc)

34,7OO

2L,300Freehold L6 ,2OO227,3OO242 ,600

f4angroves

Herbaceous Marshes

S','ramp Forestc

Lakes

CoastaL Rain Forcst

Lowl.and Rain Forest

Ridgc Rain Forcst

l.lontane Rain Forcat

Cloud Forest

L'ol.canic guccession

Grass land

Littoral Scrub

Littoral Shrubland

Littoral Forest

P1ate L. Color Key to the Maps (Plates 2,3, 4 r5,10, 11)

Modern influences are modifying the relationships betweenWestern Samoans and the land (Holnes L974). For examPle, the casheconomy is encouraging more independent use of land, and a modifiedform oi Iand tenure system is emerging de facto allowing CustomaryLands to be treated as the private property of the individual(Oneara 1IBT). Today the Matai often assigns land-use rights toheads of households, and thereafter, exerts virtually no influenceover their use of the land, permitting individualized economiceffort through the growth and sale of cash crops (Holmes L97LlL974,. Thornas 1984). Similarly, few fono now attempt to regulatethe use of village and district lands cleared and brought into usethrough individual efforts (Holmes 1-97L, Omeara L987). Populationgrowth is resulting in village crowding, People are leaving thecoastal villages to build family dwellings in the inland gardenplots which they have worked (CoIe 1986, Holmes L97Lr. It also isnow conmon for the Matai to establish and manage plantations onIand over which they exercise pule, paying wages to the raigamembers who work the land (Sesaga and Burgess 1984). The govern-ment and some Matai are leasing tirnber rights to foreign timbercompanies, especially on Savai'i (Knibb 1984). Splitting of Mataititles and creation of new Matai titles is resulting in thesplitting of 'aiga Iands (Holmes L974, Omeara 1987, Runeborg 198O'Thomas 1984). These trends are producing a category of land whichis technically Customary Land but which is highly fragrmented, whichis sometimes heavily irnpacted by timber removal, and which istreated as Freehold. This class of land is a source of muchinsecurity, and litigation, as when the Matai attempt to regaincontrol (Omeara I9A7, Runeborg 1980, Sesaga and Burgess L984,Thonas 1984). Land disputes are now sometimes resulting in arablecoastal land lying fallow (Runeborg 1980).

Protected Areas in Western Samoa

In L958, the Administration of Western Samoa set, aside RobertLouis Stevensonts tornb site as the Robert Louis Stdvenson MemorialReserve (.5 ha) and an adjoining 52 ha area as the Mt. Vaea ScenicReserve. The Stevenson fanily home, Valima, became the GovernrnentHouse, and later, upon independence, the residence for the head ofstate (Government of Western Sarnoa 1985, Trotman L979).

In L974, Western Samoa passed legislation to provide for theestablishment of a National Parks and Reserves System on PubticLands (Eaton 1985, Government of Western Sarnoa 1-985, IUCN Conserva-tion Monitoring Centre 1985, Trotman L9791. The act required thatNational Parks, except for those on uninhabited islands, mustinclude at least 600 ha. Categories for Nature Reserves, HistoricReserves, and Recreation Reserves were also established (IUCNConservation Monitoring Centre J-985b). There hlas, however, Iitt1einformation on which to base the selection of new protected areas.In L975, dt the request of the Government of Western Samoar dDUnited Nations Developrnent Advisory Team (ttNDAT) prepared a plan

23

for1e7s). (Holloway and Floy

rn 1978, based on the_UNDAT plan t 2857 ha of public Land othe southern side of ruporu ""r" ="t aside as ro Le pupu_purNational Park (GovernrnenC of western sanoa 1gg5, rucN conservatioHonitoring centre and rucN cornmission on Nationar parks anProtected Areas 1985, Trotman 1979). rn" zSoo ha ii", is twice th,size of the original rg75 reconmendation. Tltg.purposes of the par)are to conserve natural features in an unmodirila iiate, to protec.water supplies, to provide a resource for environmental educationand to attract touiists (Trotma_n .Lg7gj. 'o Le pupu_pu,e extendrfrom mountain top to coast and incrudes the "rrtir" topographi

o!01.Ft o t{F{ tttFIo o+J

? >r.E8.5;o Yl.t

Eg 5;f, O.EESS

.;..*u, t-Ns [jH oor-oI r H$ s.H E 5,HEFl uq.o, ot"tIrr'S I dsfd o)

J .?

.38qt 6.E >,9.5 i

f$rEj

d,Oc{-o-*,1oo'c.l Ur Ui E.:b5$

OQ

.E"E$[x

kF{

#'3 $a!+)o(l .E

oF

53n'gg$njEb >c

:$ s-rFOEI H'-{O Is h,t3.t{ AOO ('tlr

oo+Ja\0ot)Ho

yl+JctE

-aIoAPT{onA|q5tro

+J5.av{htJa.r{o

rn

o+r€FlA

Samoa. Onty two of these duplicate the L975 UNDAT recommendations,and one of these is rO Le Pupu-Pure. Hayrs 1986 report on BirdConservation in the Pacific Islands supports several of the L975reconmendations. KRTA (1988) re-proposed the sites in the Hollowayand Floyd L975 proposal with elaboration of a Mt. Silisili NationalPark plan to include both rnajor lava flows and several other sites.Chew reconmended (198?) that the Aleipata Islands should beestablished as a marine national park and biosphere reserve. Afollow-up feasibility study r^ras prepared by Andrews and Holthus(le8e).

The L974 act requires that protected areas be established onPublic Lands (Eaton 1985). The act has since been amended topermit the establishment of protected areas on leased lands(Government of Western Samoa 1995). The large majority of theremaininlt, unprotected lands recommended in the 1975 report (L4,2OOha out of 16,1-oO ha, or 88?) are Customary Lands (Eaton 1985,Government of Western Samoa L9B5). The Government of Western Samoais reluctant to rely on leases of Customary Lands for protectedareas. This reluctance is attributable in part to the fact thatCustomary Land tenure is complex and often contested and in part tothe governmentrs respect for both customary rights and human needsfor arable land, (Eaton 1985, Merlin and Juvik 1985). The futureexpansion of Western Samoats protected areas systern will bedependent on reinforcing customary approaches to land conservationcomplemented by non-acquisition-based land protection tools (e.9.dedication of Customary Lands) (Eaton l-985, L9861 Government ofWestern Samoa 1985; Holloway and Floyd 1975).

27

CHAPTER 34

OVERVTEW OF I}WENTORY METHODS

Mappinq the Terrestrial Ecosystems of Western SamoaA representative system of nature reserves wiII contain andsustain a biogeographical arears biological and ecological

diversity. with this as a fundamental criterion, two basic choiceshad to be made in Western Samoa. These were:1. What system of land unit classification would best capture the

range of variation in the biota of Western Samoa?2. How best could these land units be inventoried, described, and

napped?

Western Samoa is part of South Pacific Biogeographic provinceIX. Samoa -- WaIIis and Futuna (Dahl 19BO). This province includes20 forest and approximately 15 non-forest terrestrial types. DahIcharacterizes ecosystems as vegetation formations. gaiea on thisprecedent, on papers by whistler and others, and on extensivepersonal communicatj-ons with experts such as Fosberg and Whistlerfrom l-987 to the present, a hierarchical classification of theterrestrial ecosystems of Western Samoa was prepared (see chapter2).

Aeriat photographs of Western Samoa were provided by SpREp andthe government of Western Samoa. These photos were stereoscopical-ly inspected, and lines hrere drawn on acetate overlays iroundphotomorphic regions (map units or areas of uniform texture). Thenap units were then traced onto 1:20rooo topographic maps providedby the government of Western Samoa. Two precautions srere taken toinsure that the inventory would be sciLntifically honest: noattenpt was made to develop correspondence between the traced mapunits and land-cover as shown on the existing topographic maps; atthno attempt was made to classify nap units prior to visiting Lheru inthe field.

_ rn preparation for field verification of map units andidentification of ecosystems, information rras assernble-d on the moreconmon, ecosysten-buirding species in western samoa. Thisinformation was extracted from the literature and then extensivelyrevised in the fieId.

Whistler and Pearsall spent, eight weeks in Western Samoaduring Jury, August, November, and December 19g9. During that

acondensed from the technical report (Pearsa1l and Whistler1991) .

28

time, most of the map units on Savaiti and tUpolu were visited.Characteristic species were recorded for all lowland map units andsome of the more accessible upland map units on the two mainislands. Most visited map units also were described and photo-graphed. The degree of and the agents of disturbance were alsorecorded for individual map units where appropriate. FollowingHurricane ofa (February 1990), Pearsall spent two weeks in AugustL99O revisiting all lowland nap units and conducted remotesurveillance of upland sites from passable roads. on this trip,only the level and nature of hurricane damage ltere assessed.

During the 1989 field work, Pearsall and Whistler wereprovided with forestry housing and transportation to field sites bythe Division of Forestry. During the L990, post-hurricane fieldwork, Pearsall t"ras assisted by two staff from the Division ofEnvironment and Conservation.

Based on the field experience in July and August 1989 and onthe literature, species and ecosystens correspondence tables wereprepared and indicator species were selected for individualecosystems. These tables h/ere used extensively during the secondround of field work in November and December L989, and proved veryuseful as guides for deterrnining ecosystems. During both 1989phases of the field work, the ecosystem classification was itselfextensively revised, and ecosystem descriptions were prepared.

Following completion of the 1989 field work, air photos forall map units were reevaluated based on notes and photographs fromthe field investigations, and using regional and topical references(Avery 1978, Carnpbell L987, Lillesand and Kiefer I979, NavalPhotographic Intei'pretation Center 1950, USGS L944'). Map unitswere redrawn as needed, then all map units were traced onto draftvelum overlays. Each map unit was labeled with basic location andclassification codes as follows:

Map Sheet Nunber: Map Unit Number: Ecosystem Codewhere Ecosyst,em Code is the map code for the ecosystem type asshown in the following list. For example 3:16:HM indicates mapnumber three: map unit sixteen (the sixteenth map unit on mapnumber three): Herbaceous Marsh.

29

ECOSYSTEM

Riparian Woodland

___-.-v vqvvEtsb I ()nIlerbaceous strandLittora

9oastal Rain Forestl9wrand Bain ForesLRidqg Rain r&estFernlandM?nt?ne Ra jtl_ f,ores*_Fd Fore$

MAP CODE

LKSFHMMGCRLRRRFLMRCFRWGLVSHSLPLSLFSM

XorXor

nonenone

An optional D-prefix to the ecosystem code indicates adisturbed ecosystem. ro. +ilF*, DLF is tt-"-- ,"p code f ordisturbed 1i€to'rai-ior"=t. A =ite was aerineJ-is disturbed ifswiddens ."gg . "p- ="r-"1- uut -re-ss -trran

trari,_ oi_ it" area; irserective cutrini ot-veietation ;; ;#rgnt during field inspec_tion but had "ii6"lla'-r'":r -th";'i,lir*"Jr

!h...5".j-'ir donestil orferal rivestock f"=p."i.irv pig=i--;;r; =ig,rtiiJiitiv present (aninfluence on ecosystem proce_ssesi not_1l5casional); if disclirnaxpatches were ttittt"it'"d-'b-y. rr"r"ti iii"rr".ence glirarr swiddens,fernland natches);-;;"i; "ii"" pl.r,i'Jp""ies were present but notdominant.

Alien species were rare.ly present in the absence of otherforms of disl_urbur,""'-i."+:;r+t ru;i;; provided the sisnificantexception)' and rnost'Tdcnanicat-liFt-uibanceJ- "in..entry s/ereforrowed or acconpanied

-by ttre i.niroi,r"ii""-it-!ir."r, species.sites dorninared bv ;il;; "ig.t"* ;;-;;r. nechanicar disrurbancewas pervasive were not "oniia"i"a -i= "=it.= i;;-;;fi;" ecosystemsbut rather as non-native Lcosystems lminagea o. iuirrdoned rands)and were not mapped. secona..v r"=1""*re-sts rarle-Lnough to mapat J'z2o' ooo yere nearry urr-yi ai=t"rrlo 1a." opp-o="a to naturaigaps which were -r:arely i.rg-" enough to map_.at th-_G scale) , so the'rDrr code typically ;J,s -in.i"ai;;; i-p."ii* to-;sri. ,, secondary

30

shrubland seres following larqe-scale forest disturbances werealways dominated by alien species, and thus were not mapped.

Disturbance Classification and Mappincr Summary

f. Native Ecosystems - dominated by native species (rnapped)A. not disturbed (no D nrefix)B. disturbed (D prefix) - one or nore of:

1. alien plant species present but not dominant2. clearings, selective cutting on ]ess than half the

area3. domestic or feral animals significantly present

II. Non-native Ecosystems - dominated by alien species or mechani-cal disturbance (not mapped)

The set of ecosystem overlays was, at this point, based on airphoto interpretation and field verification. The next step was toincorporate SPOT satellite data as a check against and enhancementof the maps. The potential of SPOT data for enhancing the accuracyof the map overlays was expected to be substantial. IFREI,IERprovided a SPOT image for the western 2/3s of Savaifi.

The SPOT data image was enhanced so that it could be used asan additional overlay to the maps. This process resulted in ninepaper images at 1:20,OOO for comparison and incorporation with theexisting maps and ecosystem overlays for Western Savaiti. Theseimages were overlaid with the existing maps and draft overlaysprepared from aerial photography and field research and correctionswere made as follows:

Because the SPOT images produced very precise forest-non-forest edge data, coastal and lowland rain forest edges $rerecorrected to the SPOT images, except, where field data indicat-ed that timber harvesting probably had reduced the forest areasince the SPOT data was collected in 1985. Lava field edgesalso hrere corrected to the SPOT images.The ecotones between montane, ridge, and lowland rain forestsand cloud forests were adjusted using the SpOT data, since itwas superior to the aerial photography.

The SPOT images were not as useful as the aerial photographsfor visually differentiating coastal wetlands and littoralecosystems from surrounding land-uses, so these edges were notcorrected.

l-.

2.

3.

The problem with SPOT data and non-forest edges seems to havebeen twofold. First, relatively low vegetation density in theseecosystems pernitted soil, rock, and water reflectance values to

31

contribute heavily to the ecosystem refrectance signatures,iiillj::3 .' ",Il|i:Tff$ : llj: t"',.".,i.:. r.ltt ;; ;;e tat i oi a",, = i tv?s - .ar.e_ patches rbr

-tno"t rana-use;-:i""ir?=:::=*f ;AI;i"r:;individual ecosystem sj-tes tended to be visually lost in areas ofhigh pixer heteiog"rr"iiy. Fortunatery,, these ,1." tn" ecosystemsmost freguently visitea'

oo-{ +,bcoo.9 T

E:3m

,"s ffi3 stso@

o&

.9g;fioN6

s sil: 3.Hx 8a

m@o'-lr{ rla hrnBE

c\a

' b9.C -l*'8 ir.6

Orlro kx?afl,r, ca=tO Ul- f't .Fl.- .cqel

U'E=t,{roud()-lEcrld otrXt{*tOhurh 5-t p.Ok g.Ooqto

mo()co}{Ila()ooEo+JoulooFI

+,-l}.od}{O.

3lrlitC'UI

{{oP.rl={o+,.cdA

IttItIttIIIIIIIItI

uro.f1 +tdco

o j T-J rr{ O{ -.to

wPo* *Ed8Frdq,

@g.EEo .4o

fncluded Ecosystem:

Ecosystem Occurrence:

Map Unit:

Site:

Map unit number:

Island:

Ecosystems that are closely related toanother ecosystem type but that are toosmall to map separately are considered tobe included.

an ecosystem in a place; a geographicentity; a geographic incidence of anecosystem typel sizes in Western Samoarange from 2 Eo 8r0OO ha.

a subdivision of a rnap indicating part orall of an ecosystem occurrence, possiblywith included ecosystems; a photomorphicregion of a nap; sizes range from 2 toL,000 ha.

the unit of land and/or waters selectedfor management planning (in this case'for conservation); may include all orparts of more than one ecosystem occur-rence and more than one ecosystem type.

map number followed by map unit number,in series, beginninE at 1 for eaclr napsheet, e.g. 3:16 for the sixteenth mappedunit on map three.

island where the occurrence is; largerisland if the island of occurrence is onor inside the reef of a larger island

see discussion above

Note that many ecosyste:n occurrences occupy more than one map,and thus are comprised of more than one map unit. AII ecosystemoccurrences are tomprised of one or more contiguous map units.Treating map units as separate data entities allows the base mapsheets io Ue used as coarse cells for evaluation of distributionr'and it consequently allows rarity of ecosystem types -to beevaluated partiatly on the basis of distribution, thus reducing theproblem of-considering ecosysten types with very large but very fewoccurrences to be rare (e.g. the Cloud Forest of Savairi).

Map Unit. occurrence, and Site Data

The data stored for each map unit includes:

Ecosvstem maD code:

35

Ecosystem:

Species:

Comments:

Occurrence name:

Associated map units:

Of a damacre:

ecosystem namer e.9. Lowland Rain Forest

J-t=t of species common or significant forthe occurencelevel and factors of disturbance, reservestatus, etc.

nearest village or najor landform nameplus dominant ec-osystern name, €.9. Falea_Iupo Lowland Rain Foresta list of all map units that, togetherwith this one, Cornprise the

"""Jy=|",occurrence

comments

rn addition to the paper naps and the data bases generated bythis project, there are -prans to incruae the data-in two tlpes ofcornputerized data systernL. These wilr facilitai. -tn" ease withwhich the data can Le re.=_.rre.d, used, updated, and combined withother data for complex analysis. -'The first of these systems will be The Nature conservancyrs

. BCD is a tabularsystem for managing data abouffiiorogical diversity(in this case, -e^coiysterns), their o."ui""nces, and sites for theirmanaqement' BcD also supports comprex inrormation about landtenure and managed areas. BCD runs js an appricaai;" of AdvancedRevelationr | -c-onmercial, quasi-rerationar -data nase system thatsupports variable length tieras ana tnurtipi":""tri?i"ra=. wtren awestern samoa conservition Data center is in=tiii;a,-in" tir=t datato be entered in the system will u" tne ecosystem data from thisEAPI/SPREp project

Loadinq the ecosystern data in a BCD system will result in theability to-dynamicarry-maintain tne ecosysten data as nehr researchis done' rt will aliow type and occurence data for rare prantsand animar-s to be added to-tne data rase. rt wirr;i;" arrow verypowerful searches, sorts, ang anaryses or trt" datitofi use in land-use planning, environmental impacti-u=="=.rents, and the establish-rnent of public policy- Finally, the ncD systern will arl0w dynamictracking of the ser.eclion, aesi'gn, "=Glrishn;;1,-';;a *.rr"g"renr ofnature reserves, in effect _auto-rna,ting *lL nature reserves proposarincluded in thii report- EstablishnLnt of a cDc in western samoal:_r:-:r:l!i uv TNc lnd thus consrirutes phas" or,"-of the proposedr-mprovements on the reserves system proloiar th;tupi".., later inthis report.

36

The second type of system targeted for installation of thedata wiII be the ARC/fNFO geographic information system (GIS)developed by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI).ARC/INFo is the GIS used by the UNEP GRfD system and by EAPI, andis under evaluation by TNC. ARC/fNFO systems where we hope to seethe Western Samoan ecosysten data installed include:

1. the ARC/INFO system installed in Western Samoa during therecent project sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ANZDECand DSIR 1990);

2. the SpREp ARC/INFO based regional geographic informationsystem, a regional component of the United Nations GlobalEnvironmental Monitoring System (GEMS) Grid network and aregional repository of digitized resources data for the SPREPtropical Pacific island mernber countriesl and

3. the EAPI ARC/INFO systern in Honolulu, for the purposes ofcontinuing to provide new data and assistance with datamanagement and interpretation to the systems in Western Samoaand at SPREP.

Once the rnapped ecosystem occurrence data are loaded inARc/INFo, the following infornation can be measured and utilized todevelop another revision of the reserves system proposed in thisreport:

Geoqraphic Information Svstem Data

Map Unit Area:Occurrence Area:

Site Area:

Map Unit Perimeter:

occurrence Perirneter:

Site Perimeter:

Map Unit Threatened Edqe:

Occurrence Threatened Edge:

Site Threatened Edqe:

aggregated from

aggregated from

map units

map units

length, not including map edges

aggregated from map units

aggregated frorn map units

length of edges shared with non-native ecosystem occurrences

aggregated from t.p ,tilitt

aggregated from rnap units

length of edges shared witn dis-turbed native ecosystem occurrences

37

Map Unit Vulnerable Edqe:

Plate 6. Punataemo r o Swarnp Forest,

Plate Z. Xvlocarpus Mangrove, part of Site 2

aggregated from maP units

aggregated from maP units

calculated from site area andsite perimeter

At this writing (3lgL') the GEI'{S Grid Asia Pacific Regionaloffice in Bangkok, - Thailand has digitized the western samoaecosystem data to be loaded in the regiona-I gE{S -Grid

ARC/fNFOsyst-ern at SpREp. Copies will also be installed at EAPI to enablethe neasurements and-analyses listed above and in Western Samoa forlong term purposes. ThuJ, at this writing, there is every reasonto 6elieve thlt a phase two irnproved proposal for a Western Samoareserves systern wiff be developLd, with support from' among others'EAPI, SPREP, TNC, and' the uN GEI'{S Grid Program'

As part of another project sponsored by the Asian DevelopmentBank, the base maps and -soiLs rnaps of Western Samoa were redrawn,and iand-use, Iand tenure, and tana capability maps were developed.Alt of these data were loaded into the Western Samoan ABC/INFO=y=t"r. Using both ARc/INFO and the data from the ADB

project tod-evelop a sup-erior phase three revision of the proposed reservessystem might include:

1. expansion of the proposed system to include riparian corri-dors;

z. adjustrnent or optimization to avoid displa.c_ing agriculture andpolential agriCulture from productive soilsl

of land tenure impacLs (e-g. maximization ofwith government land)

"

occurrence Vulnerable Edge:

Site Vulnerable Edqe:

Site Roundness:

3, optirnizationcoincidence

4. establishment of buffers and ecosystem recovery lands; and

5. analyses of the desirability and feasibility of corridors.

The data from the ADB project are now in hand at both SPREPand EAPI, so a phase threL ffinat, superior) revision of thereserves system as proposed in this report can be developed.

39

CHAPTER 4

PRTORTTY ECOSYSTEMS FOR CONSERVATION

In this.-section, Western Samoars ecosystems are listedaccording to .their naiiona_r- pli:t-ltf"to. conslrvation, with thenrgnest oriority listed first-and the'rowest prioriCy listed rast.priority is uasla ""-r"rttv ruotn ;i;"- and nurnrer ii map units inwestern samoa) , aisiriu"[i6".'i;;"d;'rnits i""wJ=tIi" samoa) , andthreat (to tne. typ" -iJ -w"=t"rn i;;;, based or-l=ressments ofthreats to the inaii'iouir occurrences in western suro.,. Note thatit t few cases., the revei 5 :r .6, ;;;; or species dominant optionr-s used to distinguish rellt#ely ";;*ron frorn rerativery rareecosystem tvpes. Hbte also-that ""-o=yJt"m tvpl='tnJi are very 10wpriorirv te-q. Fernlanas-ana;;;";;if-ror"=L!1 or that are conmon

ft :""iHt :1 ": r"" ",.,""1oitS"J "' t'- - ;;;;'"" o u = s trands a nd n ipar i an

The Nature conservancy typically ranks ecosystems forconservation on the basis or-'rar-i't-f,-T*a::u.rEiorr,*Ina threatr oDiJ;""t; ji:T,o"" !: rive, wirh one i"iig tl: hishesr prioriry. A?,,r i L = i i-J."1:-E'li;:ij1 *,:?"1,' ;'n"r"'j

.: tll:lf ?l#llli*gliecosystem is rrdenonstraUiy sec.ure I locallyranking process is L"pl"l'""a in rofl-i"ti'r-ir,'iJi.sar.l er al.(L986) ' TNc R-anks i":lL- rotrowing-ri=t _.r" prefixed with thei:::i',.in"!" "l3u

i::i: r:ltl ;;"; ".#i

"" "' r ii."i" i ? nr s ba s ed on

Mt""d u"l""d f?i"+ (s1) This is westernsamoars most ="rr"@=yJi"*. rt is ii=o a veryrare ecosvstem as there are 9l1V tni"" occurrences, all onrupolu. br .these, --l;;

a-re ais€.rrr"J'by .alien species andii 3i; "ri

?u nr'l;. i : il:, ";

X J:ffil ";ii: l"

" r. ti o,,'' r Ji - * o o d i ns

Xvl0carpus Mangroye (s1) This is western samoa,s rarestecosystem. There G dnrv one occur..n"", and it is too smar.rto nap. rt is rouna-.='ur, .i""rrra"J"l=o"y=t", occurrence incoastal Rain r.orest _"p ili! 14.i. -;;"_o"".,=r"."" is notconsidered to be irmnEailtely -tnleatlnea, urri--t-o-.rtinuing5:ffi:::":: coastal nain roresrs wiri-".rentua11y rhrearen rhe

1.

2.

40

4.

pandanus turritus swarnp Forest (s1) - There are sLx occurrenc-tern Samoa' TheY are tll located

along the easteln crest of the island of tupolu, and all aremoderately to severely threatened by land-use conversion intheir vicinities.

Freshwater Lake (S2) There are only eight occurrences for@vi"iaIthoughsomeHerbaceousMarshesmayhaveopen water on a-seasonaf bJsis). T\+o are on Savairi and six.i" on fUpolu. AII can be considered threatened by t!"prospect oi logging and other land-use conversions in theirvicinities. so:rne rniy have been disturbed by the introductionof alien species of fish-

Mixed Lowland Species Swamp Foreqt (52) - There are many Mixedf,owfana SpeciGi Swamp Forests in Western Samoa. However,virtually all are &isturbed with only. five._undisturbedoccurrences recorded. Of these, only one is on the island ofsavaiti. AII are severely threatenea uy land-use conversionand pigs.

Herbaceous Marsh (S2) Like Mixed Lowland Species SwampForests, there are many Herbaceous Marshes in Western Samoa'However, only l-4 occurrences (eight on Savairi and six onfupolu)' were- relatively undisturbed before hurricane ofa.only three were entirely spared by tle storn. All occurrences.r.-quite small, and ail ire severely threatened by land-useconversion and Pigs.

Rhizophora Manqrove (S2) - There are a great many occurrences@rove in Western Samoa. Most of these areincluded. ecosysterils (not nappable) along the edges of Brucrui-era Mangtroves-. Some of thiie ttincluded occurrencesil are ingooa condition, and relatively secure. 11I of the occurrences-"t this ecosystern that are Grge enough to map are severelydisturbed exiept for a single site on rUpolu. 41f mappablesites are severLfy threatenea Uy adjacent and on-site land-useconversion. sonL are also thleatened by rubbish disposal'adjacent coral rnining, and pollution.

Metrosideros Montane Rain Forest (S2) - This is another veryone very sma1l occurrence in tbe

highlands of tupolu. rnat occurrence, however, is notthreatened.

Grassland (S2) This is another very rare ecosystem, Yilhonly one very snall occurrence in t'he high-lands of Savaiti'That occurrence, however, is not threatened'

5.

6.

7.

8.

4T

9.

Plate 8. Fanuatapu fsland,

P1ate 9. Satanapu - Sataoa Mangrove, part of Site 7

E

t:

l,L.

10.

]-2.

Coastal Rain Forest (S3) - This ecosystem is severely threat-ened by conversion except on Apolirna fsland and the Alei-pataIslands where it is relatively secure. There ate L2 separat,eundisturbed occurrences on seven maps, but most of these arequite smal1.

Ridqe Rain Forest (s3) - Ridge Rain Forest is one of WesternSamoars most common ecosystems. There are, however, only fourundisturbed occurrences, all on tUpolu. These four occurrenc-es tend to be protected by their steep nature and theirremoteness. Even sor considering the extent of damage toother occurrences for this ecosystem, all remainingi occurrenc-es must be considered threatened.

Bruquiera Manqrove (53) Western Samoa retains only 1l-undisturbed sites for the Bruquiera Mangrove ecosystem.Fortunately, some of these on the south coast of rUpolu arefairly large. only one undisturbed occurrence persists onSavaiti. Threats incLude adjacent land-use conversion andfill.

Littoral Forest (S3) Littoral Forest is not rare, in thesense that there are L6 undisturbed sites remaining in WesternSamoa (11 on Savai'i and five on tUpolu). However, alloccurrences are quite sma1l, and all can be considered to bethreatened by local land-use conversion.Cloud Forest (53) - There are only seven map units distributedover only three maps for this ecosystem. AII of the map unitsare, however, contiguous, and together comprise a singleoccurrence in the highlands of Savaiti. The ecosystem is not1ocaIly threatened.Littoral Scrub (S4) Littoral Scrub is not uncommon as anarrow margin along Littoral Forests. Occurrences largeenough to map are quite rare, with only two in Western Samoa.These are both on rUpolurs south shore, and were once connect-ed as a single occurrence. Threat is quite low, as thisecosystem occupies iron-bound coasts where land-use conversionis rarely an issue. The fUpolu occurrences are in ro Le PupuPure National Park.

13.

L4.

15.

43

16.

affi "l?t

)";*itlorar shruhl_and i.s- suite common!!.-Tu.gi"=

-or other "ou"t.tlil-l{

always as snalr .r"jl tr' "na"'=to.v or ;;;.#,1.';i:il:::T:;ii:rx .*:lTr'"ff'tilgnargins of non-nati.r* -un-i/or^ =,r"JI=Jiirr.r_ .r"u=.--

*onry sixoccurrencesseverelv r",r".::g rv ir"..il'.''"

-ofl.'rrrJ'nardi_ness oc-r,ittoralshrubland species Lnd inEr ",uiiitv^ il recoronize disturbed:::$=;il"" to lowei

'il; "on""rv1utiln priority ror this

L7.Disclima (s4). The cyatheai"':l:-::l:o on steep lands "r="t ,f" ::Tli"-l-a1 isol";; parchesurscrrmax Lowran (s4). The cvatheag;;;;.3;;9..;;,;j"^;!-i_."iff "r="..ii"i:t!]lu"i"i:"1:=,!*parchesthree occurrences are Larqe Ln the Lowran-d Rain r"rllt ^.q

u{-;rres

surroundi;;-f,owlana p^i-- '-:1^1qh to map separatelr, ;;.-ol*1l;:H:ill *, ? ^

*"_T 19"u_ - *l# : rl?llll rately fron thl

f; :ff ::i?*.";u?,i:*._t.;it.,"'."l",=J*=r*|.:::, j,I:{l:_...".d.byIt::yesting. -No o""rrr"n""" " conversioD,. .parti""i"rfi'tll"olIIand_use 6onve.*.;..,,. --, 1r" directly tnr"at_"_r,liiil,, ^*__. ^ _*i';5#.ff l:"1;';il;=:"i:j3':":$:::t"'"11?1'""="".1;'#'i:not adaptabte to-tu,irui""#]L8.

Disclirnax (S4 ). The cvatheadistributed "n steep lu'd."Tt

j's common is_ isot"l;; patchesoccurrences ^-o l---^ - ln

the Montane Rain E-nr^^+

19.

;ff!:: ::::?, 3 iE" =' u *t ::: r s-^l' # "' I; " : ?" i :iii ?,::' ""f;t fRainro-r-e-#"JJ"?H".::Hi"ff ::"..5"."T$"j;te,,Montane

.,::l Lowtand Ti, F.oresr is one of::Ipl_i=i.g io occurren"", *ot ecosystetn,^_wittr -Ii i.n units::g_tt.o""'r.-."nces on ,upogn

savai'i and :7 map "iit= compris-r a i s e the con s.".*,i t i o,, ;Xil i.rl?lT:i +iE;:H::;rii*rff:.s severety threatln;i-;-{_ tirni.i -iiiv"=ting and .tand_useconversion' secona, -pJrji. aorninatei^patchei t".,a to occurln coastal "r:.: wnLrEE"y .." ,ort tlr5^eatened, - Jo coastalff i="'::::;:.:f ,.li=*"."8{;i"*'":**lii=irr:i:+Hi"Illis:;:ffi"*"ii,lnFl"::ji*;i:;,,"T:,lli li:ff i::::i:r areas or

",":l*_ Volcanic Succession is one of

:#:ff :1"., Xl =.H$.1- *ff:. *J}. i?"1 J""""IT- " ; iiff". "li;20.

2r' Montane &ain Forest (ful Montane.Rain Forest is western:til;:;:'"rffi*ai+:i#i. ":m:",r1"",",

o Tap ;ii,'None of ttnereia;l;:ir"i;:::::ff i:ii.,".:H:=%tnf ii"ffi::i:Si:::"*44

u

q

a?

U

U

tF

c

cc\ll .

rlFo{+

(co.Fl (.lJ ?df5(!.(0)6ltr;8iUlItolt{lA;o

rd

.dOtqtog(0El

a

oF{

I

Ut U\O."1 U tnolqogEFga g,

a^1ll ,

International Conservation Priorities

on the basis of ecosysten type, many of Western Samoarsecosystem types are fairly common on a global basis. For example,aLl three Mangrove types, Mixed Lowland Species Swarnp Forests,Herbaceous Marshes, all Iittoral ecosystems, and the one Grassland,while relatively rare in Western Samoa, would be consideredglobally conrmon. On the other hand, some of Western Samoars morecommon ecosystem Lypes (e.g. Montane Rain Forests) are consideredrelatively rare on a global basis. At the global scale, virtuallyall wetlands, especially Mangroves, and all Rain and Cloud Forestsare considered to be threatened.

Western Samoars more common ecosystems assume further globalimportance when species of plants and animals are considered. Forexample, the Montane Rain Forest has the largest number of speciesof aI1 of Western Samoars ecosystems, while the lowland wetlandsand littoral ecosystems have the least. There are many speciesfound in Western Samoa that are unique to a given island, toWestern Samoa, or to the Samoan Archipelago. Most of these speciesare found in the Montane Rain Forests and the Cloud Forests, butmany are also found in the Lowland and Ridge Rain Forests and theupland swamps. The najority of Western Samoars undescribed speciesare to be found in the Rain Forests, Cloud Forests, and UplandSwamp Forests.

In contrast, some of Sanoars rarest and/or most endangeredecosystems are cornprised of few but relatively widely spreadspecies. Examples include the lowland wetlands and the littoralecosystems. The following list includes estirnated global priori-ties for conservation of Western Samoars ecosystems based first onconcentration of significant species (island and archipelagoendemics and undescribed species) and then on global rarity,distribution, and threat to the ecosystem type. The NatureConservancyrs ranking system is used again in this case, but witha rrcfr prefix to indicate global ranks)

5Note that ordinarily the TNC ranks are based on rarity,distribution, and threat and do not include priorities forconcentration of sigrnificant species. The global ranks providedhere thus do not conform exactly with TNC guidelines.

47

Ecosvstems and Global Conservation Ranks1. Coastal Rain Forest (cZ)2. Metrosideros Montane Rain Forest (G2)3. Cvathea Disclimax Montane Rain Forest (G2)4. Montane nain Forest (G2)5. Cyathea Disclirnax Lowland Rain Forest (e}l6. Lowland Rain Forest (eZ)7. Cloud Forest (cZ)8. Mixed Upland Species Swamp Forest (c2)9. Ridge Rain Forest (c3)10. PAndanus turritus Swamp Forest (c3)11. Mixed Lowland Species Swarnp Forest (G3)L2. Herbaceous Marsh (c3)13. Brucruiera Mangrove (c4)14. Xvlocarpus Mangrove (G4)15. Freshwater Lake (c4)16. Rhizophora Mangrove (c4)L7. Volcanic Succession (G5)18. Littoral Forest (c5)L9. Littoral. Scrub (G5)20. Littoral Shrubland (c5)2L. Grassland (cS)

-The 4aps shown in plates 4 and 5 are annotated to illustratethe locations (or the centers of) ecosystem occurrences for allecosysten types with ranks of s2 or G2 or higher. These are theoccurrences of western samoa-rs highest priority components(elenents) of ecological diversity.

48

t/

CHAPTER 5

PRIORITY SITES FOR CONSERVATION

In this chapter, sites are recommended for conservation on thebasis of five odjectives. These are, in order of priority:

1. to conserve viable occurrences of ecosystems that have highglobal and national ranks, developed in the previous chapter'Lncluding aI1 possible occurrences of G2 and S1 and S2ecosystems;

2. to conserve the largest occurrence or practical section of anoccurrence of each ecosystem occurring in Western Samoa inorder to achieve a viaLle, representative protected areassystemr'

3. to conserve adjacent occurrences of normally adjacent ecosys-tems in order to conserve their ecotone(s);

4. to conserve broad bands of native ecosystems extending f5onthe coast to the interior highlands in order to providewildlife corridors, especially for forest birds and flyingfoxes, and to conservl examples of hydrologically Iinkedecosystemsl and

5. to conserve occurrences of each priority ecosystem (G2,. G3,51, SZ, s3) on both north and souih sides of both Savairi andtUpolu'in order to insure against ecosystem extinction duringrnajor natural disasters.

Site numbers (t through 261 are given to use with the maPs onplates 10 and 11. Site naires are based on the nearest village ori-ratural feature, and are more-or-less arbitrary. Western Samoanusers of these materials are encouraged to rename these sites tobetter conform to custom. Map unit numbers are given in bracketsin the descriptions for people using the large 1:20'000 mapoverlays or th6 reduced rnaps in the technical report- Others canignore the numbers in brackets.

Sites are listed in order of priority:

1. Lona - punataemoro Forests This site includes the LonaMontane @ and the western end of the North-east rUpolu Ridge Rain Forest 124.31 above.Fagaloa Bay. Italso intludes the Punataemoro Swamp Forest 124.L3). ThisMixed Upland Species Swamp Forest iJ in excellent condition,and it includ-es large Corridors of riparian forest, andAfulilo FaIIs. As fir as can be determined, the site hasnever been explored by ecologists or botanists. Nestledbetween the niage Rain Forest and the Swamp Forest is thepunataemoro Lowllnd Rain Forest 124.L2). The Lona - Punataem-

49

3.

mofo Forests site is the highest priority site in westernsamoa because it includes the only undisturbed occurrence forwestern samoats.highest priority ecosystem, and it is .r,opportunity to incrude an_ interesting- corridor from swanpForest through Lowland and Ridge Rain Fbrests to Montane RaiirForests. The site is not threatened by rand conversion excepton the southern edge of the swamp rorelt, but it is ihreatenedby _ a proposed hydroelectric dLvelopnent. ofa damage rrrasmoderate except on the steepest .!r.dges, where land slipsnormally naintain disclimax communitiel. Recovery should berapid.9a1atilua Lowland Foreqts - The lowland forests of Salariluain southwestern savai'i incrude coastar Rain Forests lLA.L,14.31, Lowrand Rain Forest [14.4], Littoral Forests []-4.1,L4.21, Herbaceous strand lL4.zl0 ind the onry occurrence forwestern sanoats rarest ecosystem, the xvrolcarnus MangroveIincruded in 14.].1. There was virtuarly no damage fromHurricane ofa, but there is every indicatioi-t tnat irre r,owranaRain Forest i-s being converted r.lpidly, reducing ,oi-orrly theslte itself , but al-Jo its proxirnity to ifre coastward extensionof the Highlands of savai'i site lsite number g).Fusiluaga Forest - This site includes the disturbed FusiluagaYi"g9 Upland species. swamp Forest lz4.sl and portions of theFusiluaga Lowland Rain Foiests [24.]-0, 24.L41. rt lies berowthe Punataemoro swamp Forest in centrar rupolu and is fed byAfulilo Falrs and stream. Even.though it i; aistuinea, it isa hig! priority site given that it in6tudes the second rargestexampre of western samoars highest priority

""o=y=tlrn. ofadamage was rninor.4,lgipata rsrands This discontinuous site includes fourislands off the eastern end of 'uporu with it p"ilinl occur-rences of coastal Rain Forest and Littoral Forest. None ofthe isrands is entirely undisturbgd, but undisturbed exampresof ecosysterns occur on arr four islands. The potential foreco-tourism is very small, but the site is not threatened., andit represents an excerlent opportuniiy ior a coastar ecosys-tems reserve. ofa-damage was nbt assesSed. This site has beenproposed as a national park, and is more thoroughly describedin pubrications by Andiews and Horthus (l-989), chew (1987),and Whistler (1983a). Occurrences include:

Fanuatapu Island CoastaL Rain Forest t2g.6lFanuatapu Island Littorat Forest t2A.ilFanuatapu Island Littoral Shrubland 1ZS.a3Namufa fsland Coastal Rain Forest 1Ze.S3Nurutere rsrand coastal Rain Foresis [2g.10, zg.L2]Nurutele fsland Littoral Forest lZS.rilNurutele fsland Lowland Rain forest t28.161Nu r.ulua f sland Lowland Rain Forest 1ie . f f 1 -

4.

50

5.

Nurulua Island Littoral Forest [ 28. ]-4 JNu'u1ua Island Coastal Rain Forest [ 28 . ]'5l

Falealupo Lowland Forests - This site on the western end offfies one of Western Samoa I s best Lowland RainForest occurrences [1.f] and some of the larger occurrences ofCoastal Rain Forest t1.21 and Littoral Forest [1.3]. Ofadamage was moderate and the site is weII recovered. Most oraII of the sj-te is already included in the Fa1ea1upo Reserve.

Taqa Lowland Forests - This site on the south coast of Savaiticonsists of an excellent Lowland Rain Forest occurrence [14.5]and Western Samoars largest occurrence for Coastal Rain ForestlL4.6l including patches of Littoral Scrub and Shrubland andbordeied by tleibaceous Strand. These forests are high1ythreatened by land conversion and the possibility of commer-cial logging. l,tany blow holes and pocket beaches are includedalong the coast giving this site high potential for eco-tourism and day-recreation development. The impacts of Ofawere minimal

Satanapu - Sataoa Mangrove and Coastal Rain Forest Thisswift and beauti-ful estuary on south central 'Upolu isbordered by Western Samoars finest Bruquiera Mangrove l2I.2O'25.21 and one of its nicest Coastal Rain Forests [25.1]. Thepotential for eco-tourism is considerable. Ofa deposited afair amount of sand in the estuary mouth, but the ecosystemsare in good condition.

Hiqhlands of Savai'i - This site is d,ominated by the Savai'iCloud Forest 17.3,8.4,11.3, LL.4,11.6, L2.31 and is thelargest recommended site in Western Samoa. Along the crest ofthe island, this site includes a maze of craters, some ofwhich are not rnapped on the topographic sheets. Sorne of thesecraters have small and unmapped wetlands in them.

A band of the Main Savai'i Montane Rain Forest [parts of 6,2,7.L, 7.8, 7.9, 7.L6, 8.3, 9.L, l-O.1, LL.2, L2.2, 13.11 isincluded in the site. This band of Montane Rain Forest shouldbe sufficient to connect and buffer the very significantoccurrences listed above and sufficient to serve as a reservefor the Montane Rain Forest Ecosystem on Savaiti. A band ofthe South Savai'i Lowland Rain Forest [part of 14.10] extend-ing towards the Taga Forests is also included as offering thebest (albeit discontinuous) opportunity for a highlands tocoast corridor on Savairi.

The upland forests on the northern exposures of this site wereseverely defoliated by Hurricane Ofa, but refoliation is veryprobable, and there are virtually no weeds intruding into theuplands of Savaiti.

6.

7.

8.

I 51

9.

This site has. frequently been recommended for reserve status.see especiarrv r-porti bv rt-ii;il] , -Ho-rlowav and Frovdjl3lil:Je", KRrA irgea). rrre sire incrudes tri" folrowinsVanutausala cvathea Discrimax croud Forest t7.6r;Mr' Afi High Elevation lava f10w^ (116,0] supporting highelevation volcanic succepsion ra.e ) z.rct .rr'J=rrrroundingan island of Montane Rain rori=i 16.10 , .7.21 iMt. Afi crater (1760) supporting high elevation Vor.canicSuccession lZ.L7l;Mr. Mata fo le ofi_ Lava.flow (!pg2) supporting highelevation Volcanic Succe"=ion-'-tl . tZl ;Mt' Mu lava f 10w .(-19-? supporting high erevationVolcanic Succession l-l .tsi; -sF-Mt' silisiri cinder._"gr"= supportingr high erevationVolcanic Succession [7.7]; --rr'Mt. Silisili Herbaceous Marsh [ 7 . 10 ] ,.Mt. Mata ro le Afi Grassland [7.11];Lake Mafane ILZ.S);Mt. Maugaloa Herbaceous Marsh 112.6l; andAlia '1J"-_Gaoa cvathea Disclirnax Montane Rain Forest[ 11.5 , 72 .4] .

central ruporu uprands The isrand of fupolu is order andmore heaviry poputatea than the israna of savaifi. As aresurt, the upland forests of _ ,"ooil .are disconlinuousrydistributed- There- i=,- f;; example,'rJ singre centrar MontaneRain Forest on the isrina.- surpii=i'giy, there is a rerative_Iy large ur'rq essentiuiiy conrinuouJ iegion of undisturbedforest in the interior o-f central 'upoi' extending from nearthe north shore to near the south shore.rmpacts from Hurricane ofa inc.uded severe defoliation i_n theuprands and manv rand.srifl-in-ch;;i;;; gorges. Recovery inthe former casd is vir-"-arry

""it.ir,. - in tne ratter case,

;:l:r-rnduced landslip= rt"ip 1o rnaintiln the cyarhea discrima_This site is doni.nated by Montane Rain Forest and includes thefollowing ecosystem o""riri"nces:

52

the Mt. Le Pure Montane Rain Forest L22.8, 23.9)i

the Mt. Le Pure Herbaceous Marsh 122.91iLake Le Pure 122.2L)ithe Mt. Fito Montane Rain Forest t22.I6, 23.LO, 25.8,26.L1 with large areas of Cyathea disclimax areas andRiparian Woodlands;

the Mt. Poutavai nidge Rain Forest [23.18]the Fa1efa River Lowland Rain Forest [23.11];the somewhat disturbed inland Lowland Rain Forests of rOLe Pupu Pure National Park [25.L8, 26.3]; and

Mataloa Stream (East Branch) Lowland Rain Forest 123.J-4,23. 15 , 26.91 .

l-0. Eastern tUpolu Uplands A long, broad ridge extends fromcentral tUpolu toward the southeast. The ridge itself isdominated by Disturbed Lowland Rain Forest 127.4). Thecentral and least disturbed portion is reconmended forinclusion in this site. A corridor should connect to theSinoi Stream Cyathea Disclimax Lowland Rain Forest.

The Lor^rland Rain Forests on this site were severely defoliatedby ofa, but full recovery is probable. Even if the rainforests are extensively invaded by weeds and/or converted togardens, buffers should be maintained around the uplandwetlands.

Along the crest of the ridge are some of Western Samoarshighest priority ecosystem occurrences. These include:

Mt. Savairi Pandanus turritus Swamp Forest 127.7)including a snall, probably internittent, Iake with anarrow margin of Herbaceous Marsh;

Lake olomagra 127.81 including a narrow margin of Herba-ceous Marsh and Lake Olomaga Pandanus turritus SwanpForest 127.91;Lake Lanoto lz7.L0l including a narrow margin of Herba-ceous Marsh and Lake Lanoto Pandanus turritus SwampForest l27.ILJiMt. Tiatala Pandanus turritus Swamp Forest 127.L6)iMt. Olomauga Pandanus turritus Swamp Forest [27.L7)i

53

1L.

Mt- seuga pandanus turritus swamp Forest 127.1,gr; andMt. Latalua Herbaceous Marsh lZ7.Lg).

Gagaifoolevao and Matautu Lowland Forests - This discontinuoussite on the southwest c@udes the Gagaifoore-yao swamp Forest [21.8] and tha two Matautu srurff Forests121.9, 2]-. 101. These cornprise an interesting -irnprex offorested wetlands incruding tnocarpus stands on =itu.ated peatsoils with no understory (v^er-y trnusuar); Ervthrina, Hiuisius,and Pan-da-nus swampsr' and patches of Herbaceous Marsh, East ofthe Matautu swamp Foresis lies the remnant of the MatautuLowrand Rain Forest t21.r.11. This site is uoraeieo by therrReturn to paradise Beachfr to the west and an interruptedmargi-n of coconut prantations to the east. There is anancient road that connects through to salamumu. rne potentialfor ecotouri:r-_i= very high. r'here is a small (

15. Apolima Coastal Rain Forest This site is comprised of asingle map unit lL|.9l on the steep western, southern' andeastern seaward slopes of Apolina fsland. It is one of thebetter remaining Coastal Rain Forests in Western Samoa. Ofaimpacts are not known.

Tafua Peninsula Lowland Forests - This discontinuous site onthe Tafua Peninsula of southeastern Savaiti is protectedthrough a 5o year, informal reserve agreement negotiatedbetween the village and the Swedish Society for the Conserva-tion of Nature. It includes Lowland Rain Forest 1L6.2, L6.5,L6.6, L6.7) and Littoral Forests, Shrublands, Scrubs, andHerbaceous Strands []-6.3, 1-6.41. Some of the Lowland RainForest was highly disturbed before Hurri-cane Ofa [16.5 and theroadside margins of L6.2 and 15.71. The forests of the entirepeninsula were severely reduced by Ofa, with up to 5o? of thetrees blown down in places and with virtually total defolia-tion of the remainder. Following the storm, about 2Ot of theLowland Rain Forest burned [the northern portion of L6.2]-Weeds (especially Mikania nicrantha and Merremia peltata) haveinvaded nearly l-00 meters into the forest from the roadmargins, especially along the burned portions. The majorityof the site should recover.to Le Pupu Lowland Forests This site includes the coastalLowland Rain Forests 125.L7, 26.41 and Littoral Scrub 125.t6,26.51 of rO Le Pupu Pu'e National Park on the south coast of'Upolu. Ofa produced moderate defoliation in the Lowland RainForest, but recovery is proceeding rapidly. The LittoralScrub was not affected.

Mulivai Coastal Ecosysterns The site L25.7I of the formerHide-away Hotel on the south coast of tUpolu, this small siteincludes not only Littoral Forest but a narrow BruguieraMangrbve along the inlet, patches of Herbaceous Marsh on theinland side and by the road, narrow bands of Littoral Shrub-land and very nice Herbaceous Strand on the seaward side.This site was not irnpacted by Ofa and has high day-recreationpotential.

Musucrale Point Herbaceous Marsh This site [17.10] on thewestern end of tUpolu is one of Western Samoars best Herba-ceous Marshes. ofa did not affect this site.

Apolimafou Herbaceous Marsh - This site lL7.2l on the westernend of tUpolu is one of Western Samoars best HerbaceousMarshes. This ecosystem is in excellent to good conditionexcept along the rnain road. ofa did not affect this site.

16.

L7.

l_8.

19.

20.

55

2L. One of Western Samoarslargest and best tteiEaE6us Marihes before ofa, this site[1.6] on the western end of savairi ,i._ ,"lrerery darnaged inplaces by the storm. rt is r."or.L"a.a for conservationbecause of its. gogd prospects for recovery (much of theEleocharis survived thL storm and "., reseed dtre remainingareas), its size, and its rerative isoiation. A new hotel isplanned for 1T1-adjoining- this =iie, -ana

negative impactsshould be carefully lvoided.MaLaemalu Marsh - This Herbaceous Marsh t26.zl.l is in excer_lent condition and is unusual in that it o""rr., on the southshore of rUpolu.

Mt. Fa-o Rain Forests Mt Fao is a rerativery inaccessibresite r24'6, 24.21 nortn of _Fagaroa nay tr, "u"t"rr, ruporu withRidge and Montane Rain Forbsts These were moderatelyaffected by ofa, but recovery i= proUJie.

22.

23.

24. FaIelatai Manqrove This Bruguieraoccurs along a scenic tidal -inlet onrUpolu. Ofa did not affect this site.Mangrove site t17.81the western shore oi

25' vaovai Mangrove - This Bruquiera Mangrove [26.1a] occurs ar_onqa tidat channer on the south coast-of ,upolu-;J-i=--;-;;;Eshape. No damage from Ofa was noted.

This siteoccupies a narro_w strip arong the south east coast of rtrnolrrI i I ;i ',: =,

r._ ti ; ;;iGi if, . ;;;#T"f x*r" li="l rl' " ::::: i

26.

::Tj -"::I:Lf li'g-"_=