VanKIRAP |
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Vanuatu Klaemet Infomesen blong Redi, Adapt & Protekt |
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Welcome to the new look Project Update newsletter from VanKIRAP.
VanKIRAP (Vanuatu Klaemet Infomesen blong Redi, Adapt mo Protekt) is a project based at the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department (VMGD) working to make climate information better, more relevant, and more accessible for people throughout Vanuatu.
In addition to providing climate information services (CIS) to the general public, VanKIRAP also delivers CIS targeted at the needs of beneficiaries in Vanuatu's agriculture, fisheries, infrastructure, tourism and water sectors.
Here are some of VanKIRAP's achievements over recent months in these sectors. |
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Agriculture Sector News |
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In the Agriculture and Livestock sector, VanKIRAP aims to get climate information into the hands of people who need it the most â farmers. Last quarter, VanKIRAPâs Agriculture Sector Coordinator Pakoa Leo led several important activities: |
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Sanma DARD staff workshop on VMGD's climate info products |
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Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) technical and extension officers and VARTC supervisors in Sanma Province received a workshop in July to help them understand and talk about the tailored climate information products available from VMGD with Sanma Provinceâs rural communities. The 26 participants received training on a number of agriculture sector relevant VMGD CIS products including the Dry Season Outlook, Wet Season Outlook, Vanuatu Climate Update (VCU); Early Action Rainfall Watch (EAR Watch), and Agromet Bulletin with Climate Services for Agriculture. |
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Kava, cocoa, coffee, and root crop demonstration plots set up |
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Demonstration plots on Efate, Santo and Vanua Lava were established. The three sites will be used in the coming months to show how the climate projections developed by Australian VanKIRAP delivery partner CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) can be applied in practical ways by Vanuatu farmers to plan crop planting and harvesting. Kava, cocoa, coffee, and root crops will be grown. DARD officers will record climate data as well as traditional and modern farming techniques and yields at the demonstration plots to measure how these relate to projections from CSIROâs climate models. |
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Vanuatu Christian Council hosts a âClimate Information Services for Farmersâ workshop |
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The Vanuatu Christian Council hosted a âClimate Information Services for Farmersâ training in Port Vila. The training was co-hosted by VanKIRAP and UNDP Project Markets for Change (M4C). VanKIRAP gave a presentation about climate information services, showing how farmers can make use of climate and weather information to increase crop yields and reduce climate related losses. The Agromet Bulletin was highlighted, and 33 farmers showed interest in using the information it presented to help them with their farming. |
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72 farmers attend Mini-Agriculture Show at Nukuku, northwest Santo |
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Agromet awareness was conducted at the Mini-Agriculture show held at Nukuku, northwest Santo, organized by NGO Santo Sunset Environmental Network (SSEN). 72 farmers from west and northwest Santo attended from 30 August to 2 September, including 24 women. VanKIRAP held an awareness session with farmers and people from the nearby villages also present. Farmers were interested in the management section of the Agromet Bulletin, especially the traditional knowledge methods that can be applied during planting of crops and for pest and disease management. |
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Fisheries Sector News |
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The installation of the VanKIRAP-funded ocean climate monitoring buoy network began in June off Efate, and in Q3, more buoys were installed off Hog Harbour and Million Dollar Point, Santo (pictured above).
The buoys have sensors that constantly measure sea surface temperature, wave height and direction, wind speed and direction and barometric pressure. They send this data back in real time via satellite to Department of Fisheries, Vanuatu Meteorological and Geohazards Department and VanKIRAP staff.
Data received from the buoys (pictured below) will soon be tailored into new CIS tools to help stakeholders from Fisheries, Tourism, and infrastructure sectors in planning and decision making. The buoys will help make more accurate predictions about extreme climate events caused by rapid sea temperature rises, such as fish kills, Crown of Thorns starfish outbreaks, red tides, coral bleaching, and Ciguatera fish poisoning outbreaks, giving coastal communities extra time to prepare for such events. |
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Three more climate monitoring buoys will be installed in October â Port Resolution, Tanna, Inyeug, Aneityum, and Tomman Island, Malekula. While on Tomman, VanKIRAPâs Fisheries Sector Coordinator Nastasia Shing will finalise consultations for a new Coastal Fisheries Area Management Plan with the local community, in preparation for the launch of the Plan and a new Marine Protected Area in November.
Click on the image below to watch a video about the launch of the first buoy in the VanKIRAP ocean climate monitoring buoy network off Pango Point, Efate in June.
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Infrastructure Sector News |
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A major advance in Vanuatuâs infrastructure development commences next month. VanKIRAP Infrastructure Coordinator Raviky Talae, Public Works Dept and other stakeholders will begin producing Vanuatuâs first real-time flood inundation model, starting at two case study sites in South Santo, Waialo and Maniao.
Vanuatu currently has data that can be used to predict river, groundwater, and coastal flooding in low lying areas, so most infrastructure that is built is not specifically designed with any consideration of potential impacts of extreme climate events, such as how high the water level will be during floods or storm surges.
VanKIRAP will address this by utilizing data collected on rainfall, bathymetry, and tidal levels to develop a real-time flood-inundation model with future scenarios for the two Santo sites. This model will help Public Works Department (PWD) engineers to improve their understanding of how climate variability and change affect infrastructure at the study sites and around the country.
Improved road, bridge, wharf, and jetties that are less prone to flooding and can remain operational during extreme climate events will maintain the connections between rural and urban communities in Vanuatu and support routine transport and emergency response.
VanKIRAP has been busy in Santo over the last few months, meeting with Provincial authorities and local communities to prepare the case study sites. Water level data loggers have also been installed (pictured above) at the two case study sites to gather data on water flows, and Sanma PWD officers have received trained on collecting and analysing the data from these loggers.
An important phase of VanKIRAPâs support for the infrastructure sector will take place later this year, when PWD will use a VanKIRAP-funded drone to produce Lidar scans of the two Santo case study sites. These scans will be used to produce three-dimensional digital elevation models of the sites with an estimated resolution of 5cm. |
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The DJI Matrice 300 RTK drone and Zenmuse LiDAR scanner have already arrived in country. PWD staff will travel to New Zealand in early October to receive drone pilot training. On their return, they will conduct intensive training for other PWD staff in preparation for data collection in Santo later this year.
These models produced from this data will be the most accurate ever produced in Vanuatu and will be the first Lidar data set ever produced by ni-Vanuatu experts. The 3D models will be used by PWD in conjunction with data collected by the water level loggers to design future infrastructure that is more âclimate proofâ.
A flood model will also be used to review existing completed structures to determine whether they are climate resilient. In coastal areas, a tidal model of future projected sea level rise scenarios will generate information on the current and future design requirements for coastal infrastructure like jetties and wharves.
In other infrastructure news, progress has also been made towards finalising the tender for the review and upgrade of Vanuatuâs national Design Standards for infrastructure. This revised document, once complete, will incorporate the latest meteorological data and projections for coastal inundation and will be used by the PWD to design new infrastructure projects. The updated document will be completed by end of 2022.
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Water Sector News |
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Until now, Vanuatu has had only limited access to decision-making tools to manage the countryâs water resources and infrastructure and communicate timely, relevant information about weather and climate hazards affecting water supplies.
VanKIRAP is working in partnership with Department of Water Resources (DoWR) to address these inadequacies by building national capacity to monitor streams, rivers, and groundwater, and strengthening communication about climate-induced droughts and floods and the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
VanKIRAPâs Water Sector Coordinator Jonah Taviti says the outcomes for the country will be âstrengthened disaster risk reduction management through flood warning systems, flood management plans, drought management, and improvement of groundwater monitoring and management for urban areasâ.
In Santo, VanKIRAP is producing a Flood Management Plan and Early Warning System for the Sarakata River catchment area in Santo in partnership with the DoWR. |
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An automated river gauge was installed last week on the Sarakata River to gather accurate data for the Flood Management Plan and Early Warning System, joining groundwater monitoring loggers which were also installed recently at five monitoring wells in the Luganville, Solway and Sarakata areas.
Last month, after a competitive tender, the tender for the development of the Flood Management Plan and Early Warning System was awarded to Tonkin and Taylor, one of Oceaniaâs leading environmental and engineering consultancy firms.
VanKIRAP is providing this new river monitoring system to allow for ongoing monitoring of river flows and potential flooding events which could endanger the 15,000 people residing near the Sarakata River.
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Data Digitisation and Rescue |
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VanKIRAPâs Data Digitisation and Rescue team continues to digitise old paper weather records. This is a two-step process that involves firstly scanning the older records, and then performing quality assurance checks on the scanned records. This latter step is done to ensure that the values contained in each newly scanned record is accurate. Each value is checked in five different ways against the values recorded on adjacent days at the same station, and against those recorded at other Vanuatu weather stations on the same day, and inconsistent values are deleted.
This quality check is important, because the digitised data is then added by VMGD to a database called CliDE (Climate Data for the Environment) developed as part of the Pacific Climate Change Science Program (PCCSP) and managed by the VanKIRAP partner organisation the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. VMGD uses the data stored in CliDE to generate forecast models for Vanuatu's weather and climate. |
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In August, Emeritus Professor Matthew Spriggs, Honorary Curator of Archaeology for the Vanuatu Cultural Centre (VKS), visited VanKIRAP to provide new historical data for various islands of Vanuatu ranging from 1910s to 1950s. He provided sub-daily, daily, and cyclone data gathered while doing research at overseas academic institutions. This new data is currently stored in the VMGD archive and will be used for verifications and other VMGD research. In addition, he also gave some station metadata including photos of synoptic stations in the then New Hebrides in the 1960s (above).
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Traditional Knowledge |
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Traditional knowledge (TK) has been used for thousands of years to help people observe and predict the weather. It is still used daily by millions of people all over the world, even today when climatologists and meteorologists use satellites and computer climate models to make forecasts and observe how our climate is changing.
TK is the main method for observing and predicting weather events in many communities in Vanuatu, especially in remote locations without reliable mobile or radio communication network coverage. Members of these communities use TK indicators they observe to predict any natural events especially tropical cyclones, wet seasons, and dry seasons.
Here is an example recently gathered on Epi: in the area council of Varsu, when the Pacific Emerald Dove Chalcophaps longirostris (above) lays its eggs close to the ground, a strong tropical cyclone is likely within a few months. This is one of the many indicators for Varsu communities that the community used to help them predict and prepare them for a tropical cyclone.
TK is also valuable for helping to confirm science-based climate information. Another local TK indicator the Varsu communities use as a âred alertâ is following the release of a cyclone warning from VMGD, if chickens do not go to their normal roosting place, the cyclone is likely to increase in intensity.
VanKIRAP is developing new climate information products that combine TK and science-based climate information â watch this space for new developments! |
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Community Climate Centres |
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Three additional Community Climate Centres (CCCs) have been established in the last few months: Saratamata in Penama Province, Lakatoro in Malampa Province and Isangel in Tafea Province. This brings the total of climate centres to six, joining Sola in Torba Province, Luganville, and Nakere in Sanma.
The community climate centres, developed by VanKIRAP, act as a hub for receiving Climate Information Services (CIS) from VMGD, disseminating climate information to communities, using existing networks. They build adaptive capacity of communities in the uptake, use and translation of climate information into action that increases community climate resilience.
This quarter, workshops were given to community members, climate champions, focal points, and provincial government workers at Sola, Luganville and Nakere. These workshops covered basics of ENSO conditions, Vanuatuâs climate, and interpreting climate products. Attaining this basic knowledge gave confidence to focal points and climate champions to interpret technical climate information and conduct their own awareness and outreach activities.
As Vanuatu has just moved into a La Niña phase of the ENSO climate cycle, the CCCs, their climate champions and their focal points will play a critical role in disseminating information about the La Niña event, and in turn passing on observations to VMGD about how the La Niña is affecting the livelihoods of people living near the CCCs. Climate champions receive monthly climate update briefings on Zoom from VMGD and convey any critical climate information and warnings to provincial officials and communities.
People in close proximity to the CCCs are encouraged to use them to get critical climate information to reduce their vulnerability and build resilience to climate change. |
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Other news |
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With Vanuatuâs borders reopening in July, VanKIRAP was pleased to be able to host missions from several overseas-based delivery partners.
Dr Yuriy Kuleshov (pictured above on the right) from Australiaâs Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) visited in August to reconnect with VanKIRAP and VMGD on the development of tailored sectoral seasonal climate bulletins for Fisheries and Tourism, data rescue and digitisation components of the Project.
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Also in August, Hyejin Lee and team from the APEC Climate Centre visited to fill in VanKIRAP and VMGD on their progress on the âtailOred System of Climate Services for AgRicultureâ (OSCAR) mobile app that they are developing for Vanuatu. With OSCAR, agriculture stakeholders will be able to receive tailored weather/climate information, agromet services, and climate smart agriculture practices and knowledge throughout the entire country of Vanuatu. They were able to visit several of the Efate demonstration plots developed by VanKIRAP in partnership with DARD. |
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About VanKIRAP
VanKIRAP (Vanuatu Klaemet Infomesen blong Redy, Adapt mo Protekt) is a project based at the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department (VMGD) that is making climate information better, more relevant, and more accessible for people across Vanuatu.
VanKIRAP supports Vanuatuâs resilient development by increasing the ability of decision-makers, communities and individuals to plan for and respond to the impacts of climate variability and change, using climate information services (CIS).
VanKIRAP is the Bislama name for the Vanuatu Climate Information Services for Resilient Development Project (CISRDP) project, which is funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and jointly implemented by VMGD and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
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