A participatory three-dimensional model of Nauru was unveiled on Saturday 16 April in an official ceremony by the President of the Republic of Nauru and Minister for Commerce, Industry and Environment, Baron Waqa MP.
The three-dimensional model will help Nauru identify, establish and manage their natural resources including conservation sites. It was constructed during training on Participatory Three-Dimensional Modelling also known as P3DM which was successfully completed this month for the Republic of Nauru.
The training was held in partnership between the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Government of Nauru, the Samoan Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA ACP-EU) with technical assistance from the Tonga Global Environment Fund Pacific Alliance for Sustainability (GEFPAS) Integrated Island Biodiversity (IIB) Project Coordinator.
This activity is a key outcome of the GEFPAS-IIB and brought community members, government officials, school children and Non-Governmental Organisations together to construct a three-dimensional model of their island. This model is a useful tool that could be applied in planning across the different sectors in Nauru.
In his speech during the unveiling of the 3-dimensional model, President Waqa thanked SPREP, the Government of Samoa and the CTA ACP-EU for their collaboration to make the training possible. He further thanked participants who worked hard on the model and encouraged them to utilise their new skills and knowledge acquired from the training to further develop the model in the future.
Members of the Nauru Community look forward to how this activity will be put into action - "This model will be particularly helpful to my district for establishing sites for Locally Managed Marine Areas, this will help very much with the management of our mud crabs, sea snails and Beche-de-mer as there are no restrictions to harvesting at the moment," said Mr. David Gadaraoa, community representative from the Anibare District of Nauru.
Government officers also actively participated in the training.
"This model will be very important for our work in mapping out community hotspots for establishing Marine Protected Areas and no take zones. It was a lot of fun contributing to the construction of the model," said Mr. Ebelina Tsiode, Coastal Fisheries Officer with the Nauru Fisheries and Marine Resources Authority.
School students who worked on the model also found the experience rewarding - "I helped to put together the legend for the model and it was both fun and interesting for me," said Ms. Zhania Tatum of the Nauru Secondary School.
The training was conducted from Tuesday 12th to Saturday 16th April 2016.