The Pacific Regional Invasive Species Management Support Services (PRISMSS) is a technical coalition. It is managed through the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP).

Resilient ecosystems resilient communities (RERC) is one area of work under PRISMSS. RERC supports invasive species management and restoration. These programs are run with Pacific island partners. The outcome is to create improved ecosystems that provide critical support to community.

Here in Vava’u, RERC activities have supported Mount Talau and include capacity building for VEPA teams and ambassadors. This year, PRISMSS supported training on plant identification and species collection. The training was conducted by Hoifua ‘Aholahi from Department of Environment. Hoifua brings a wealth of local and traditional knowledge for plants in Tonga. As a former teacher, he is well versed to lead training’s.

After the training, the team and ambassadors created a manual. They will use it to continue building upon and expanding their knowledge of field work. It will be updated every 6 months with new findings and information.

There are plants that the team is still working to identify further from the Tongan name. However, working collectively is creating locally driven engagement.

The link to the manual is here. We hope it can be used collectively to support and further local researchers.