The Vanuatu flying foxes can be found in the same areas as the bigger black flying fox but the black ones tend to boost in large groups in big canopy trees such as the nabanga (banyan) whereas the Vanuatu flying foxes roost in small groups in smaller trees often coconuts. They feed on fruit and flowers of trees such as figs, bananas, breadfruit and coconut. They can be seen flying during the day more often than the other flying foxes in Vanuatu.
These are small round birds of the forest floor. They are only found in the Solomon Islands (Santa Cruz Islands) and on Santo in Vanuatu. They live in old growth forest, 300-1000m elevation. It is believed the Santa Cruz Ground Dove forages only on the ground, but perches on low branches and roosts in trees. Their diet includes seeds, berries and young shoots it finds when foraging the forest floor, insects and worms. It’s call is a slow series of up to 15 low woop
noises.
They are medium sized bird found on the highest peaks of Santo island, usually between 1200-1700m elevation. They are reported to nest in holes in trees, low to the ground. The birds have been seen feeding on insects, fruit and seeds. They are usually seen no more than 5m above the forest floor, although occasionally perch in the canopy. They fly quickly and directly in the sub-canopy.
Skinks are lizard reptiles. The Anatom Skink lives in undisturbed forest away from humans. It lives in trees, from
rainforest to dry coastal forests on Aneityum island in southern Vanuatu (and it is not found on neighbouring
This tree is in the palm family. The Montgomery Palm was once thought to be a separate species but now botanists think that it belongs to the Veitchia arecina species. Montgomery palms grow as tall canopy trees at low altitudes often in shallow soil, on coral substratum or close to rivers and streams. They are also found in lowland rainforests up to 350m in elevation.
Voutmélé palms small palms endemic to the Cumberland Peninsula on Santo. This species has relatively small individuals and grows in small colonies. It commonly grows between 900m - 1200m elevation and in volcanic soils.
Dugongs are herbivores (plant-eaters) that feed mostly on seagrass, up to 40 Kg every day. Female dugongs have their first calf when they are between 7 and 17 years. The have calves every 2 - 5 years depending on the quality and quantity of the seagrass available. If there is not much seagrass the time between calves will be longer the females will mature and have their first calf later. They live in many countries in the Pacific and Indian ocean basins.
These are small fruit bats. They are endemic to Vanuatu and are only found on Mota and Vanua Lava in the Banks group. They roost in trees individually or in small groups. We don’t know much about their biology or ecology because they haven’t been studied very much by scientists. They have been seen feeding on coconut flowers and the fruit of Vaveli tree.
In Vanuatu they are found on Ambae, Aneityum, Efate, Emae, Erromango, Gaua, Malakula, Malo, Mota Lava, Espirito Santo and Tanna. They roost in caves in large colonies and come out to feed in the forests or in gardens. They eat lowers and fruits and can travel to different areas depending on what is flowering in which season.
These are micro-bats that use sonar to find their food (echolocation). They eat insects and can be seen flying around to catch them in coconut groves, on farmland, in forests and even over the sea, near to the coast. They are found on Malo and Santo but their biggest population is in Fiji. Not very much is know about them. They roost in large numbers often thousands, inside caves. They breed seasonally with the young being born around December.
These are medium-sized microbats that roost in caves. They forage in forests using a special skill called echolocation. They are insectivorous which means they feed only on insects such as moths, butterflies, bees, beetles, ants and termites. These bats may not exist in Vanuatu. The are only 2 records, one from the 18th century and the other a
The coral reefs of Vanuatu contribute to rural incomes, nutrition, shoreline protection and, more
importantly, self reliance for the people of Vanuatu, particularly coastal communities. However, there
are relatively few extensive shallow water reefs surrounding the 80 high islands in the Vanuatu
archipelago. Inner reef areas are limited to narrow fringing reefs and reef platforms surrounding
islands and a few lagoons and barrier reefs, totalling an area of approximately 408 km2 (Bell & Amos,
The two studies reported in this chapter have both concluded that there are substantial benefits to be enjoyed by Australians as a result of forest conservation initiatives in Vanuatu. The magnitude of these benefits more than eclipses the costs born by the ni-Vanuatu landowners because of foregone extractive use income. From a global perspective, there are clear net benefits to be gained from forest conservation in Vanuatu.
This report documents and reviews the results of plant diversity surveys of mangrove vegetation
conducted during 2012 by Dr Norm Duke in collaboration with five MESCAL country teams in
Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Work in each country involved team training,
support and consultation, as well as the compilation and preliminary review of data gathered.
2) Data presented in this report includes species keys and checklists for each country, noting a
Dahl (1980 & 1986) lists the following wetland habitats as occurring in Vanuatu:
• permanent lake (Ambae, Ambrym, Efate, Epi, Espiritu Santo, Gaua, Maewo, Malekula, Tanna and
Thion);
• hot springs with algae (Efate);
• freshwater swamp and marsh (Anatom, Efate, Epi, Erromango, Espiritu Santo, Gaua, Maewo, Tanna
and Thion);
• mountain streams (common);
• lowland rivers (common);
• riverine forest on alluvial soils;
• swamp forest (Efate, Malekula and Espiritu Santo);
Wetlands are among the world’s most productive (and threatened) ecosystems and the
services that they provide to humanity are significant. In order to effectively conserve and
manage wetlands, a first step is to document and understand their distribution and status
through conducting detailed baseline wetland inventories. Across the Pacific region, The
Directory of Wetlands in Oceania 1993 documented available information on the distribution,
status and values of wetlands in Pacific Island Countries and Territories, however, much of
We found the following total economic values for the nine ecosystem services (ES1–ES9, figure A) in the two mangrove
systems:
• In Crab Bay in 2012, mangroves (136.5 hectares) produced ES worth an estimated Vt53 million (equivalent to US$586
000). This total comprised ES values ranging from Vt36 million to Vt70 million.
• In Eratap in 2012, the mangroves (31.2 hectares) produced ES worth an estimated Vt24 million (equivalent to US$266
000). This total comprised ES values ranging from Vt17 million to Vt31 million.
Mangrove ecosystems play an extremely important role in our communities because of the goods that they provide in the production of wood for fuel and construction, the invertebrates and finfish for subsistence and commercial fisheries but also the services provided in coastal protection from storm surges, bioremediation, sediment trapping and carbon sequestration in mangrove soils mitigating climate change.
In conclusion, major mangrove vegetation boundaries which are, back boundary species, normal high water mark and off-shore mangrove boundary, Amal Area and Crab bay on Malekula and Eratap on Efate have been positioned and established for future monitoring purposes. Future monitoring objectives would be to determine if sea level is rising within the mangrove pilot sites and also change detection of mangrove vegetation within the three pilot sites.
This report documents findings from the program of works for 2012-2013 directed by Dr Norm Duke with the MESCAL Vanuatu Technical Working Group involving their training, support and consultation, prescription of methodology and approach, as well as the compilation and assessment of data received.