Cross-cutting actions

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INTEGRE also implements cross-sector theme-based activities to create bonds between the various pilot sites, help Wallis & Futuna join OCT regional networks and make use of Pacific knowledge.

In transversely across, the project was therefore available in four activities whose was :

1. Improve waste management ;

2. Develop an integrated coastal zone management plan ;

3. Territory Declination of regional initiatives such as the establishment of network of pilot farms organic, regional waste management and adaptation to climate change ;

4. Raise awareness (information and communication campaign on the identified priority issues).

transversalwf

Hazardous waste collection and disposal

This activity involves developing a territory-wide hazardous waste management strategy and setting up sustainable shipping businesses. Hazardous waste management, i.e. of used oil, batteries and hospital waste, etc., is a major issue in terms of potential impact on the environment and human health and the reason why territory-wide activities have been implemented.

As a result, the long-standing stocks have been analysed, packed and shipped and sustainable collection and shipping business set up. Used oil and battery processing is covered by international regulations. Wallis & Futuna do not have the required infrastructure for processing hazardous waste, which need to be shipped overseas to other countries with approved processing companies such as New Caledonia, New Zealand and Australia.

Also, dangerous waste shipment and disposal are covered by the Basel Convention that governs transboundary movements of hazardous waste and its disposal to specific standards. European Union member countries and, therefore, OCTS have ratified the convention and are required to enforce it. The chemical composition of used oil needs to be analysed to be classified and processed in the most appropriate manner. Oil contaminated with PCBs must undergo highly specific processing and so must be sent to approved companies. Decontamination is very costly.

Budget : XPF 6,26 million/ € 52 490

Operators : Wallis & Futuna Department of the Environment, Socadis New Caledonia and Pacific Community

For more details, consulte Activity statement :

Synthesis of planned activities :

Integrated coastal management plan

INTEGRE supported the following projects :

Develop a climate-change adaptation strategy by writing a framework document outlining the various vulnerabilities and adaptation options in the territory for responding to climate change. Several action plans will flow on from the document at several levels, be they territory, island or village ;
Set up integrated management plans at two sites on Futuna by participatively developing two action plans and management measures that are conducive to sustainable local development and environmental conservation and to maintaining quality living conditions ;
Build local stakeholder capacity by providing awareness training to civil-society players, training to government departments and support to the territory’s decision-making and consultative bodies.

Budget : XPF 9,28 million/ € 77 800

Operators : Pacific Community

For more details, consulte Activity statement :

Fiche activité Elaborer un plan de gestion intégrée de Wallis et Futuna

Synthesis of planned activities :

Setting up a pilot organic farm network

This activity is part of efforts to enhance and develop organic farming across the South Pacific region. The aim is to develop sustainable, environmentally-sound organic farming that is suited to island settings. There was three activities :

Promote and develop organic farming in the three French-speaking Pacific OCTs ;
Strengthen technical knowledge in organic farming and disseminate it to farmers and technicians in the territories ;
Strengthen the POET-Com regional network (Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community) by ensuring the French-speaking OCTs participate in it.

Three pilot organic farms have been set up in the OCTs, namely at Houailou Agricultural High School, New Caledonia; Wallis Agricultural High School, Wallis & Futuna; and Opunohu Agricultural High School, French Polynesia. Farming trials, vocational and technical training courses and experience sharing have been implemented. The lessons learnt are shared across the Pacific and discussed at regular regional exchanges.

In the case of Wallis & Futuna, the following activities was planned :

Conduct farm trials at the Wallis & Futuna Agricultural High School in three areas, namely fertility, disease/pests and plant material ;
Provide technical assistance for implementing the Research- Action Plan (trials, data collection and analysis, training and information) ;
Hold technical information sharing meetings, training sessions for farmers, students and technicians and share the knowledge produced locally and regionally on the network.

Budget : XPF 20 million/ € 167 602

Operators : Pacific Community and New Caledonia Chamber of Agriculture

For more details, consulte Activity statement :

Fiche activité Programme de Recherche-Action : Création d'un réseau de fermes pilotes bio - Volet Wallis-et-Futuna

Synthesis of planned activities :

Communication and information campaigns

This activity consists of conducting information campaigns to heighten awareness in the community and schools of the following issues :

Protecting the environment ;
Waste management ;
Water resource preservation.

Awareness is crucial, as it contributes in many cases to the project’s success by involving the whole community.

Budget : XPF 4,6 million/ € 34 000

Operators : Pacific Community and Wallis & Futuna Department of the Environment

For more details, consulte Activity statement :

Fiche activité Mener des campagnes d'inforamtionet de communication : actions dans les écoles, élaboration des fiches techniques, appui aux actions menées

Synthesis of planned activities :

Sharing and Disseminating

INTEGRE is conducting various trials and different results have arisen from the project’s implementation. Communication actions help share this new knowledge and these new skills more widely.

Target Groups :

Communication efforts should be aimed at a specific audience, such as partners, experts and decision-makers, but also at the general public who are increasingly concerned about environmental issues. Communication is designed for consumption at local pilot-sites, territory-wide (Wallis & Futuna), regionally
in the South Pacific and internationally. As a result, the target groups was varied :

Local project partners, e.g. local committees, operators, partners involved ;
Local decision-makers and public authorities that are directly or indirectly concerned by the project and their departments, i.e. the Office of the Prefect, territorial technical departments, kings, custom ministers, territorial assembly and councils, French national-assembly members and senators, representatives of the French ministry of overseas territories and the European Union ;
Local stakeholders involved in similar environmental projects, to facilitate exchanges and feedback in both directions, i.e. environmental associations, donors, project leaders, the scientific community, the educational community, tourist information bureaus and NGOs ;
Local, regional, French overseas and international media, whether web-based, paper press or television ;
General public and schools ;
Economic stakeholders operating in the coastal-area pilot sites, e.g. mining companies, fishers and hotels ;
Regional project partners and groups formed for project purposes so as to learn lessons from everyone’s experience and develop regional cooperation: New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Pitcairn, Wallis & Futuna ;
Regional and European organisations that are directly or indirectly involved in the project such as regional cooperation departments, French Overseas Ministry and
Europe-Pacific cooperation departments, SPC (New Caledonia and Fiji), the European Union, SPREP (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme), and POET-Com.

Messages :

Depending on the target groups, the messages was cover the following concepts :

Wallis & Futuna has an outstanding natural heritage that needs to be preserved for future generations
Integrated coastal management is an appropriate, tried and tested solution for sustainable development in South Pacific islands. It is environmentally-sound and benefits local communities
The communities of Wallis & Futuna are closely and actively involved in making decisions and implementing activities for preserving and developing their environment and applying lasting solutions
Solutions and activities successfully tried out on Wallis & Futuna can be used as examples and reproduced elsewhere, particularly in the Pacific region and other overseas territories
INTEGRE provides assistance for local integrated management policies so as to strengthen and improve the process behind shared management of the environment. Environmental departments are also special project partners
Natural environment conservation helps societies become more resilient to global change and natural disasters. It also helps maintain traditional culture and fosters greater harmony
It is beneficial to OCTs to cooperate with each other and other Pacific territories when introducing regional solutions to environmental and sustainable-development issues. The European Union and SPC provide them with support for developing their projects.

Balance sheet activities

INTEGRE Project was working towards the following objectives :

Improving waste management and educating the community about this issue ;
Limiting the risks of pollution, particular for the groundwater pollution hazard ;
Helping preserve natural resources ;
Helping contain coastal erosion ;
Helping preserve biodiversity.

The balance of the activities is the following one :

- WF - C2WF1 : Waste treatment in Wallis and Futuna

This activity has experienced some difficulties that need to be explained. Indeed, after the first export of oils and batteries, the results of analysis (January 2017) of used oils showed that 70% of the tonnage should be treated according to option 4 (the most expensive) because contaminated. In view of these results and aware of the risks that may arise from not treating waste oils, the territory has been able to mobilise additional funds. For the INTEGRE project: 100 000 € were taken from the regional allocation after validation by COPIL (cancellation of a workshop on pollution planned in Wallis) and funds were reallocated within the project with 250 000 € taken from the locker activity and 40 000 € from the reinforcement of the TLC. In the end, all exports could be achieved and even beyond. Indeed, after the export of 200,000 liters of oils and 200 tons of batteries, and numerous awareness/communication actions, a mobilization of the territory (via hazardous waste collection campaigns) and an environmental awareness of the population made it possible to collect 100 tons of additional batteries. In order to process the additional 100 tonnes, an export dossier was prepared and their evacuation for processing was carried out.

As regards the substance, in view of the difficulties linked to the Basel Convention and the impossibility of transferring waste from Wallis to New Caledonia, INTEGRE financed a study on the legal situation of hazardous waste in the Pacific and the possibilities for adaptation. Instructs the OCT authorities to take action to improve the situation and set up channels in the Pacific. At the same time, discussions were to be initiated under the aegis of the WF-NC Special Agreement on the issue of waste.

In terms of sustainability, the Territorial Environment Service has signed agreements with garages and companies producing hazardous waste such as oils, batteries, tyres and batteries in order to improve the collection of this waste by encouraging them to drop it off at the Technical Landfill Centre or to request the assistance of the Territorial Environment Service. The Territorial Environment Service has also acquired an end-of-life container (two more are still awaited) to be able to store hazardous waste in conditions respecting international standards and to facilitate future exports. This export of the historical stock has allowed the establishment of export channels for the territory.

This activity has enabled the reinforcement of the capacities of all Wallis and Futuna Environment Service agents (skills acquired on storage, packaging, transport and export standards for oils and batteries). The agents were also involved in the administrative procedures for preparing export application files.

Each step of the process was supported by awareness-raising actions (public conferences...) and very important media coverage (INTEGRE website articles, 10 TV reports in the WF1ere newspaper, 10 radio reports, 2 documentaries of 30 min).

Finally, since the introduction of the ecotax in July 2017, individuals bring their sorted waste to the TLC: 61,000 containers (plastic, glass, metal..) were brought back in January 2018 against 12,000 in July 2017.

For more details, consulte Activity statement : WF - C2.WF1 Traitement des déchets à Wallis-et-Futuna

- WF - C2WF2 : ICZM approach

For the establishment of the strategy and action plans, the focus has been on seeking to create dynamism at the local population level, allowing the identification and implementation of management measures without additional short-term funding.

The participation and involvement of a larger scale of actors (Services, Chiefs, Associations, etc.) was also a strong point of the approach. The strategic and operational approach chosen makes it possible to involve the whole territory and the actors who evolve there.

It should be noted that the initial planning of the technical assistance mission of November 2017, which included three awareness/reflection seminars with the chiefdoms and members of the Territorial Assembly, coupled with a working seminar for members of the CTEDD, did not proceed as planned because the actors of the territory were mobilized by the Overseas Territories. The mission therefore focused on the action plan of the climate change adaptation strategy and on the capitalisation of the INTEGRE project in Wallis.

This experimentation, carried out on two pilot sites in Futuna on the scale of villages, aimed at the participative elaboration of 2 action plans and management measures contributing to a sustainable local development, to the preservation of the environment and the living environment (for example: reforestation, waste sorting, animal pollution, water management, climate change, farming techniques, craft development...). The various components of these integrated management plans are an integral part of other current planning approaches all linked to the Sustainable Development Strategy of Wallis and Futuna 2015-2030. The territory now has a framework document that ensures the coherence of the actions and schemes in progress and the readability of public action.

For more details, consulte Activity statement : WF - C2.WF2 Démarche de GIZC

- WF - C2WF3 : Communication and awareness campaigns

The communication and awareness actions are undeniably one of the great successes of the INTEGRE project in Wallis-Et-Futuna. During these 4 years of implementation on the ground, the project has launched an environmental awareness.

The movement has been launched. It is to be hoped that the momentum will continue beyond the project and that schools will take over from the INTEGRE team to continue raising students' awareness of environmental protection and environmentally friendly waste management.

For more details, consulte Activity statement : WF - C2.WF3 Campagnes de sensibilisation et de communication

- WF - C2WB : Network of organic pilot farms in Wallis and Futuna

The project experienced some unforeseen events with the departure of the CCIMA engineer in 2015, which brought an end to the actions initially carried out by the CCIMA. The TCESD (Territorial Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development) validated, on March 31, 2016, the takeover of CCIMA's actions by the LPA within the limits of its resources. In March 2017, the recruitment of two technicians at CCIMA (INTEGRE and DSA funds) made it possible to run the project and relaunch CCIMA's involvement in the project. In June 2017, the all-track technician resigned and was replaced by a new technician on 1 October 2017. The DSA and the CCIMA take over from INTEGRE to pay these two technicians respectively until March 2018 (DSA) and 2020 (CCIMA facilitator).

The objectives of the project, which were to demonstrate the feasibility of organic farming, train stakeholders in these new practices and exchange with other farms in the region, have been achieved. The technical exchange network on organic farming is developing and strengthening and Wallis has been integrated into it.

Since the beginning of 2018, in order to continue the mechanisms set up within the framework of INTEGRE, the partners have set up a committee composed of the LPA, the CCIMA, the DSA and the Environment Department, which enables project leaders to present their projects and thus deliberate on the support that each partner can provide. Thus, the partners have the will to maintain the dynamic set up and to maintain the projects set up in each district of Wallis.

The Agricultural Professional High School of Wallis and Futuna is developing a system to respond to the need to develop agroecology. In 2018, two of the school's teachers will have the task of reinforcing experimentation and professional training for producers with the school's farm as a support. The Training and Territorial Development Department is in charge of running this system.

The propagation campaigns in the nursery of the DSA will continue beyond INTEGRE in order to feed a maximum number of growers. The DSA also wishes to continue raising awareness of the benefits of this method.

A number of farmers in the CCIMA are planning to set up an association of Wallis producers which would benefit from the support of the CCIMA and which would make it possible to begin the steps towards certification.

Technical references are being obtained. Indeed, to validate organic farming practices such as compost fertilization, disease and pest control with slurry and simplified tillage, the economic benefits must be demonstrated. The calculation of the gross margins of the support crops is in progress. The LPA of Wallis and Futuna could also collaborate in setting up an organic certification for farmers wishing to obtain the label in compliance with the rules that will be defined.

All the partners have a strong will to maintain the momentum created and the projects launched with the pilot farmers during the INTEGRE project and thus to ensure continuity in the perspective of the 11th EDF.

For more details, consulte Activity statement : WF - C2.WB Réseau de fermes-pilotes en agriculture biologique à Wallis-et-Futuna

Thematic reports