Investing in nature, building Pacific resilience: PPIN leaves a foundation for future action

Government representatives from Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu are joining the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Pacific Community (SPC), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), the New Zealand Government and other partners in Nadi, Fiji, from 27–28 August for the PPIN Closing Workshop.

Under the theme “From Demonstration to Regional Scale: Sustaining Pacific-led Nature-based Solutions beyond PPIN,” the gathering marks the final regional convening of the project and an important transition from project delivery towards longer-term Pacific ownership, investment and implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS).

For Pacific Island countries on the frontline of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, the case for investing in nature has never been stronger. Rising seas, coastal erosion, extreme weather, ecosystem degradation and growing pressures on food and water security are already affecting communities and economies across the region.

Nature-based Solutions offer an opportunity to address these challenges together. By protecting, sustainably managing and restoring ecosystems such as forests, mangroves, reefs and wetlands, countries can strengthen resilience to climate impacts while conserving biodiversity, supporting livelihoods and food systems, and protecting the natural resources upon which Pacific cultures, communities and economies depend.

“Nature-based Solutions are not an environment agenda. They are a public investment agenda that the environment sector happened to understand first”, expressed Dr Sivendra Michael, Permanent Secretary for Environment and Climate Change, Government of Fiji during his keynote.

Four years of building the foundations for Pacific-led NbS

Established in 2022 and supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), PPIN has been led by IUCN Oceania in partnership with SPC, SPREP and GGGI, with Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu serving as demonstration countries.

Rather than treating NbS solely as individual conservation interventions, PPIN has worked to strengthen the wider systems needed for NbS to succeed: policy and governance, technical capacity, regional cooperation, economic evidence, finance and investment.

This approach has generated important milestones across the three countries.

In Fiji, PPIN supported the development and handover of three major policy outputs covering customary land governance, coastal resilience and forestry. A landmark achievement was the development of the Natural Resource and Environmental Management Policy for the iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB) – the first dedicated policy of its kind in TLTB’s 86-year history and the first Nature-based Solutions policy developed specifically for a customary land management institution through the project. The policy provides a framework for integrating NbS into the management of iTaukei land, which accounts for approximately 91 per cent of Fiji’s land area.

In Tonga, PPIN has helped bring Nature-based Solutions more firmly into national planning for agriculture and forestry. The project supported the development of NbS guidelines for these sectors, recognising the direct connections between healthy ecosystems, food security, resilient rural livelihoods and climate adaptation. Work in Tonga also combined policy development with cost-benefit analysis and capacity building to help decision-makers better assess the environmental and economic value of investing in nature.

In Vanuatu, policy tools developed through PPIN include guidance for integrating NbS into the country's first National Adaptation Plan, alongside a national policy framework assessment and policy recommendations for coastal resilience and forestry. These resources recognise that while the terminology of NbS may be relatively new, customary management, traditional knowledge and community stewardship have long shaped how ni-Vanuatu communities care for forests, coasts and natural resources.

Turning knowledge into capacity, and capacity into action

A major focus of PPIN has also been ensuring that Pacific practitioners have the knowledge and tools to design and implement effective Nature-based Solutions.

Following a regional capacity needs assessment, SPC delivered capacity-building initiatives spanning the foundations of NbS, application of the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions, policy mainstreaming, cost-benefit analysis, project planning and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, traditional knowledge, and gender equality and social inclusion.

In 2026, 35 practitioners from Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu participated in SPC's Resilient Shores, Resilient Communities regional training exchange, focused on practical approaches to coastal resilience. Women represented 51 per cent of participants, while participants came from governments, regional organisations, civil society and community groups working on coastal management and climate adaptation.

GGGI's contribution has helped strengthen another critical part of the equation: demonstrating the economic case for NbS. Through cost-benefit analysis work in the demonstration countries, PPIN has sought to help decision-makers compare NbS with business-as-usual approaches, recognise avoided losses and ecosystem benefits, and build stronger evidence for investment in climate-resilient development.

Together, these strands reflect a central lesson from PPIN: scaling Nature-based Solutions requires more than good projects on the ground. It requires enabling policies, capable institutions and practitioners, economic evidence, financing, strong partnerships and approaches that respect Pacific knowledge and customary systems.

“The legacy we should seek is a Pacific where investing in nature is no longer regarded as an environmental add-on, but as an investment in our resilience, our economies, our communities and the future of our islands,” said Susana Waqainabete-Tuisese, Regional Director IUCN Oceania

From project closure to a Pacific legacy

The closing of PPIN is therefore not intended to mark the end of the Nature-based Solutions journey.

The two-day workshop has been designed to turn the project's experience and outputs into continued ownership, practical uptake, financing conversations and commitments beyond PPIN. It will formally showcase project outputs, examine lessons from Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu, and bring implementing and development partners together to consider opportunities for continued collaboration and investment.

“The end of PPIN is not the end of this work; it is a transition from demonstration to scale. We now need to take the policies, knowledge, capacity and partnerships built through PPIN and turn them into sustained investment and action, so that Nature-based Solutions become part of how the Pacific builds resilience and plans for its future,” said Vinay Singh, NbS Programme Coordinator, IUCN Oceania

The workshop will conclude with a field visit to Yavusania Village in Nadi, where participants will see and discuss the practical application of community-based Nature-based Solutions for coastal protection and resilience – connecting regional discussions on policy, capacity and financing back to the communities and ecosystems they are ultimately intended to serve.

As the Pacific confronts a rapidly changing climate and accelerating pressure on its natural systems, the legacy of PPIN is ultimately about a shift in how development is understood: nature is not separate from resilience and development; it is fundamental to both.

The challenge beyond PPIN will be to take the policies, knowledge, partnerships and evidence built over the project and translate them into sustained investment and action – ensuring that Nature-based Solutions become an increasingly mainstream part of how Pacific countries plan, finance and build their future.