Climate change was on the agenda of a meeting last week, between the American Samoa Resilience Commission (ASRC), the Governor’s Resilience Office (GRO) and the team from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
In his welcoming remarks, Director of Marine and Wildlife Resources and Commission Co-Vice Chair Archie, Taotasi Soliai stated the mission of the Commission: “American Samoa recognizes the urgency of climate impacts with grave concerns and the need to respond quickly and strategically to ensure the protection, adaptive capacity, resilience, and well-being of the islands and residents of American Samoa.”
Acting Governor Talauega Eleasalo Ale said, the quarterly meetings of the Commission allows and ensures immediate accessibility to government leaders to address issues. “As a small island in the middle of the ocean, we feel the effects of climate change every day. We see it in the rising tides, and we feel it in the increased heat in the day. We are mindful of the constant change, and have refocused our efforts through this commission.”
One of the issues discussed was the lack of a fair playing field when island territories compete against states for federal funding.
The GAO team was taking onsite visits after the meeting at the Tauese P. Sunia Center on Tuesday, where they witnessed firsthand the effects of climate change, and solutions American Samoa has in place to mitigate the effects.
The group visited the seawall and coral restoration in Aua, behind Matafao Elementary Schools and Faga’alu Watershed. Faga’alu’s main threat is that the villagers noticed were high sedimentation runoff from the Quarry, trash, and a decline in fisheries.
As a solution, DMWR has held education outreaches, structural projects (e.g. sediment catch basins, rain gardens), trash management, identification and elimination of invasive trees, non-storm water discharge, animal waste management, public involvement, biological assessments and other educational activities.
The GAO officials also met with StarKist officials, the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, the Field Representative of the Dept. of Interior and, finally, the American Samoa Chamber of Commerce, before they departed Thursday night.
The GAO Team comprised Latesha Love-Grayer, Director-International and Trade Affairs; Joseph Carney, Assistant Director International and Trade Affairs; Pedro Amoguera Economist and Assistant Director, Center For Economics Applied Research and Methods; Colsun Sutherland, Analyst Strategic Issues, Su Jin You, Senior Analyst.
