#Project update
Following the kick-off meeting held in November 2025, the GEF-7 initiative in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) has progressed from initial consultations to the preparation and stakeholder review of the draft Sustainable Land Management National Action Plan and four State Action Plans. The current phase focuses on incorporating feedback from the validation process and preparing GIS capacity-building activities.
Working closely with FSM’s Department of Environment, Climate Change and Emergency Management (DECEM) and the Project Management Unit, SETIN experts Giacomo Cozzolino and Viola Fonnesu have supported the development of the plans through policy review, stakeholder consultations and spatial analysis.
The national inception workshop and state-level workshops held in March and April 2026 brought together government institutions, utilities, civil society organisations and traditional leaders. Their contributions helped identify land degradation pressures, institutional constraints and priorities for Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae and Yap, alongside the review of existing policies, plans and programmes.
Although the challenges vary between states, the discussions highlighted the interaction between climate-related pressures, such as sea-level rise, saltwater intrusion, extreme rainfall and drought, and human activities, including deforestation, unsustainable agriculture, infrastructure development and inadequate waste management.
These findings have informed the draft plans, which organise proposed actions according to the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) hierarchy: avoid, reduce and restore. The action tables identify priorities, lead and supporting agencies, and implementation timeframes, linking the proposed responses to the institutional and planning context of each state.
The plans are supported by GIS-based assessments of land condition and maps. The analysis considers land cover, land productivity and soil organic carbon, the three sub-indicators used for Sustainable Development Goal indicator 15.3.1. These outputs provide a baseline for discussing spatial priorities and future monitoring needs.
State validation workshops were held in Yap on 24 July, Chuuk on 29 July, Kosrae on 3 August and Pohnpei on 6 August 2026, followed by a national debriefing on 7 August. Following these meetings, work is under way to incorporate the comments received into the draft National and State Action Plans.
A GIS capacity needs assessment has also been completed, drawing on survey responses and institutional consultations. It identified gaps in GIS experience, equipment, staffing and data management. A practical training programme is being prepared, with QGIS as the main platform, to help participating institutions use spatial information in sustainable land management and land degradation monitoring.
The next steps are to consolidate the revised plans and deliver the GIS training. The proposed actions build on existing plans and stakeholder priorities, with attention to customary land governance, community participation and the institutional capacities needed for implementation.
