Context of the Response: Previous Reporting

In understanding the frame of reference for the master planning work that this reporting represents, it is important to recognize the numerous previously published plans, reports, and policy documents that Nauru has engaged, and that have informed the understanding of the design team. Nauru has produced or been the subject of no shortage of studies, assessments and reporting, over the previous fifty years, covering almost all topics related to the geography, environment, and development of the island. The designs and recommendations developed through this master planning process have referenced the following documents in particular.

The 1994 Master Land Use Plan contains a wealth of information, used in the project discovery phase of feasibility and analysis to establish a base of understanding of the Island’s potential for redevelopment. The Plan’s detailed analysis of the process for remediating mined lands in order to enable habitation and natural restoration, as well as the Plan’s mapping of specific geologic and geographic conditions, were instrumental in determining the broad strategy utilized by the design team for recommending locations for new settlements and determining how these would be connected to the existing settlement pattern and infrastructure systems in Nauru.

While the 1994 Plan contains useful information about local conditions, the drafters could not at the time have been inclined to consider the full spectrum of sustainability considerations and technological opportunities that are available today. As part of the Higher Ground Initiative and other programs across the island, Nauru is engaged in projects and will continue to seek technical assistance from international partners, so that any revisions to this Plan advance the internationally-recognized sustainability and development priorities of the current Government. Its relevance as a resource for understanding the land and landscape of Nauru remains sound.

The more recent 2020 Nauru Higher Ground Project, prepared by Calibre Partners and More & Co, has materially advanced the 1994 Plan, proposing new settlement plans for housing and infrastructure in the higher elevations of the island based on potential sea level inundation resulting from global climate change. The scope of the project, divided into three stages, also involved workshopping with Stakeholders and delivering a concept program and estimated cost for the proposed initiatives. The findings and schematic plans of this Project have provided valuable additional context for the community site planning process and for the island wide master plan presented in this reporting.

The findings from the 2020 Project also called attention to the need to undertake a master planning process, to address the need for remediation of the natural environment and establishment of on-island agricultural production, equal to that undertaken for the community planning presented in this reporting. That need will be met through future phases of the work of the Higher Ground Initiative, as well as additional programs across the island.

National Sustainable Development Strategy 2019-2030: Revised 2019

Of key relevance to the long term goals that Nauru seeks to achieve through HGI, the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) has served as a foundational guidance for the policy objectives of the Government and the strategic approach to sustainability with which the master plan must align. Representing the Nauruan contribution to the broader goals of the international community, specifically the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through the United Nations (UN), the NSDS has provided the design team with an action plan by which Nauru intends to fulfill its National Vision of:

A future where individual, community, business and government partnerships contribute to a sustainable quality of life for all Nauruans.

The summary of the NSDS Consultations Report: 2018 included in the 2019 NSDS update offers insight into the results of an important process of community consultations undertaken by the Government, and were clarifying for the design team. In particular, the stakeholder reinforcement of leading priorities related to economic security, infrastructure investment, educational opportunities, and improved public health; the appeal for social inclusion and community engagement in decision making processes; and a general collective support for advancing broad based sustainability goals as a nation, underscores the need for an island wide master plan and indicates a strong appetite for public participation in that planning process.

With a planning scope through 2035, the Nauru Water and Sanitation Master Plan reports on anticipated needs for water and sewer infrastructure over the coming two decades in Nauru, and is therefore a helpful reference for the design team in ensuring provision of adequate land for necessary systems structure and capacity into the island wide master plan. Approximate scale and locations for necessary drinking water and sanitation facilities including delivery mains, pump stations, and water treatment plants have been accommodated within the island wide master plan, based on recommendations in this report. Additionally although likely subject to the need for revision to current land use policies, the provision for districted rainwater harvesting facilities has been included in block layout proposals and detailed site plans, and individual rainwater harvesting tanks have been incorporated into the design of housing, both in accordance with recommendations made in the Water and Sanitation Master Plan.

Particularly in looking ahead to future implementation phases of HGI, the Nauru Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan will become increasingly useful to informing and supporting the island wide master plan provisions that support remediation of the environmental conditions on the island. Sharing the objective of aligning the rehabilitation of the native ecology with the sustainable development of Nauru, this plan along with the planning proposals developed for HGI will inform a coordinated approach to ecological conservation and begin the process reestablishing the deep Nauruan relationship to land and the natural environment of the island.

PURPOSE AND NEED FOR A VISION FOR THE REPUBLIC OF NAURU

SECTION 2.0

SECTION 2.0

SECTION 2.0

Purpose and Need for a Vision for the Republic of Nauru