Magiagi Village opens 114 hectares Conservation Area

Apia, SAMOA – 06 April 2024 – Magiagi Village has taken another big step forward with the opening of Samoa’s newest Conservation Area (CA) protecting around 114 hectares (280 acres) of rainforest, ridges and streams, as well as the endorsement of the Rainforest Conservation Area Management Plan.

More than 27 bird species are found in this Conservation Area including pigeons, doves, and a number of seabirds.

The new Conservation Area is particularly significant because it also protects the Fale o le Fe’e, one of Samoa’s most important historical monuments and demonstrates that nature and culture conservation can work together.

Working with the Samoa Conservation Society, it is hoped that over time, the CA can be extended to connect with the O le Pupu Pu’e National Park 2kms to the south.

Ali’i ma Faipule of Magiagi and Members of the Samoa Conservation Society, at the opening of the Magiagi Conservation Area on April 20, 2014

Conservation Area open to visitors
The signage for the Magiagi rainforest conservation area was installed on April 26 and the CA is now open to visitors upon permission from Magiagi violage council. There is a walking trail to and through the CA suitable for moderately fit hikers. The CA can be reached by 4WD from Magiagi village or by parking at the Magiagi EPC water reservoir and walking 2.5kms (around 1- 1.5 hrs walk, 3 hrs return). No visitors are allowed on Sunday and we stress that no dogs, hunting or plant collecting is allowed. We ask all visitors to please respect the historical monument, and to not deface the rocks or leave litter.

In September 2022, the New Zealand Governor General visited Magiagi and became the latest village in Samoa to pledge to safeguard Samoa’s national bird, the Manumea, by becoming a Manumea Friendly Village.

The Key commitments of Manumea Friendly Villages are to reduce or eliminate hunting of Manumea and native pigeons, to reduce forest loss and restore degraded forest, to manage invasive species and to develop alternative livelihoods that enhance nature, such as nature based tourism.

The Samoa Conservation Society expresses its gratitude to the Pulega a Ali’i ma Faipule in particular Luafau Aimaasu and Sootagamalii Auelua for their guidance and leadership for this project. We thank the project team led by Seiuli Ioane Etuale and supported by James Atherton, Faleafaga Toni Tipamaa, Sefuiva Moeumu Uili and Fata Lafi Esera for their hard work. We also thank our main donor, the New Zealand High Commission in Samoa for funding this project and our partners, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Samoa Tourism Authority and the National University of Samoa for their support.