Fiji’s Sefanaia Nawadra is the new Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
Nawadra takes up the role next April, and will succeed Samoa’s Kosi Latu, who has served as Director General since 2016.
He currently heads the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Pacific Office based at the SPREP Campus in Vailima, Samoa, and previously worked across many roles at SPREP, including as Director of the Environmental Monitoring and Governance programme before he took up his current position with UNEP.
“SPREP Members would like to congratulate Nawadra on his appointment as the new Director General, and we look forward to working with him at the helm of SPREP. We have every faith that he will continue the work of the great leaders who came before him in ensuring that we foster a resilient Pacific environment that will sustain our livelihoods and natural heritage in harmony with our cultures, for present and future generations,” said Mika Perez of Tokelau, Chair of the 30th SPREP Meeting of Officials.
SPREP is the regional organisation charged with protecting and managing the environment and natural resources of the Pacific.
At its meeting of officials this week, Latu said that while Pacific island nations seem to be doing a lot to try and save, protect and manage their environment, the irony is that the Pacific is seeing greater environmental degradation happening in our region. “This is a major concern not just for me but for all of us who love our ocean and our islands and our region.”