Samoa Conservation Society (S.C.S.) has begun the countdown to its 10th anniversary and put together a week-long program that will culminate with a gala night on Saturday.

The first part of the anniversary program began on Monday at the Vailima Botanical Garden which the non-government organisation used to showcase some of their work on rare and threatened plants. Visiting schools and guests were taken on guided tours of the garden, which comprised areas showcasing medicinal plants, the butterfly garden, and even a nursery for endangered Samoan plants.

S.C.S. President James Atherton told the Samoa Observer that the organisation was officially registered in Samoa on 1 July 2013 and they have grown from having one staff and one project to five staff and multiple projects with a reach across Samoa from Falealupo to Uafato.

“Although still very small we try to be innovative and introduce new ideas and concepts that we hope that other bigger organisations will pick up on and want to support,” Mr. Atherton said. “Our mission to support efforts to save Samoa's natural heritage has never been more important. 

"We continue to see the impacts of our actions on nature and are now beginning to learn that nature can bite back. An intact nature provides us with a buffer against climate change and as a sink to absorb the greenhouse gases that are the cause of global warming.”

Mr. Atherton said their projects over the last decade were all developed in partnership with their partners and donors. They include Samoa's first carbon offset program to fund forest restoration; a pilot project to promote the conservation of nature and archaeological sites; a national Manumea research and conservation campaign; a seabird conservation project; a program to promote nature trails and ecotourism; a rat management project at Malololelei; a project to collect and propagate rare and threatened Samoan plants and develop gardens to display them; and a recently launched butterfly conservation project.

On Tuesday evening the S.C.S. will host an event at Insel Fehmarn Hotel for their Seabird Conservation Project in Samoa and on Wednesday they have a project called ‘Greening a School’ at Faleata College followed by Forest Restoration Awareness Day on Thursday. The S.C.S. will host their 10th Anniversary Gala on Saturday night at the National University Falesamoa.