The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme is an intergovernmental organisation based in Apia, Samoa with more than 90 staff members. The organisation is held accountable by the governments and administrations of the Pacific region to ensure the protection and sustainable development of the region's natural resources. The organisation actively promotes the understanding of the connection between Pacific island people and their natural environment and the impact that these have on their sustenance and livelihoods. The organisation was established in 1982. Previously "South Pacific Regional Environment Programme ", the word "South" was replaced with "Secretariat" in 2004, in recognition of the Members north of the equator. The French equivalent name is PROE, Programme régional océanien de l’environnement.
Members
SPREP Members comprise 21 Pacific island countries and territories, and five developed countries* with direct interests in the region:
*
*
*
*
*
Conventions
SPREP oversees the following agreements, conventions and protocols, each of which is enacted by International treaty:
Agreement establishing the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme Apia, 1993
* Convention on Conservation of Nature in the South Pacific 1976
* Convention for the Protection of the Natural Resources and Environment of the South Pacific Region 1986
** Protocol for the Prevention of Pollution of the South Pacific Region by Dumping 1986
** Protocol concerning Co-operation in Combating Pollution Emergencies in the South Pacific Region 1986
The SPREP Annual General Meeting is the main governance mechanism of the organisation. SPREP Members meet once every year to discuss the workplan and budget and other matters relating to administration and corporate affairs. The 25th SPREP Meeting was held in the Republic of the Marshall Islands in October 2014. SPREP began life in the late 1970s as a joint initiative of SPC, SPEC, ESCAP and UNEP - eventually functioning as a component of UNEP's Regional Seas Programme. The Programme received further impetus as a result of the 1982 Conference on the Human Environment in the South Pacific. Following a period of expansion and long deliberations, SPREP left SPC in Nouméa in 1992 and relocated to Samoa. It achieved autonomy as an independent inter-governmental organisation with the signing of the Agreement Establishing SPREP in Apia on 16 June 1993. SPREP is the region’s key inter-governmental organisation for environment and sustainable development, and is one of several inter-governmental agencies comprising the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific. Under the Agreement Establishing SPREP, the purposes of SPREP are to promote cooperation in the South Pacific Region and to provide assistance in order to protect and improve the environment and to ensure sustainable development for present and future generations. SPREP's vision is: the Pacific environment - sustaining our livelihoods and natural heritage in harmony with our cultures. SPREP also functions as the Secretariat of 2 regional conventions: the Nouméa Convention, the Waigani Convention and the Apia Convention. David Sheppard, Director General
