 The Honorable Minister Tato Seri Setia Haji Ali Binabong, Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism for the Kingdom of Brunei. Honorable Ministers, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning to you all. On behalf of the Government of Anuatu, I would like to sincerely thank the Government of Brunei for the great hospitality rendered to us and for organizing such a wonderful summit, including the wonderful show during the gala dinner yesterday. It is with great pleasure that I stand here today as Minister responsible for the forestry sector in Anuatu to deliver the statement on behalf of the Government and the people of the Republic of Anuatu. Anuatu is an island nation with a total land area of 1.2 million hectares, of which 60 percent is forest. The land is made up of 83 main islands and supports a population of 270,000. Anuatu's forests are one of the few renewable natural resources and third largest natural resource after the ocean and land. Forest and forest products are important for providing daily livelihood needs of the 80 percent of the population that resides in the rural areas. For instance, the national population census in 2007 revealed that 95 percent of Anuatu households depend on fuel, wood, as a primary source of energy. Forests provide a range of goods and services freely, and that is why it is sometimes referred to as a free supermarket and a free hospital. However, continued supply of high quality goods and services will depend on the sustainable management and use of these resources. Anuatu is ranked number one as the most disaster-prone country in the world. Due to its exposure to extreme weather events, most of which are associated with impacts of global climate change. Sitting on the ring of fire, Anuatu is exposed to frequent earthquakes, rocking the nation on a regular basis, causing damages to property as well as the environment. Its location south of the equator and surrounded by a vast ocean puts Anuatu as a high-risk country to tropical cyclones, which occurred on an average of two to three cyclones per annum. One of the fears ever recorded in Anuatu's history was the severe Category 5 tropical cyclone PAM, which ripped through the country on the 13th and 14th of March, 2015. TC PAM destroyed agriculture, livelihood, and everything in its path, including forests, and caused loss of lives. The El Nino event, which follows on right after the cyclone, causes further destruction to food, livestock, and water, and, of course, the forests. However, despite these extreme events, a few months later, Anuatu was listed in 2016 as the fourth happiest country on planet by the happy planet index. Vanuatu is part of the world's rainforest. According to our records, up to 700,000 hectares of land area is covered in forests from mountain to lowland forests. Most of these forests are fragmented due to natural disaster and rural development. To preserve this natural beauty, Vanuatu is progressing towards placing 200,000 hectares of natural forest under protection. Development and management of Vanuatu's forest is guided by forest policy and the sustainable development policies and planned currently in development. Apart from the requirement for sustainable management of the natural forest, the policy requires Vanuatu to establish 200,000 hectares of planted forests by 2020. Achieving this target will place Vanuatu on the route to self-sufficiency in forest products. To achieve this target, Vanuatu has endorsed the Planned Forest Act, the Planted Forest Act in 2015 to facilitate development of planted forests. In Vanuatu, agriculture and tourism are the two main sectors that drive its economy. However, we are mindful that increasing the area of planted forests and protected forests could have a potential impact on agriculture. Vanuatu is aware and mindful of the initiatives taken by the global and regional organizations and agencies to combat deforestation and address land degradation through forest landscape restoration initiative such as the Asia-Pacific Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative Regional Strategy and Action Plan, which will soon be adopted. We applaud the mission and vision of Rainforest Alliance because Vanuatu believes that sustaining livelihood of our people depends on the sustainability of resources with livelihood hinged on. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the impact of climate change is a single threat to humanity and each nation has the responsibility to act responsibly to address this within the means. Vanuatu is also taking actions to address this. The Vanuatu government has, in 2014, developed a climate change policy to allow itself to tackle climate change challenges. Being a least developed country, Vanuatu does not have the capacity to manufacture renewable energy equipment, but we will be planting trees as a weapon to fight climate change. To put this into action in March this year, the government of Vanuatu has launched three initiatives. The first is the decade of reforestation initiative, which is from 2016 to 2025. The second is the National Forestry Week, which is from the 21st to the 27th of August to be an annual event beginning in 2016. And the third is the National Tree Planting Day, which is the 21st of June to be an annual event beginning also in 2016. I can happily inform that during the National Tree Planting Day, this year, Vanuatu has planted 24,994,000 seedlings. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the health of a forest and well-being of our people that depend on forests are in our hands. Let us therefore stand united and support each other in protecting and sustainably minus this remarkable resource which provides the world with clean air and water every day and brings comfort and peace to the heart, mind and soul of mankind. It is true that we are different nations, from different nations, but forests that occur in forest nations have only one name and that is known as rainforest. Vanuatu will continue to require financial and technical resources to enhance its ambitions towards achieving sustainable landscape management. Let us therefore stand united and share our experiences and resources to promote equitable management, use and protection of the forest. Honorable ministers, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your kind attention.