Since 2019, we have been working hard to create transformational change for rural islanders in the Pacific.
Regenerative Vanua is a not-for-profit organisation formally registered in 2021 as a Charitable Organisation under the Charitable Associations (Incorporations) Act [Cap 140] in Vanuatu. Regenerative Vanua has collaboratively developed the Regenerative Vanua Stewardship Agreements with its partners to ensure Vanua’s throughout the Pacific are resilient and self-reliant in the face of the global polycrisis – and focuses on protecting and promoting Indigenous Knowledge Systems to achieve this resilience.
Regenerative Vanua is now working with regional partners and donors to apply these Stewardship Agreements and build the Regenerative movement through regenerative agritourism experiences and symposiums throughout the Pacific.
“We are critically engaging with place, creating a positive impact, seeing humans as part of nature, and connecting environmentalism with socio-political processes.”
At the core of Regenerative Vanua is the desire to support Vanuas to finance their transition to regenerative living, and to support the collective wellbeing of the Vanua. Regenerative Vanua supports Vanuas to diversify into markets such as regenerative agritourism, regenerative gastronomy, regenerative value chains, biodiversity and Payment for Ecosystem Services through the implementation of the Regenerative Vanua Stewardship Agreements.
Regenerative Vanua rejects the notion of these Vanuas as destinations, and instead understands them to be communities who generously provide educational and transformational experiences where visitors are able to connect with regenerative knowledge systems in the Pacific. Under the Stewardship Agreements, tourism is framed as an opportunity to strengthen and share culture through regenerative and transformational experiences, rather than as a commercialised, visitor-centred business operation.
“Choosing to use the Indigenous term Vanua is a deliberate and empowering acknowledgement of the Pasifika worldview within which Regenerative Vanua operates. ”
A note on language …
Vanua is a holistic term for place used in Pacific countries (with regional linguistic variations such as Belau, Fanua, Fenua, Fonua, Hanua, Henua, Honua and Whenua) and refers to the relationship between custodians of the land and the land itself, to the energetic aspect of this relationship which creates a sense of belonging to place. Vanua is the relational principle referring to life in all its various manifestations – land, waterways, oceans, air, flora, fauna, weather, people, language, song, dance, stories and so on. Vanua extends across time – it is informed by ancestral knowledge and embodies the needs of the future generations. It is dynamic and evolves to enable harmony and balance. In the Pacific, we understand that the role of being a custodian involves taking care of and stewarding Vanua, so that its full potential – environmentally, socially and spiritually – can be actualised.
