Once stripped bare by bushfires, the Ouassé watershed in Canala, New Caledonia is slowly coming back to life thanks to more than a decade of restoration work — and a fresh boost from the Shared Water Policy (PEP) Fund.
The Ouassé tribe, an isolated community about 30 kilometres from Canala’s main village, depends on the river’s catchment for its drinking water. When fire tore through the watershed in 2013, much of its vegetation cover was destroyed. The damage was far-reaching: soil erosion worsened, flooding became more frequent, water quality declined and biodiversity suffered.
“It is essential to the population that we ensure the sustainability of the water cycle in this watershed,” local officials said in the project brief.
Years of steady work
Since 2013, the Canala municipal government has rolled out a series of measures to bring the watershed back from the brink. It launched studies to better manage hydraulic flows and reduce erosion and flooding; improved waste management in the commune and the Ouassé tribe to reduce fire risk; and began a ten-year ecological restoration programme that included tree planting, installing fascines to stabilise soil, and building erosion-control structures.
In 2023, the municipality submitted a restoration proposal to the PEP call for projects — an initiative run by the Water Department of the Directorate of Veterinary, Food and Rural Affairs (DAVAR) to support concrete actions that protect and manage New Caledonia’s water resources.
Among the PEP’s top priorities is the protection of strategic water catchment areas. The Ouassé project was selected as a winner, receiving a grant of 4,740,532 francs, with half already disbursed. The funding has so far enabled the planting of nearly 6,000 trees, the installation of 350 fascines, and the completion of 10 planned stone thresholds to slow water flow and reduce erosion.
A shared effort
The restoration has been a collective endeavour. The local mixed-economy public company SAEML Canala and research firm Geo.Impact carried out the works with the municipality. SAEML Canala also operates the nursery that supplies the plants used to re-vegetate the basin.
Community participation has been just as critical. The “Ongui Etorry” association — bringing together municipal staff, customary leaders, schools, mining companies and residents of surrounding tribes — has organised biannual planting days since 2018, each time adding about 1,000 trees around the catchments.
With the PEP Fund’s backing, Canala’s fight to restore the Ouassé watershed is not only reviving the land but also protecting the lifeline of a remote community.
