Abstract
This thesis analyses the recent adoption of the Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) model for environmental governance of the coastal area in Samoa through the Coastal Infrastructural Management Strategy (CIMS). The findings are from three months of field work in Samoa. The informants comprised officers from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) and local consultants employed by Pacific Environment Consultants Limited (PECL). The information reported here also came from village residents in five districts on the main islands of Upolu and Savaii. They provided community views of the development and implementation of CIMS. The analysis focused on Integrated Coastal Management (ICM), and how it may either disenfranchise from or include local residents in the environmental governance of Samoa's coastal area.