Protecting and restoring the Loru forest was part of a legacy left by Skip’s late father Chief Kaleb Ser.
It was in the 1990s — pre-dating both the introduction of Community Conservation Area legislation in Vanuatu, and the carbon market.
Kaleb was the Serakar clan Chief at that time, and he decided to develop a customary protected area, known as Tabu, over a section of the remaining forest at Loru, with the support of British naturalist and bird specialist Roy Hills.
At the time, Skip was not convinced his father’s initiative was a good idea.
“I remember telling Dad, ‘You must be crazy. How do you know we won’t lose our land to this foreigner?’” says Chief Skip.
“One thing Dad said in reply that really stuck with me later was ‘Look around, if we are not careful with the forest and birds and marine resources we have, we might lose them’.”
Chief Skip explains nobody was doing any conservation at the time — the forest was disappearing, cleared for timber, cattle, coconut plantations and gardens.
“But we also didn’t really know what a ‘conservation project’ was, or if it was a good thing or not,” remembers Chief Skip.