Harvesting the Heavens - Guidelines for Rainwater Harvesting in Pacific Island Countries

The “Harvesting the Heavens: Guidelines for Rainwater Harvesting in Pacific Island Countries” were developed as part of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) demonstration project on “Empowering Women in Rainwater Harvesting” funded by the Government of Sweden through their development agency SIDA and carried out in Africa (Kenya) and the Pacific (Tonga).

These guidelines are for people who are interested in building or maintaining a rainwater harvesting system. They are also for non-government organisations, communitybased organisations, regional organisations and donor agencies that are involved in the implementation of rainwater harvesting projects. The intention of the guidelines is to help in the sustainable implementation of rainwater harvesting as well as to assist in improving the quality of the water supply. The guidelines are focused on roof catchment systems for domestic water supply although they might be useful for other systems (e.g. artificially-raised catchments) as well as other uses (e.g. agriculture).