The independent nations at the heart of Melanesia are integrated landscape-seascapes where communities have historically achieved high population densities with comparatively little loss of diversity and ecosystem integrity. They have done this through some of the most complex resource management systems seen anywhere on the planet, grounded in customary law and values based upon an immense body of indigenous knowledge. Our grantee’s challenge is to facilitate a revaluation of traditional knowledge and economies, while making culture ‘cool’ again to engage the coming generations. To reach these goals we focus our grantmaking on two interrelated themes that are in practice tightly connected