This socio-economic study was conducted in six villages in Kimbe Bay and was part of a larger project being undertaken by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to understand the physical and biological aspects of marine ecosystems of Kimbe Bay and the socioeconomic issues influencing local marine resource use and conservation. The Kimbe Bay project aims to protect and conserve the biodiversity and marine resources of the marine environment from the pressures of population increase and economic development within the Bay.
As early as 1990 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) noted that the greatest single impact of climate change might be on human migrationwith millions of people displaced by shoreline erosion, coastal flooding and agricultural disruption.3 Since then, successive reports have argued that environmental degradation, and in particular climate change, is poised to become a major driver of population displacementa crisis in the making.
In most tropical countries, coral reef ecosystems provide coastal populations with a number of goods and services. However, a variety of anthropogenic practices threatens reef health and therefore jeopardizes the benefits flowing from these goods and services. These threats range from local pollution, sedimentation, destructive fishing practices and coral mining, to global issues such as coral bleaching.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is one of the global conventions on environmental conservation that came out of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. By signing and ratifying the CBD, countries have agreed to support its goals and aims. The three main objectives of the CBD are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair
Satawal is a small flat coral island in the west central Caroline Islands about 1050 km east-south-east of Yap Island, at latitude 7'21' N, longitude 147'02' E. Although its surface is locally somewhat irregular, its greatest height is not more than about 4 meters above mean low water. Its long axis is about east-west and its area is 1.3 square km. It is surrounded by a fringing reef upward of 100 meters wide. It has no lagoon, so would be classified according to Tayama's scheme as a table reef. From the viewpoint of land ecology it is an atoll.
Fishing in Samoa is very important because one of the ways to achieve food security, particularly in
villages and rural areas. In many communities do not value taking care of the economy
and the marine environment. Making and using such fisheries jurisdiction for-or-not there
mask, nets and hurry microfilm, and substances that would easily and more fish but
are detrimental to the marine environment and ecosystems. The implementation of projects on
marine damage in many places and millions of species of marine wildlife.
Climate change is real and Asia is already experiencing its adverse impacts. Projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that such impacts will become even more intense in the future. While the contribution of developing countries in Asia to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is increasing rapidly, per capita emissions are still low and developmental challenges remain significant.
The monitoring and evaluation system of CRISP programme is semester based with 2 reports describing activities from the 1st of January to the 30th of June and the 1st of July to the 31st of December respectively. Actions occurring on the field are classified according to the type of activities, which are explained according to projects comprised into different compo-
The wetlands of 21 countries and territories of the Pacific Islands region are reviewed: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea,Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna. The regions wetlands are classified into seven systems coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove swamps, riverine, lacustrine, freshwater swamp forests and marshes.
There is growing evidence that seagrasses are experiencing declines globally due to anthropogenic threats (Short and Wyllie Echeverria 1996, Duarte 2002, Orth et al. 2006). Runoff of nutrients and sediments that affect water quality is the greatest anthropogenic threat to seagrass meadows, although other stressors include aquaculture, pollution, boating, construction, dredging and landfill activities, and destructive fishing practices. Natural disturbances such as storms and floods can also cause adverse effects.
- A defining feature of the Pacific is the Western Pacific Warm Pool ecosystem. The limited land base of the area is distributed among 200 high islands and 2,500 low islands and atolls. All
participating islands lie in the tropical zone and experience sea surface temperatures that rarely fall below 20 degrees Celsius. In general, the islands increase in size from east to west such that over 83% of the region's land mass is situated in Papua New Guinea, and most of the rest is in the other Melanesian countries and territories.
Historical reports of an earthquake in Tonga in 1865 November identify it as the only event from that subduction zone which generated a far-field tsunami observable without instruments.
Run-up heights reached 2 m in Rarotonga and 80 cm in the Marquesas Islands. Hydrodynamic simulations require a moment of 4 x 1028 dyn cm, a value significantly larger than previous
estimates of the maximum size of earthquake to be expected at the Tonga subduction zone. This warrants an upwards re evaluation of the tsunami risk from Tonga to the Cook Islands
This report describes the background, progress and status of activities under the accountability of SPREP's Assistant Project Officer. Ozone Depleting Substances (APO ODS) during the three-year contract at SPREP. It is intended as an overview primarily for SPREP Management, the new APO ODS and SPREP programme staff. This report may also be used by Pacific Island Countries (PICs).
executing agency (UNEP) and donors (Montreal Protocol's Multilateral Fund and Australia) on the status of the Project at SPREP.
The American Samoa Local Action Strategies (LAS) are the result of a nearly two-year process that saw input from territorial agencies, non-profit groups, interested individuals, and other stake-holders such as local fishers, and federal agency partners. This process was initiated through the American
Several large regions of the world are plagued by
conservation problems shaped around a particular inherent
set of geographical, biological and human conditions which
have been operational for varying periods of time. Typical
of situations facing Latin America are the progress of
economic development in Amazonia with its attendant loss of
rainforest biodiversity, and the Central American
"hamburger connection" involving conversion of forests to
grazing land to support the export of cheap beef to the
At the time of the POBSP visit, cats (Felis domestica), dogs
Mauke, Mitiaro and Atiu are deeply eroded volcanic islands in the southern Cook Islands, south Pacific, each surrounded by a rim of elevated Cenozoic reef limestone (makatea). This paper presents the results of instrumental topographic surveys of each
Natural resources derived from the non-living world, e.g. land, water and air.The provision of access to genetic resources within a country and the sharing of benefit derived from the use of genetic resources.Management practices, technologies and policies that promote the positive and mitigate the negative impacts on biodiversity.
This is a preliminary report of a long term environmental study of Laucala Bay and Suva Harbour. It is presented as a background paper to the discussion of Biogas as a potential energy resource. In this context, the presentation and discussion is not comprehensive to the general title. Most of the results refer to the period September 1977 to January 1978, with comparative figures being available from 1976 and 1975.
The Government of Samoa under its Environmental Policy Framework established rules and procedures to be followed under IAMP Phase 2 with regard to environmental assessment, monitoring and mitigation of potential negative impacts. For projects with no, or low but acceptable environmental impacts, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) may issue a waiver to the proponent from the further requirements of the draft EIA Regulations. In issuing a waiver, the CEO MNRE will rely on the advice of the Assistant CEO, PUMA.