- 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.Available online
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.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
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
Sea temperatures in many tropical regions have increased by almost 1°C over the past 100 years and are currently increasing at 1 ~ 2°C per century. Satellite and compiled in situ observations of sea surface temperatures have greatly increased the ability to detect anomalous and persistent warm water and are being widely used to predict climate change, coral bleaching and mortality.
During participation in part of the Fairbridge Expedition
to New Guinea, February to May, 1969, I had opportunity to visit 17 islands and cays east of the New Guinea mainland for sufficient time to assemble reasonably complete collections oi their terrestrial reptilian fauna. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of that survey. Fairbridge (1971 ) has previously published a brief report on the expedition and. a more detailed one is in preparation.
In accordance with Article 177 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, development cooperation policy shall foster: the sustainable economic and social development of the developing countries, and more particularly the most disadvantaged among them; the smooth and gradual integration of the developing countries into the world economy; the campaign against poverty in the developing countries
Healthy marine resources require healthy, intact ecosystems. Marine and coastal ecosystems are highly productive and deliver various goods and services that support communities and economies, including food security, clean water, recreational
opportunities and other benefits. Effective area-based protection, through MPAs, helps maintain ecosystem health and productivity, while safeguarding social and economic
Healthy marine resources require healthy, intact ecosystems. Marine and coastal ecosystems are highly productive and deliver various goods and services that support communities and economies, including food security, clean water, recreational
opportunities and other benefits. Effective area-based protection, through MPAs, helps maintain ecosystem health and productivity, while safeguarding social and economic
FSPI CCP program has recognized the need of applied research and capacity building to support community based activities. FSPI has been researching the development of low-tech coral reef restoration techniques as a viable management tool for local communities. FSPI, through its affiliates, PCDF and Solomon Island Development Trust, have conducted coral reef restoration
Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) are agreements
Status of coral reefs in the Polynesia Mana node is predominantly healthy. There are 6733 km2 of reefs scattered over 347 islands. Most (90%) are healthy, 5% have been destroyed or are at a critical stage and 5% are under threat;Reefs have been degraded around populated areas of Rarotonga (Cook Islands), Tahiti and Moorea (French Polynesia) and South Tarawa (Kiribati);Coral reefs support the livelihoods of Polynesian populations through subsistence fishing in all countries and through tourism and black pearl industries in French
This report has been prepared at the request of the Government of Nauru to provide advice and instruction for the establishment of a National Meteorological and Hydrological Service (NMHS) in this country.
A National Meteorological and Hydrological Service is to be established in Nauru to provide scientific and technical advice to the government and people of Nauru. Nauru is the only independent country or self-governing territory within the membership of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) not to have an established NMHS.
The shorefishes of Ouvea, an isolated atoll in the Loyalty Islands group of New Caledonia, had not been surveyed prior to 1990. An extensive survey was conducted by ORSTOM between 1991 and 1992 to obtain baseline information on the shorefishes. A
total of 653 taxa among 72 families are now documented from this area. The most diverse families are the Labridae (69 species), Pomacentridae (58 species), Gobiidae (54 spccies),Serranidae (39 species), Chaetodontidae (31 species) and Apogonidae (28
From 0900 on 17 June to 0615 on 19 June 1965 Caroline Atoll was visited by a field party from the Pacific Ocean Biological Survey Program (POBSP) of the Smithsonian Institution. The field party, led by Sibley, collected and made observations on vascular plants, fish, reptiles, mammals, and birds. All islands with the exception of the northern two-thirds of Nake were visited. Prior knowledge of the biota of Caroline Atoll is very scant, deriving almost entirely from the visits of F. D. Bennett in 1835, Devoy in 1875, and the U.S.S. Hartford in 1883.
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.
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.