The flora of Nauru

-

The flora of Nauru

The vegetation and flora of Nauru are among the most impoverished, degraded, disturbed and displaced in the Pacific islands. Long habitation, almost a century of opencast phosphate mining, continuous bombing, destruction and displacement of the people during World War 11, rapid urbanization and the abandonment of agriculture and subsistence activities have arguably produced one of the most severely modified nautral and and cultural floras on earth. 
Although both the vegetation and limited indigenous flora of Nauru has been severely degraded and outnumbered by exotic species, many of the native species are still present, unfortunately often in an endangered state. The indigenous flora also still dominates most habitats, including the later stages of the phosphate-mined pit and
pinnacle topography of Nauru. Even in ruderal habitats and in houseyard gardens and villages, where they are outnumbered by exotics, indigenous species constitute important components. It is argued that, while floristic degradation in Nauru appears to be among the most severe in the Pacific, the current flora still constitutes an important ecological and cultural resource that must be protected as part of the development process, and NOT as
an afterthought. Even in the case of Nauru, it may not be too late.