Coral reef monitoring lias been an on-going activity in Samoa since 1997. In 1998. a pilot Village Level Coral Reef Monitoring Project (VLCRMP) was initiated in collaboration between The Fisheries Division, the Division of Environment & Conservation and the International Ocean Institute Pacific Islands. The pilot project provided monitoring equipment and assisted in training the trainers that, in nuns trained 46 villagers from six villages selected from around the country ( Mulipola 2001 ).
Since 2001, the villagers in Vanuaso Tikina, Gau Island, Fiji, have collaborated with the University of the South Pacific to manage their environmental resources to prepare them for difficult and challenging times ahead. This review essay seeks to publicize this island community-based experience by illustrating a range of resource management initiatives,
and some of the challenges of their implementation. The experience is instructive to the rest of Fiji and other island and coastal societies where similar initiatives can be tried or
further promoted.
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WITH UNRULY hair; a cheerful glint in his eye and a mischievous grin. Samoan-born Vili lese is passionate about conservation. Right now, he's undertaking ground-breaking research in Tuvalu's waters to help build a sustainable future for Tuvalu's community of almost 12,000 a community who rely heavily on fishing and
farming to survive.
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Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 6 Pages
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.
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Tuvalu is comprised of nine small islands, six of them being atoll islands (with lagoons) namely Nanumea, Nui, Vaitupu, Nukufetau, Funafuti, and Nukulaelae. The remaining three,
Nanumanga, Niutao and Niulakita are raised limestone reef islands. None of the islands are more than three metres above sea level, with the biggest island, Vaitupu, having a land area of just over 1000 acres. The total land area is approximately twenty-six square kilometres with a sea area of 900,000 square kilometres. During the pre-independence period, 1938 - 1978,
Vanuatu is among countries in the Pacific region that are most vulnerable to the risks of climate change, climate variability and sea level rise. With the livelihood of its people and economy interwoven, shaped and driven by climate sensitive
sectors, the effects of climate and sea level change are already very real and pose a tangible threat to the future socio-economic wellbeing of the country.
Available online|1 copy
Call Number: [EL],551.6 COM
Physical Description: 44 p.
Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have committed themselves to considering the special needs and concerns of developing countries resulting from the adverse effects of climate change in the area of insurance. The needs of small island states have been are highlighted for attention, due to their unique geographic features and exposure, and thus unique vulnerability.1
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Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 49 p.
In failing to tackle climate change with urgency, rich countries
are effectively violating the human rights of millions of the
world's poorest people. Continued excessive greenhouse-gas
emissions primarily from industrialised nations are - with
scientific certainty - creating floods, droughts, hurricanes, sea- level rise, and seasonal unpredictability. The result is failed harvests, disappearing islands, destroyed homes, water
scarcity, and deepening health crises, which are undermining
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.
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Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 64 p.
Specifically the Community Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment was conducted to make it possible for the people of Aitutaki to tell the CBDAMPIC project team what climate related
The main purpose of this paper is to help policy makers,
particularly those in developing countries, think about the national policy instruments needed to contribute to the
fight against climate change, how such needs can be articulated in order to seek internal and external financial resources and how these needs may be reflected in negotiations of a future climate change agreement. This paper is an input to a series of workshops which the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will organize in developing countries with the aim of improv-
Climate change is one of the greatest threats to our
planet and its people. Reducing emissions of greenhouse
gases (GHG) is called mitigation. Responding to the impacts of climate change is called adaptation. A certain amount of adaptation will be necessary, no matter what we do. But, there will come a point where it will not be possible to adapt our way out of the problem.
In 2007, the UNFCCC Secretariat prepared a report on
"Investment and Financial Flows to Address Climate
Change".11 The report covers mitigation and adaptation in
various sectors over the period to 2030. The report defines
an investment as the initial (capital) cost of a new physical
asset with a life of more than one year, such as the capital
cost of a gas-fired generating unit or a water supply
system. A financial flow is an ongoing expenditure related
to climate change mitigation or adaptation that docs not
Adaptation to climate change is a complex topic that presents a number of challenges. Indeed, one important challenge lies in defining adaptation and understanding the full scope of its implications. Adaptation is currently the topic of numerous studies that offer a range of definitions. The IPCC offers a starting point by providing a broad definition of adaptation: adjustment in natural or human systems to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities.
All over the world Indigenous Peoples are affected by the impacts of climate change. They often live close to the land and depend on its physical resources and richness for their livelihoods and well-being. Their environments are increasingly threatened by, for example, desertification, sea level rise, extreme weather events, and changes in wildlife health, migration patterns and abundance. At the same time, there is evidence that some current attempts to tackle climate change may also have disastrous effects on indigenous groups and communities.
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This publication demonstrates the link between disaster riskreduction andclimate change adaptation, while contributing to the ongoing glolal effort to promote gender equality in socio-economic development.
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Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 87 p.
The Earth currently finds itself in the midst of what some have termed the "Anthropocene Era" - a period during which human activities have become a dominate force affecting not only the
planet's landscape, but also its atmosphere. Since the dawn of the industrial evolution of the mid-18th century, humans have contributed to substantial increases in the concentration of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide has increased by 36%, methane by 17%, and nitrous oxide by 151%. These changes in the global atmosphere are directly linked to over
It is now widely acknowledged within the scientific community that the global rate of sea- level rise is quickening - and is likely to continue to do so as a result of anthropogenic
climate change. It is expected, therefore, that any resulting increase in the frequency or intensity of extreme sea-level events will cause serious problems for the inhabitants of low-
lying coastal communities and islands during the 21st century.
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Call Number: [EL[
Physical Description: 16 p.
Principles for designing marine protected area (MPA) networks that address social, economic, and biological criteria are well established in the scientific literature. Climate change represents a new and serious threat to marine ecosystems, but, to date, few studies have specifically considered how to design MPA networks to be resilient to this emerging threat. Here, we compile the best available information on MPA network design and
There is now a consensus that there is a discernible human influence on global climate. The form these global changes will take in the Pacific is far less certain, but the most significant and more immediate consequences are likely to be related to changes in rainfall regimes and soil moisture budgets, prevailing winds (both speed and direction) and in regional and local sea levels and patterns of wave action.
Available online
Call Number: 341.7623[EL]
ISBN/ISSN: 982-04-0194-1
Physical Description: 84 p.