PNG is endowed with rich natural resources and culture and is known as one of the cultural and mega biodiversity hotspots globally. Located on the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, PNG contains roughly 1 percent of the global landmass, with four major islands and over 600 islands and atolls. PNG also has one of the diverse reef system in the world and has a total of 3.12 square kilometers of economic exclusive zone (EEZ) of marine territory. Over 840 spoken languages exist and spoken by over 1000 different tribes.
Christmas island3, the largest atoll in the world in terms of
The study of forest change across Papua New Guinea records that extensive and rapid deforestation and forest degradation have occurred over the thirty years from 1972 to 2002. The main human activities driving these changes are identified as commercial forestry, subsistence agriculture, fires, and the development and operations of mines and plantations.
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Call Number: [EL]
ISBN/ISSN: 9980-937-48-3
Physical Description: 156 p.
In the Pacific, land and sea are life; livelihoods and the natural environment are inseparable. Culture, tradition and livelihoods, are underpinned by the incredible biodiversity of the nearly 3,000 islands and atolls of the Pacific. However, high birth rates, unsustainable use of natural resources, increasing dependency on the cash economy, labour migration, and the deterioration of traditional social systems, are changing traditional lifestyles.
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Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 36 p.
The Apia Catchment is Samoa's selected IWRM demonstration project zone. It accommodates Lake Lanoto'o and its two main tributaries - Vaisigano and Fuluasou Rivers, which are very important water sources for drinking water, hydropower, bio-diversity and tourism. Unfortunately, with increasing population and development pressures over the years, this catchment area has become significantly degraded from problems such as soil erosion, siltation, water pollution/contamination and water shortages, causing major concern to the Government.
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In this report we present the results of a study carried out between May 2004 and May 2005 as a contribution to the Tropical Rivers Inventory and Assessment Project (TRIAP) of Australia's Tropical Rivers Program. The aim was to provide a framework for the analysis of the ecosystem services provided by the wetland and riverine ecosystems of northern Australia. The analyses drew heavily on the conceptual framework provided by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) where ecosystem services were defined as 'the benefits people obtain from ecosystems'.
1. Article 6 of the Convention on Biological Diversity/ requires each Party to develop or adapt national strategies, plans or programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and to integrate, as far as possible and as appropriate, the conservation and sustainable use of biological
diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies.
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Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 11 Pages
One of the recommendations emerging from the COP-8 (Decision XIII/8 [6]) promoted a series of regional and/or sub-regional workshops on capacity building for NBSAPs. These will
be held with the aim to discuss national experiences in implementing NBSAPs, the integration of biodiversity concerns into relevant sectors, obstacles, and ways and means
for overcoming these obstacles. It was recommended that these workshops be held (subject to the availability of funding) prior to COP-9, to provide an opportunity to directly support
Climate change poses a massive threat to development. The poorest populations of poor countries - the Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States, and the nations of Africa - face the concentrated challenge of tackling the worst of the impacts with the least capacity to do so. Clearly, adaptation to climate impacts must be seamlessly integrated into any development planning and policy. This four- step plan for mainstreaming climate change aims to fulfil that need.
Scientists state unequivocally that the earth is warming. Climate change is happening, it is caused in large part by human activity, and it will have many serious and potentially damaging effects in the decades ahead. Greenhouse gas emissions from cars, power plants, and other human activitiesrather than natural variations in climateare the primary cause of contemporary global warming. Due largely to the combustion of fossil fuels, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal greenhouse gas, are at a level unequaled for at least 800,000 years.
This issues paper reviews the context and challenges to environmental mainstreaming (EM), discusses what it takes to achieve effective EM, and provides a roadmap for selecting operational EM methods and tools. Each chapter is introduced by a box summarising its scope. Supporting materials and profiles of key tools are available at www.environmental-mainstreaming.org. Chapter 1 explains why EM is needed, and considers what it means, and who should be concerned.
Streams and rivers on islands are considerably different to continental systems in that oceanic island systems are often subject to recurrent flash flooding and many fauna in continental systems are only distantly related to island fauna, rarely having an obligate marine larval phase of their life cycles. Several methods used in surveying continental systems are therefore only of limited applicability in island systems. The field procedures described herein are loosely adapted from those described in Parham, 2005 and Fitzsimons et.
In Solomon Islands, the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) project focused on food security, with a goal
to contribute to reduced vulnerability and increased adaptive capacity to adverse effects of climate change in
Solomon Islands. The pilot sites for the demonstration projects were the low lying atolls of Ontong Java and, in a
second phase, Sikaiana. These atolls are extremely isolated and are highly vulnerable in many respects. Climaterelated
threats mainly come from sea level rise and extreme weather events, and impacts on food security include