The guidelines provide advice on watching whales and dolphins in the wild, including observations from the land, water or air as well as activities such as swimming and diving, feeding, touching, and making noise. They are relevant to all Australian
waters (Commonwealth, State and Territory) and cover all people watching whales and dolphins including both commercial operators and the general public.
Available online
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Physical Description: 20 p.
Estimates vary but Nauru has probably been occupied for at least 3000 years. Although the people are considered Micronesians. the island was probably discovered by different ethnic groups at different times - there are indications of both Melanesian and Polynesian influences - and their descendents combined to form today's ethnic Nauruans. The language of Nauru is unique and gives few hints of its origins. Traditional Nauru society
is matrilineal and is based on 12 tribal grouping.
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This report presents the results of field studies of the National Forest Inventory. Details of the survey methodology and coverage are provided and summaries of results are presented.
Oceania’s humpback whales are of global conservation concern having recently been re‐
classified from “Threatened” to “Endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation
of Nature (IUCN). Although humpback whales in many parts of the world are showing
encouraging signs of recovery from past exploitation, the small breeding populations in the
South Pacific Islands region remain vulnerable to extinction.
Online only|References from 38-43
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Researchers have listed fifteen areas of concern, emphasizing the need to tackle these issues. Examples include the mining of lithium form the deep sea, exploitation of species found in deep waters and the unforeseen effects of wildfires across different ecosystems.
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Physical Description: 4 p.
We found coral diversity to be relatively high, especially at both tips of the island. Here we estimated the hard coral coverage to be about 30-40% and soft coral coverage about 25%. However, dead Pocillopora and Acropora colonies, already
overgrown by algae, were scattered throughout the reef. On the northwest windward side of the island we encountered vast areas of bare rock with nibble filling the crevasses. Even in deeper zones live hard coral coverage was estimated to be only
Over the past decade since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio, there has been only modest progress in the Asia-Pacific Region towards sustainable development. Since 1992, environmental quality in the Region has deteriorated. In advance of the September, 2002, World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), a number of agencies active in the Asia-Pacific Region, including ADB, ESCAP, UNDP, and UNEP, agreed to co-ordinate a series of subregional and regional preparatory meetings.
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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Physical Description: 49 p.
This paper suggests that this terrestrial and marine biodiversity inheritance constitutes the foundation upon which rests the survival of the relatively benign and peaceful ways of life in the Pacific ("Peaceful") Ocean. It is stressed that this inheritance, including traditional knowledge concerning it, is endangered by modem development and education, and that if it is not maintained or strengthened, the cultures, economies and rich biodiversity inheritances of Pacific societies WILL NOT SURVIVE.
Available online
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This thesis applies an approach of political ecology to analyze environmental change in the Cook Islands in the context of the fiscal crisis of the state in the 1990's. Questions and methods from both human and physical geography are brought to the empirical case. Corruption and financial management surrounding a hotel development on Rarotonga, Cook Islands presents a case of "criminal ecology" This research finds that the Pacific
Mangroves are very special and unique trees.Mangroves are among the few trees that can grow in sea water as well as in places where the saltwater mixes with the fresh water from the land.
Mangroves grow in places with muddy soil and a protected shoreline. They live in large groups called "mangrove forests".
The mangrove forest is home to many different types of plants and trees.
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Physical Description: 4 Pages
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.
Available online
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Physical Description: 49 p.
In World Resources 2005 we have argued that environmental income is the wealth of the poor, with the potential to provide not just subsistence but a path out of poverty if the right gover-
nance conditions prevail. In many communities, this argument is borne out every day, in on-the-ground, village-level experience.
Available online|Village by Village: Recovering Fiji's coastal fisheries|Restoring coastal resources by linking traditional conservation practices with modern techniques to create locally managed marine areas. p.144
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The development of a National Energy Policy Framework for Vanuatu is of high priority. Given the high dependence of Vanuatu on imported petroleum fuels and their associated escalating prices, it is imperative for the Government to put in place a national energy policy framework that not only address the adverse impacts of such high prices on the economy and the people but also provides a long term development plan for the energy sector. The ultimate goal is the provision of reliable
and affordable energy services to all people in Vanuatu.
Available online
This report examines the role of the ecosystem services in reducing the vulnerability of the people of the Pacific Islands to climate change. Specifically, it describes the decision-making frameworks and the current state of knowledge of specific ecosystem-service/development relationships that are relevant to EbA.
Natural disasters such as hurricanes, cyclones, and tropical depressions cause average annual direct losses of US$284 million in the Pacific. With a combined population of fewer than 10 million people, annual losses are the highest in the world on a per-capita basis. Extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall are closely linked to climate change, suggesting that Pacific Island nations face increasing risk of disasters such as flooding and landslides. Proactive management through infrastructure development, social solutions, and/or ecosystem-based adaptation can mitigate these risks.
Climate change is expected to cause extinctions when native plants and animals are prevented from migrating out of their hotter or drier habitats to more suitable climates. But for many species a more
Recruit new Contracting Parties, especially in the less well represented regions and among states with significant and/or transboundary wetland resources (including shared species), [CPs, SC regional representatives, Bureau, Partners]
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Physical Description: 22 p.
Traditional way of life in the pacific islands in the expression of each and everybody's identity. The link between people and their natural habitat, living and unliving things is key to someone's social status, relationship to other member of its community and existence in the world. The session shall look at the importance of traditional knowledge and its relation to the environment as a way to protect existing biodiversity and thus ensuring that the cultural heritage of Pacific Island population i preserved.
In a unique move Tokelau requested all regional and international organizations that it is affiliated to either through full membership, associate or by accessing through regional international projects, to visit and consult Tokelau as a "body corporate" or all at once. The intention is to assist a small tiny country in managing all the possible assistance available from these organizations so that the actual assistance itself could be much more effective in their delivery and avoid duplication.
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