Natural decomposition processes in landfills emit "landfill gas." Approximately half of that landfill gas is methane, the second leading greenhouse gas emitted in the United States. Landfill methane emissions are of national concern because they are the largest source (approximately 33 percent) of anthropogenic methane emissions in the United States.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 2 Pages
Brisbane City Council manages almost half the city's wastes through one of the most efficient and safe waste systems in the world. A state-of- the-art fleet of dedicated waste trucks and waste and recycling single pass trucks can collect both recyclable material and waste from the kerbside. Recyclable material is taken to Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) for processing. Waste is transported to centrally located transfer stations. From the transfer station the waste is bulk hauled
to fully engineered, double sealed landfills with full gas recovery and leachate treatment.
The Guidelines for the Assessment of Wastes or Other Matter that May be Considered for Dumping, referred to in short as the "Generic Guidelines'; as well as the Specific Guidelines for
Assessment of Bulky items primarily comprising steel, etc., addressed in this document are intended for use by national authorities responsible for regulating dumping of wastes and
embody a mechanism to guide national authorities in evaluating applications for dumping of wastes in a manner consistent with the provisions of the London Convention 1972 or the 1996
Integrated waste management systems should possess elements of reduction, collection, recycling, and disposal. One of the significant challenges for waste managers is prioritising
and apportioning their budget between these elements to get the best outcome.
Disposal by incineration instead has some major disadvantages. The air pollution risks are usually not as high (as they are on continents), thanks to the large expanses of surrounding
ocean. Yet the high costs and challenging technological safety demands of incineration tend to make it an inappropriate disposal solution. Improvements in gasification systems and
energy recovery could alter this balance over the next few decades. However, the prospect of turning the mountains of plastic residues into an energy source are likely to remain a fantasy in the foreseeable future.
Protected areas of one sort or another cover about 10 per cent of the world's land surface; the large majority were established in the second part of the twentieth century. Although most
were originally set up to protect landscape values, wildlife or more recently biodiversity, they are increasingly expected in addition to provide wider benefits to human society.
1 copy
Call Number: 333.95 DUD [EL]
ISBN/ISSN: 978-2-88085-279-9
Physical Description: 39 p. ; 29 cm
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.
Baseline monitoring was carried out in two complementary programs : establishment of Permanent Monitoring Sites conducted by the Project Team, and trials of a Community Based Monitoring Program undertaken with village volunteers who will monitor their respective No-Take areas on a more frequent basis.
Ecosystem services are indispensable to the well-being
and health of people everywhere. In addition to providing
life's basic needs, changes in their flow affect livelihoods, income, local migration and, on occasion, political conflict. The resultant impacts on economic and physical security, freedom, choice and social relations have wide-ranging impacts on well-being and health.
see also Millenium Ecosystem Assessment Website - http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx
This workshop on environmental law was the first of its kind in the Pacific region It was a natural follow-on from the work that has been carried out by the Regional Environment Technical Assistance Project and the National Environmental Management Strategy Project, both of which are producing National Environmental Management Strategies and Legal Reviews of a dozen countries in the Pacific. The workshop also followed hard
All South Pacific countries have a need to monitor the weather conditions within the region especially during the cyclone season. An important tool to assist in monitoring and
forecasting weather conditions is the weather
satellite image.
3 copies
Call Number: 551.6354 SCH [EL]
ISBN/ISSN: 982-04-0112-7
Physical Description: iv, 16 p. ; 29 cm
Traditional natural-resource management systems of the indigenous, communities of the Pacific islands, based on communal-property concepts, continue to function in the face of many changes in the circumstances in which they operate. All have been weakened by changes accompanying economic development - yet they have adapted, and persist.
The National Environment Pollution Awareness Workshop conducted at Funafuti in Tuvalu on 11 - 13 May 1993 came about as a result of the assembling of environmental priorities within countries of the South Pacific under the National Environment Management Strategy (NEMS) Programme. The identification of the lack of proper waste management and pollution control measures were regarded as priorities that had to be addressed.
2 copies|Also available online
Call Number: 363.73 NAT [EL],341.762
ISBN/ISSN: 982-04-0005-8
The environmental needs of small island developing countries were given special attention at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 as was the need to determine "how the new global framework for sustainable development can be put into action in island countries" (Miles, 1993, p. 34). The environment is a vital resource for all island developing states. Its special
Human needs and desires demand economic development.
Natural resources provide the physical basis for that
development. But ever more evidence accumulates to show that
human actions, whether through carelessness or through the
necessity for development, are causing environmental
degradation and resource depletion. This deterioration makes
continued economic development more difficult both because
damage to resources makes them less productive of economic
goods and because funding and human effort must be diverted
The main objective of the expedition was to compare as large a series of islands of different climatic conditions, ages and geological origins as possible. This necessitated short visits to each selected island. The structure and components of the ecosystem under study were the focus of attention, while their functioning was considered to be of secondary importance.
3 copies
Call Number: ECO [EL],PC 577.52 ECO
Physical Description: x, 220 p. : ill. ; 30 cm
Economic development activities in the South Pacific island countries have increased in momentum in recent years, often with
significant environmental effects on the limited resource base of island ecosystems.
Available in e-copy
Call Number: 363.707155 ONO [EL]
ISBN/ISSN: 982-04-0081-3
Physical Description: iv, p.10 . ; 29 cm
El Plan de Contingencia que se presenta a continuacion, es parte del desarrollo del "Plan de Accion para la Proteccion del Medio Marino y Areas Costeras del Pacifico Sudeste" suscrito por Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Panama y Peru en Lima el 12 de Noviembre de 1981 y en especial del anexo II "A- cuerdo sobre la Cooperation Regional para el Combate contra la Contamination del Pacifico Sudeste por Hidrocarburos y otras sustancias nocivas en casos de Emergencia y su protocolo de 1983".
From: Moana Database|French copy only
Call Number: UNI,[EL]
This report presents the results of studies made on five Pacific lagoons located at Suva, Fiji; Vila, Vanuatu; Tarawa, Kiribati; Tongatapu, Tonga; and Marovo, Western Province, Solomon Islands. Studies were made on water quality by physical, chemical and microbiological analyses. Analyses of shellfish and sediments were also completed for some sites.
SLIC hold 2 copies|Available online
Call Number: 628.161 WAT (EL),574.52636 NAI
Physical Description: iv, 99 p. ; 30 cm
Coral reefs are diverse marine ecosystems that flourish in the clear, tropical waters of the South Pacific. Samoa is fortunate to have well developed coral reefs surrounding most of the islands in the archipelago. These reefs are an important natural resource, since they provide the basts for the valuable inshore fishery for the people of American and Western Samoa (Craig et ai. 1993, Zann 1991). Coral reefs also play an integral role in the rich cultural heritage of these islands.
Samoa copy held at STA and SLIC at VF 5940. Available electronically