Gold mining is often associated with positive economic benefits; however, it may also have negative impacts on the environment and human health. It is essential that communities understand the risks and benefits associated with mining, particularly in developing countries where there is often a lack of legislation governing the environmental performance of mining corporations. The perceptions of local people regarding the risks and benefits of mining may differ significantly from those of company representatives, policy makers, and the scientific community.
This document presents a brief overview of humanitarian and short term needs three weeks after the tsunami struck Samoa on 29 September 2009. Following the disaster, the Government of Samoa, Samoa Red Cross and other national and local organizations and international organizations and bilateral partners responded to the needs with great effort. As a result operations moved rapidly from response to recovery. The government of Samoa requested within a week the UN to take the lead in the formulation of an early recovery framework.
Natural resources derived from the non-living world, e.g. land, water and air.The provision of access to genetic resources within a country and the sharing of benefit derived from the use of genetic resources.Management practices, technologies and policies that promote the positive and mitigate the negative impacts on biodiversity.
Most of the development activities that generate foreign earnings for the economy of Solomon Islands are heavily dependent upon the exploitation and utilization of natural resources. For many years, economic development activities in Solomon Islands have not integrated environmental considerations.
As a background for work on the vegetation of Micronesia it was necessary to assemble all available information on the flora. early accounts of the islands and their exploration. agricultural history. and economic botany. as well as on the ecology and vegetation of the region. It was found that the published bibliographies were by no means. complete or adequate for this purpose. so a card catalog was made of all items located and examined. This forms the basis of the bibliography. but an effort has been made to locate and include any published work on other aspects of plant science. also.
Wildlife trafficking is a large-scale multi-billion dollar industry worldwide. The illegal trade of
wildlife has reached such prominence that it has the potential to devastate source populations
of wildlife, impacting on the integrity and productivity of ecosystems in providing food and
resources to the local economy. In order to protect these resources, legislation has been put in
place to control the trade of wildlife in almost every country worldwide. Those assigned with
Land, seascapes and natural resources are increasingly being set aside for
protection in response to various drivers: to tackle biodiversity loss, to prevent
deforestation as a climate change mitigation strategy, to restore declining fisheries.
Within the biodiversity conservation sector, the impacts (positive or negative)
of protected areas on local and indigenous communities have generated a lot
of debate and discussions and this discussion is escalating as other protection
Well managed natural forests almost always provide higher quality water, with less sediment and
fewer pollutants, than water from other catchments
Some natural forests (particularly tropical montane cloud forests and some older forests) also
increase total water flow, although in other cases this is not true and under young forests and some
exotic plantations net water flow can decrease
Impacts of forests on security of supply or mitigating flooding are less certain although forests can
reduce floods at a local headwater scale
Another possible scenario could take place from the InterOil Napa Napa Refinery in Papua New Guinea, which has the highest volume of crude and other persistent oils being transported via ships throughout the Pacific region. Potential oil drill sites as well as potential vessel slip docks such as those
in Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu could also result in oil leaks and marine pollution.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 4 Pages
La zone est extrêmement variée et les enjeux le sont donc également. Toutefois
certains dentre eux sont présents dans presque tous les sites où le programme
intervient :
Pêches récifales de plus en plus problématiques
Travaux sur létat de santé des récifs, leffet des pêches, leffet des AMP,
éparpillés et peu coordonnés,
Coopération régionale très limitée malgré la similitude des problèmes et
probablement des solutions
Possibilité de renforcer la couverture des AMP dans le Pacifique
Prior to this survey, the island nation of Samoa had not been systematically surveyed for freshwater biodiversity despite the clear role of freshwater and the associated biodiversity in providing essential ecosystem services. This report is beginning to address this gap in knowledge in Samoa by presenting the preliminary results from the first of an anticipated series of freshwater surveys and in-field trainings for Samoa with the target organisms being fishes and macro-crustaceans.
Stranding of a cetacean (whales & dolphins) refers to an animal that has run aground or left in a helpless position on shore. Stranding can include: Live animal(s) that have run aground and are unable to return unassisted to and in the water or to its natural habitat Dead animal(s) that have been washed up on the beach, shore or is still floating in the water.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 1 Page
Asias robust economic growth in the past decades has lifted millions out of poverty. From an estimated 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty in 1990 the number had gone down to about 903.4 million by 2005.1 Still, rapid economic growth and pervasive poverty have continuously degraded the regions natural resources. The quality of the environment has deteriorated, and climate change has had an impact, threatening the productivity and integrity of natural systems as well as peoples health, safety, and livelihoods.
Available online
Call Number: [el]