In terms of national aggregates, the Cook Islands have already achieved two of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's): Goal 4 on Reducing Infant Mortality and Goal 5 on Maternal Health. With the exception of Goal 7 on environmental sustainability and an additional Goal 9 on Improving Governance, the Cook Islands is capable of achieving most of the other MDG's by the year 2015.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 66 p.
Fiji Islands, one of the larger countries of the South Pacific island region, has a relatively high level of human development. Its multi-ethnic population, which numbers approximately 800,000, is growing slowly due to a moderately low level of fertility and a high level of emigration. The economy rests primarily on sugar production and tourism but is becoming more diverse, with manufacturing now an important sector of employment.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 83 p.
Specific challenges, which may hamper the achievement and must be addressed during implementation of each MDG are briefly outlined in the MDG chapters of this report but are detailed in the Comprehensive Report. Generally, all future interventions, designed to achieve the MDGs should not only be very closely coordinated with the implementation of the MTDS but also with the implementation of the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS), the National Population Policy (NPP) and all sectoral plans.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Tuvalu, which consists of nine coral atoll islands, is widely dispersed over 1.2 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean stretching in a north-south direction over some 560 kilometres between latitudes 5 and 11 degrees south and over longitudes 176 and 180 degrees east. The total land area of the
This Millennium Development Goals Report (MDGR) is designed to be a tool for awareness raising, advocacy, alliance building, and renewal of political commitments at the national level, as well as building capacity for monitoring and reporting on goals and targets. This MDGR is, therefore, primarily a public affairs document, especially since during its preparation there was limited consultation with the non state actors and the private sector as key partners in achieving the MDGs. As a living
Environmental pollution is an important issue for an island country like Fiji to address. With limited land resources and sea being the source of income generation, it is highly important that these pollution issues are dealt with. However there is another form of environment pollution which is quite significant in this country. This is air pollution. Air pollution affects a greater population than its immediate surroundings therefore a nationwide policy is critical.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 67 p.
The people of Palau have depended on their islands' biodiversity since their first arrival several millennia in the past. Palauans have not only depended on these resources, however; they have managed them sustainably, so that future generations could continue to enjoy the benefits they have supplied for thousands of years. The abundance of the natural resources of these islands have maintained the social and economic well-being of the Palauan people; using and protecting these resources are part of the Palauan way of life.
Modern biotechnology and biosafety are new concepts to Niue. Low-level biotechnology has been used by farmers for centuries to crossbreed plants and animals. This has resulted in higher crop yields, bigger animals or stronger plants. Modern biotechnology can now transfer characteristics from one species to another by taking genes from one species and inserting them into the same or another species to produce new and desired characteristics. This may include resistance to disease or to pests.
Biosafety issues are becoming very contentious today given the uncertainty of the impact of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the environment, biodiversity and the people. There are those that view GMOs as an answer to alleviating world hunger and mitigating global health problems through the introduction of new and technologically advanced GMO for food, feed, food processing and pharmaceuticals. Then there is the
other group that argue that GMOs pose a risk to the environment, biological diversity and the safety and health of the people.
Available online
Vanuatu's economy is based on the beneficial use of environmental resources for subsistence and commercial purposes. Tourism, subsistence and commercial agriculture, forestry and subsistence and commercial fisheries are all important sectors of economic activity. The potential for adverse impacts from the spread of living organisms beyond their natural range is well known.
Increasing recognition of anthropogenic changes in the natural environment as a result of human interference has lead to the international community agreeing on a number of multilateral environmental agreements. At the 1992 Earth Summit, world leaders agreed on a comprehensive strategy for "sustainable development" - meeting our needs while ensuring that we leave a healthy and viable world for future generations.
The National Capacity Self-Assessment is a Global Environment Facility(GEF)-funded initiative currently being undertaken by over 50 developing countries world-wide. It responds to a concern that is raised frequently in the post-project evaluation of GEF-funded projects, namely that activities cease once GEF-
Two decades before she ratified the CBD, Samoa was among the first of the small island states in the South Pacific to establish a system of both state and indigenous grassroots community managed terrestrial and marine protected areas; to launch public awareness and community action on the conservation of her biological resources; to establish policy and legislative measures and institutions for the management and sustainable use of components of her biodiversity components.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
The biodiversity of the Pacific region is recognised as being globally significant. The Solomon Islands was recently included into the famous "Coral Triangle", the area of ocean considered to have the highest marine biodiversity in the world. This includes the waters of the Philippines, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The Solomon Islands Rainforest Ecoregion is recognised as "one of the world's great Centres of Plant Diversity"
The study of marine sediments provides useful information in marine, environmental and geochemical research about pollution of the marine environment (Calace et al. 2005). Urban developments and industrial activities contribute to the introduction of significant amounts of contaminants (among them trace metals) into the marine environment and affect directly the coastal systems where they are often deposited (Angelidis 1995; Dassenakis et al. 2003).
This thesis is a critical ethnographic account of the Wartha people, a small group of hunter-horticulturalists living on the Torassi or Bensbach River, in the southwest corner of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG). This area is adjacent to the international border between PNG and Indonesia's Papua Province (West Papua).
Available online|A thesis submitted to the School of Social Science, the University of Queensland for the degree of Doctor or Philosophy
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 438 p.
Development of conceptual models is an important step in the design of the Inventory and Monitoring Program. Conceptual models provide a framework for clarifying meaningful
The native plants of remote tropical islands have been frequently characterized as poor competitors against seemingly more aggressive alien species.. Does this "weak competitor" characterization relate to some real adaptive consequences of island isolation and endemism, or does the generally concurrent presence of introduced ungulates and other forms of recurrent
The purpose of this thesis is to develop an analytical framework that can be used to better understand the impacts of tourism on small island developing states (SIDS). In particular, the framework will address tourism in light of sustainability goals
Solomon Islands is emerging from four turbulent years (1999 - 2003) of an ethnic crisis with a very weak economy, a rapidly growing population and a government system struggling to cope with the delivery of basic services. The country's people are
custodians to globally significant terrestrial and marine biodiversity that is at risk of being over-exploited and lost due to uncontrolled and unsustainable development activities. In recognition of the importance of environmental management and