Data on Palau's birds. Extracted from Belau National Museum (BNM) website. For more information follow the link http://belaunationalmuseum.net/index.html
The WASH Baseline Survey is an initiative of the Water and Sanitation Sector which aims to:
1. Gain a better understanding of the water and sanitation situation nationally; and
2. Collect information about Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of the population regarding water use, sanitation status and hygiene behaviour.
Cyclone Evan hit Samoa in December 2012 and caused immense damage and significant losses. This comprehensive assessment estimates those damages and losses, and identifies the needs of the affected population.
In this report, the value of durable physical assets across all economic and social sectors destroyed by Evan (referred to as damage) is estimated at SAT 235.7 million, equivalent to US$103.3 million.
The Marshall Islands are critically dependent on the health of their coral reefs: every rock and sand grain on the islands are the remains of coral reef organisms. Only actively growing coral reefs can protect the islands against ocean waves and global sea level rise, and provide fish to feed the people. These crucial services are rapidly deteriorating because global warming is
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
This Strategic Plan for the Land Resources Division (LRD) of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) sets out the direction of the division over the next four years (2005 to 2008). It follows and supersedes the 20012004 Strategic Plan of the Agriculture Programme and the 20012005 Strategic Plan of the Forestry Programme. It recognises the achievement of several objectives contained in these earlier documents, as well as current and emerging regional priorities in the agriculture and forestry sectors.
The 7th Conference of the Pacific Community and 41st Meeting of
the Committee of Representatives of Governments and Administrations (CRGA) took place at SPC headquarters in Noumea from 1 to 8 November. The Conference of the Pacific Community SPC's governing body - is held every two years and is immediately preceded by the meeting of CRGA, which makes recommendations to the Conference.
Call Number: 341.246 SEC
Physical Description: 60 p. ; 29 cm
Canton Atoll has a single passage between the ocean and lagoon and lias conspicuous environmental gradients from that passage to the back lagoon. These gradients include the physiography of the lagoon floor, water quality, and the diversity and abundance of corals, fishes, and mollusks. The gradients can apparently be attributed either directly or indirectly to circulation
and water motion within the lagoon. Those oceanographic characteristics can, in turn, be attributed to the geological history of the atoll, including some human modification of the pass configuration.
The avifauna of the Marshall and Gilbert Islands and the sur-
Rarotonga and Aitutaki form the summits of separate
volcanic masses rising from depths of 4000 m, at which depth
the cones are 45-55 km in diameter (Summerhayes and Kibblewh
1966, 1967).The lower slopes of the cones average 15-25
increasing to 30 in the upper 750 m and becoming very steep
the surface reef is approached. The Mauke-Aitutaki line of
islands is thought to be of early Tertiary age: the surface
volcanics are much eroded, with a subdued topography, or are
capped with limestones (Wood, 1967; Wood and Hay, 1970). On
The very productive lagoon fisheries of Tarawa atoll changed greatly in recent decades as human development and intensive harvesting increased. Tarawa typifies the increasingly common condition of resource depletion and marine community structure change with expanding human activities and population growth. Fisheries-dependent reports have documented the change in fisher landings for nearly two decades. A comparison of fisheries-independent data collected during 1992-93 with data collected in 1977 allowed for documentation of large changes in important finfish resources in Tarawa Lagoon.
Although the atoll was discovered in 1796 and claimed by the United States in 1858, it was uninhabited except for brief visits by guano miners, adventurers, government scientists and military personnel until 1936, when the U.S. Navy began developing first a seaplane base and later an airstrip and refueling facilities which served as an important link from
the Hawaiian Islands to the western Pacific during World War II.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 502 p.
Satawal is a small flat coral island in the west central Caroline Islands about 1050 km east-south-east of Yap Island, at latitude 7'21' N, longitude 147'02' E. Although its surface is locally somewhat irregular, its greatest height is not more than about 4 meters above mean low water. Its long axis is about east-west and its area is 1.3 square km. It is surrounded by a fringing reef upward of 100 meters wide. It has no lagoon, so would be classified according to Tayama's scheme as a table reef. From the viewpoint of land ecology it is an atoll.
This review was prepared on very short notice, to
provide a summary of what is known to the reviewer at the
time, June 1988, about the natural phenomena of the Marshall
Islands. This was for the use of the members of the survay
team sent to the Marshalls by the Environment and Policy
Institute of the East-West Center, Honolulu. Their mission
was to investigate the remaining relatively natural areas
and the extent of biodiversity in the new Republic of the
Marshall Islands.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Mauke, Mitiaro and Atiu are deeply eroded volcanic islands in the southern Cook Islands, south Pacific, each surrounded by a rim of elevated Cenozoic reef limestone (makatea). This paper presents the results of instrumental topographic surveys of each
Jonathan Sauer (1961) remarked, in his Coastal Plant Geography of Mauritius, that the chance to study the coastal vegetation there was like being "admitted to a field worker's paradise"
and stressed that "most tropical coasts are beautiful and exciting, particularly to people concerned with natural processes . . .." The same can certainly be said for the tropical coasts of the often Edenized islands of the Pacific Ocean. Their "beauty and excitement" is considerably enhanced,
The process by which individuals, groups, organisations, institutions and societies increase their abilities to:
Perform core functions, solve problems, define and achieve objectives
Understand and deal with their development needs in a broad context and in a sustainable manner.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 129 p.
The islands of French Polynesia are scattered throughout a considerable oceanic area located on the eastern boundary of the Indo-Pacific Province. This area stretches from 134°28' W (Temoe Island) to 154°40' W longitude (Stilly Island), and from 7°50' S (Motu one Island) to 27°36' S latitude (Rapa Island). Out of the 118 islands constituting French Polynesia, 35 are high volcanic islands and 83 are low-relief islands or atolls. Altogether, the territory of French Polynesia represents an area of 4000 km2 of dry land, 12,000 km2 of lagoonal water and a huge
Rangiroa is the largest atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago, and since the institution of a regular air service, the most accessible; yet in common with other Tuamotuan atolls it has rarely been visited by scientists and is barely mentioned in the literature. Dana (1849) published brief notes following the Wilkes Expedition; but the only full account is that by Agassiz (1903). Agassiz's descriptions are, however, verbose and imprecise, and marred by misinterpretations of major atoll features.
Landing on Swains Island is made on the west side at Taulaga, the only village on the island. Besides a small number of thatched, Samoan- style huts ("fale"), Taulaga has a small white church and a large, barn- like copra shed. Leading from the copra shed to the nearby beach are old railway tracks which were once used to transport copra from the shed to the beach for transfer to cargo vessels. Nearby is a large cleared area that may one day be made into an airport runway to link Swains Island by air to Tutuila, the main island of American Samoa.