Biodiversity is more than just the number of animal and plant species in the world. Biodiversity is who we are, what we eat, where we live, what we do and, most importantly, how all of these things come together to form a whole. The preoccupations of our daily lives often blind us to the dangers threatening fragile ecosystems around the globe. But we ignore these threats at our peril, for we are all connected to the many facets of the planets diverse ecosystems.
NEPA requires analysis of the relationship between a project's short-term impacts on the environment and the effects that those impacts may have on the maintenance and enhancement of the long-term productivity of the affected environment. Impacts that narrow the range of beneficial uses of the environment are of particular concern. This means that choosing one option may reduce future flexibility in pursuing other options, or that committing a resource to a certain use may often eliminate the
possibility for other uses of that resource.
Available online
Tonga State of Environment Report 2018 - high resolution version best for print.
Figure 47: Dominant sources of GHGs in the Cook Islands, 2006. (Cook Islands Second National Communication under the UNFCCC, 2011)
Forest Area from Source: Oliver, W. 1999 in FAO Global Forest Resource Assessment 2010, Cook Islands.
Medicinal Use of Plants Cook Islands 2016 or older
The map shows landcover and vegetation impact of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Haápai volcanic eruption on the Tonga Island group.