Official project document for the Cook Islands national project under GEF-7 programming, project title: Enhancing Biodiversity considerations and effective protected area management to safeguard the Cook Islands integrated ecosystems and species. Annexes not included.
All materials related to the GEF 8 National Dialogue, hosted by the National Environment Service with support from the GEF Secretariat at Edgewater Resort on the 19th & 20th April 2023, including the presentation slides, report and activity sheets will be hosted here.
Protected areas that are active and proposed on Pohnpei main island
Pohnpei
State of Environment (SoE) reports provide in-country partners with a process to gather data on current environmental indicators, document their status, and formulate a plan for keeping these indicators on track or developing policies and programs as needed. This SoE Toolkit dataset contains resources that serve as guides to help create up-to-date State of Environment reports.
The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the most comprehensive global database of marine and terrestrial protected areas, updated on a monthly basis, and is one of the key global biodiversity data sets being widely used by scientists, businesses, governments, International secretariats and others to inform planning, policy decisions and management.
Dataset contains training material on using open source Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to improve protected area planning and management from a workshop that was conducted on February 26-28, 2020. Specifically, the dataset contains lectures on GIS fundamentals, QGIS 3.x, and global positioning system (GPS), as well as country-specific datasets and a workbook containing exercises for viewing data, editing/creating datasets, and creating map products in QGIS.
The National Environment Service issues permits for the export of CITES species out of the Cook Islands. CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
This report provides information on permits issued by the NES in 2022.
The Strandings of Oceania database is a collaborative project between SPREP, WildMe and the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium to record stranding and beachcast data for whales, dolphins and dugongs throughout the Pacific. We use a platform called Flukebook. An account is needed to view or use data within Flukebook but the data is available for download here. You can submit data direct into Flukebook (preferably while logged in) or send a completed data form to SPREP for upload. Guidance on using the database is available :
This dataset has information on coral reef cover and fish in Cook Islands from 1994 to 2013.
Under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) - member countries are implementing the PoWPA. This is FSM's Action Plan for PoWPA and Target 11. Target 11 is a contribution towards ensuring that ecosystems, species and genetic diversity are safeguarded in both the land and seascape by ensuring that key habitats are protected and that species migration and movement can occur. Protected areas are a cornerstone of 5 conservation actions and as such are one of the main tools at a country’s disposal to reduce habitat loss.
From February - April 2024, the National Environment Service and Te Ipukarea Society conducted consultations with various stakeholders for the RESPONSE project. Documents from these consultations have been filed here.
State of Environment Reports
This report presents the current state of the sea cucumber fishery in Samoa, with recommendations on measures to control commercial fishing if this is permitted, and measures to control mariculture of sea cucumber to prevent any unnecessary impact on existing wild stock.
This Early Recovery Framework was presented to the Government, donors and the wider community the costed options designed to bring about an early recovery process that was both effective in meeting the needs of the population affected by the 29 September 2009 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, and sustainable in the long-term development of affected communities and the economy of Samoa
A report on the marine turtles tagged and released from the pond in Malua.
Since the adoption of Agenda 21 following the United Nations Conference on Environment and development in 1992, this report constitutes the first opportunity for Samoa to assess its situation with regard to sustainable development in the past decade
An assessment framework based on key habitats in Samoa:
* cloud forest and uplands
* lowlands, coastal strand
* nearshore marine, offshore marine, and rivers and streams
* climate change, air quality, waste disposal, renewable energy, and population pressures.
It also assesses the status of Samoa’s species of high conservation value, especially those that are endemic and critically endangered.
The Regional Maritime Legal Advisor, Captain Dr. Peter Heathcote was in Samoa to assist the Ministry of Works. Transport and Infrastructure, the Samoa Shipping Corporation (SSC) and the Samoa Ports Authority (SPA) implement the recent amendments to the SOLAS Convention dealing with Maritime Security and the new International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) Code. During this short visit, an enormous amount of work was accomplished as documented in this brief.
The 2009 tsunami waves that swept through parts of the Samoa Islands brought a lot of marine life with them, portions of which were stranded on land when the waves subsided. In addition to the reef fishes of varying sizes, marine turtles, a few sharks and dolphins were also stranded.
This report focuses on marine turtles and attempts to give an account on the number and fate of marine turtles that were stranded on land after the tsunami waves.
Environment related legislation review of Samoa.
**Please submit new information or corrections as the reviews will be updated annually.**