Samoa, a small islands country in the south pacific comprises of four main inhabitated islands and 6 smaller uninhabitated islands. The islands of Samoa lie between latitudes of 13° 15°S to and longitudes of 168° -173° W. The total land area is estimated to be around 2820 km2 whereby Upolu holds 1115 km2 and Savaii with 1700 km2. The capital Apia is located on the northern part of Upolu and is approximately 130 km from Pago Pago, American Samoa, 3000 km from Auckland, New Zealand, 4500 km from Sydney Australia, and 4300 km from Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 2001, the Government of Samoa released the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) for the conservation and sustainable development of the country's biological resources. The NBSAP identifies invasive alien species (IAS) as being one of the greatest threats to Samoa's
biodiversity. The National Invasive Alien Species Implementation Action Plan (NIASIAP) addresses this threat, building on the actions identified in 'Theme 6 - Biosecurity' of the NBSAP,
as well as elements of Themes 1, 2, 3 and 7, and pursuing the following objective:
1. Article 6 of the Convention on Biological Diversity/ requires each Party to develop or adapt national strategies, plans or programmes for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and to integrate, as far as possible and as appropriate, the conservation and sustainable use of biological
diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 11 Pages
The Regional Seas programme of UNEP commenced in 1974 and since that time
considerable advances have been made in the development of regional action plans and
conventions for the protection of the marine and coastal areas of some eleven regions world-
wide. Following these developments UNEP has encouraged inter-regional co-operation in
addressing various issues of environmental concern through the organisation of international
meetings and inter-regional symposia. This volume contains the record of one such symposium,
The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply
the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN concerning the legal status of any country,
territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
A contribution to the global invasive species programme
Call Number: 628.16 CLA [EL],SPE
ISBN/ISSN: 2-8317-0548-7
Physical Description: xvi, 138 p. ; 29 cm
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the
expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the World Meteorological
Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or
concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
2 copies
Call Number: 551.632 PAC
Physical Description: various pagings
This report serves as to create an overview of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) progress and activities in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs). The overview is to form part of a submission by the GWP (Global Water Partnership) Secretariat at the forthcoming;
"(i) donor meeting to mobilise and seek support for IWRM in February, 2004, and the
(ii) CSD conference in New York, March, 2004".
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 37 p.
GOOS is being implemented in the Pacific islands region by PacificGOOS, which was formed in Suva in 1998. In August 2000, in Apia, Samoa, PacificGOOS held a regional workshop on the development of a coastal Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) for the Pacific region. This workshop aimed to raise the level of awareness about PacificGOOS and its value for sustainable
The GOOS Capacity Building Workshop for the Pacific was identified in the GOOS 1998 Plan and it was approved by the IOC Assembly in 1997 and the SOPAC Annual Session in 1997. The IOC and SOPAC were co-sponsors of the workshop and its preparation was co-ordinated by Jan Stel (Chair), William Erb (IOC) and Alf Simpson, Russell Howorth and Andrew Butcher of SOPAC.
Williamson and Sabath (1982) have demonstrated a significant relationship between modern population size and environment by examining atoll area and rainfall in the Marshall Islands. The present work seeks to extend that argument into prehistory by examining the relationship of ancient habitation sites and size of aroid pit agricultural systems to atoll land area and rainfall regime along the 1,500-3,500 mm precipitation gradient in the Marshall Islands.
Henderson island, a World Heritage Site in the Pitcairn group, south-central Pacific Ocean, has often been thought to have a pristine vegetation. Our archaeological investigations and field observations in 1991-1992, supported by recent observations in
1997, suggest the occurrence of former areas of Polynesian cultivation near to the North and East Beaches, and indicate that about 17 non-native vascular plant taxa have occurred.
The study of dispersal processes of small mammals, and especially of rodents, has a wide range of applications and until recent years there were few publications discussing the
colonisation of 'oceanic' islands by small mammals (cf. Crowell, 1986; Diamond, 1987; Hanski, 1986;Heany, 1986; Lomolino, 1986).
The Asia-Pacific region is an economic
powerhouse, with some of
the worlds most dynamic economies.
But it has been making slower progress
with some of the Millennium Development
Goals. Its greatest success has
been with poverty, for which the region
as a whole is likely to meet the 2015
target of halving the proportion of people
living in income poverty. But most
countries will miss at least some of the
other targets and goals, and a number
will miss their goal even for poverty.
Available online
The tropical seas are liberally sprinkled with coral islands.
Many of them are associated with continents and large continental islands, in relatively shallow water, rising from continental shelves. Many, also, are in deep water - atolls, barrier reef islets round high islands, almost atolls', tops of drowned karsts, and a few moderately elevated atolls. These last are among the most fascinating of all, scientifically.
An article taken from the Atoll Research Bulletin No.272|Kept at Greg's collection|Available online
Call Number: VF 1564 [EL}
Pesticides as covered in the project include acaricides,
biological pesticides (bacteria, viruses), defoliants,
dessicants, fumigants, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides,
molluscicides, nematicides, rodenticides and synergists.
Pesticides included are those used in plant protection, in
animal health (products for external use only), in human
health programmes and for urban pest control.
The main topographical features of Samoa are rugged mountains of volcanic origin, surrounded by flat and rolling coastal plains. All the islands of Samoa were formed by volcanic activity. Savai'i is regarded as still volcanically active with its most recent eruption producing lava flows between 1905 and 1911. A large percentage of Samoan soils are porous, shallow and clay in texture.
Also available online|A PICCAP-GEF funded project
Call Number: 551.6 UNI [EL],302.2 GOV,VF 2682,INT-CON
Physical Description: xi, 50 p. ; 29 cm
There is a high level of uncertainty with the specific estimation of pollutant loads. A large body of work has
been completed that provided qualitative and quantitative data; however, the noting of data gaps and inherent uncertainties of the methods used have qualified much of the quantitative data. Much of the data are based on rapid assessment methods that utilise generic loading rates, assumed waste flow composition, typical production methods, local production rates. Unfortunately, production rate data are inconsistently available and are difficult to verify.
Recognising the problems of information management and the use of data as a resource many countries of the SPC region have expressed the desire for some form of integrated network to handle information and data relating to the resources and
environment of the Region. Accordingly SPREP commissioned this review of the current situaiton with regard to handling, storage and evaluation of such data in the countries of the region.
Call Number: 333.7 [EL]
Nauru is a single raised coral island
with a total land area of 21 sq km.
Despite its small land area, Nauru has
an EEZ that extends over more than
320 000 sq km. Its maximum height
above sea level is approximately 70 m.
Kept in vertical file collection|Also available electronically
Call Number: VF 4339 [EL]
Physical Description: 11 p. ; 29 cm
Many societies have rules rooted in legal tradition that require the sustainable and efficient use of natural resources. The obligation of stewardship is a feature of
westernised legal systems. In nations following the common law tradition, the doctrine of waste requires owners of land to use it sustainably. Elsewhere, customary law systems
demand strict rules governing the allocation and use of resources. There is, therefore, an existing legal culture into which our generation's obligations towards the world's
resources can be set.