Forests and other wooded land together cover about
one-third of the Asia and the Pacific region.
Excluding the Russian Federation, forest area in 2005
was estimated at 734 million hectares, accounting for
about 19 percent of global forest area. The region as a
whole experienced a net increase in forest area of about
633 000 ha annually during 2000-2005. This
is an important breakthrough, since the region had
experienced a net loss of forest cover during the 1990s. The improvement was largely the result of an increase of more
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
As our understanding of the scale of environmental challenges
deepens, so we are also forced to contemplate the inadequacy of
the current responses to these challenges. By and large, these
responses retreat from engaging the values that underpin our decisions as citizens, voters and consumers: mainstream approaches to tackling environmental threats do not question the dominance of today's individualistic and materialistic values.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 42 p.
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 Gilbert Islands are a part of the- Gilbert and Ellice
Islands Crown Colony of Great Britain, They lie in the
Pacific Ocean directly southeast of the Marshall Islands
and straddle the equator from 3 degrees North Latitude to
3 degrees South Latitude. All are low islands and most are
atolls. They are densely inhabited by Micronesian people
who are greatly dependent on the sea for food.
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 259 p.
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
Caroline Atoll (Frontispiece) is situated at 10°00'S latitude and 150°13'W longitude in the south-central Pacific Ocean. Caroline is the southeasternmost of the Southern Line Islands, a group of 3 islands which also includes Vostok and Flint, lying 230 km to its west and southwest, respectively. Although archaeologically and geographically within Polynesia, Caroline is owned by the Republic of Kiribati (formerly Gilbert Islands).
Available online
Call Number: [EL]
Physical Description: 309 p.
Majuro Atoll has been a center of activity for the Marshall Islands since 1944 and is now the major population center and port of entry for the country. Previous to the accompanying study, no thorough documentation has been made of the vascular plants of Majuro Atoll. There were only reports that were either part of much larger discussions on the entire Micronesian region or the Marshall Islands as a whole, and were of a very
Knowledge of the fishermen of Tarawa Atoll, Kiribati concerning some key food fish in their waters is described and shown to be highly relevant to the management of these fish. The bonefish, Albula glossodonta, has been the most important shallow- water finfish in Tarawa catches. However, all but one of its known spawning runs has been eliminated according to fishermen and this last remaining run is showing signs of
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.
The arcid bivalve Anadara uropigimelana (te bun) is the most important shellfish resource in the central atolls of Tungaru (former Gilbert Islands), with a yearly catch of ca. 1400 tons on South Tarawa alone. Species of Anadara s.s. are also important in artisanal shellfisheries on several central Pacific islands. Tungaru atolls lying in the highly productive zone of equatorial upwelling harbor dense te bun beds, while those
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.
This article provides a record of fish names from two locations in the central Pacific, these being the Vava'u Islands of Tonga, and Taveuni area in northern Fiji. The Handbook for the Collection of Fish Names in Pacific Languages by G.L. Barnett provided a method for the collection of these data during field work at the two places which culturally are part of West Polynesia. Interviews and discussions with fishers yielded a record of the Tongan language names and Fijian language names of approximately 50 fishes that occur in the waters of these 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.
French Polynesian Decapoda, restricted to shrimps, and Stomatopuda are inventoried from literature and unpublished fields collections. Number of species is 205 for the shrimps and 26 for the Stomatopoda. Within the shrimps, Caridea dominate with 170 species, mainly Alpheidae (57 species), Palaemonidae (46 species), and Pandalidae (29 species). Full literature and distribution in French Polynesia are indicated for each species.
Microbenthos and macrobenthos were quantitatively studied at 62 stations distributed regularly over the Uvea Atoll lagoon (850 km2). Sampling was performed using both SCUBA and a 0.1 m2 Smith Mclntyre grab. Mean estimates of ATP, chlorophyll a and phaeopigments were 297.3ng/cm2, 77.01 mg/m2 and 35.28 mg/m2
respectively. The mean macrobenthic biomass was 4.14 gAFDW/m2 of which the macrophytobenthos accounts for 39%. The benthic biomass decreased from the coast to the deepest parts of the lagoon. Macrophytes were most abundant in the coastal area
Two species of sea turtles and eight lizards comprise the herpetofauna of Kapingamarangi Atoll; the giant Micronesian gecko (Perochirus scutellatus) is unknown elsewhere. The mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris), oceanic gecko (Gehyra
oceanica), and azure-tailed copper-striped skink (Emoia impar) are the most common and widespread species, being recorded on 100%, 97%, and 87% of the 31 islands, respectively. The stump-toed gecko (Gehyra mutilata) and the Pacific blue-tailed skink
Flying foxes (Pteropus spp) are important pollinators and seed dispersers in many island ecosystems. Populations of flying foxes have declined markedly on most islands in the South Pacific since the 1940's. One potential conservation strategy is to reintroduce bats on islands where they historically occurred. In this manner, the risk of species extinction due to local catastrophic events can be reduced. Ideally the source
The shorefishes of Ouvea, an isolated atoll in the Loyalty Islands group of New Caledonia, had not been surveyed prior to 1990. An extensive survey was conducted by ORSTOM between 1991 and 1992 to obtain baseline information on the shorefishes. A
total of 653 taxa among 72 families are now documented from this area. The most diverse families are the Labridae (69 species), Pomacentridae (58 species), Gobiidae (54 spccies),Serranidae (39 species), Chaetodontidae (31 species) and Apogonidae (28