The dataset contains a range of different Pacific regional maps developed by the SPREP GIS team and is available for use by members and partners.
A direct internet link to and resources pertaining the Blue Habitat website which has been established as a portal for information on the global distribution of marine ‘blue’ habitats. Knowledge on the distribution of blue habitats is an important input into ocean management, marine spatial planning and biodiversity conservation.
This dataset shows the modelled global patterns of above-ground biomass of mangrove forests. The dataset was developed by the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, with support from The Nature Conservancy. The work is based on a review of 95 field studies on carbon storage and fluxes in mangroves world-wide. A climate-based model for potential mangrove above-ground biomass was developed, with almost four times the explanatory power of the only previous published model.
This is a MaxEnt model map of the global distribution of the seagrass biome. Species occurrence records were extracted from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) Ocean Data Viewer and Ocean biogeographic information system (OBIS). This map shows the suitable habitats for the seagrass distribution at global scale.
This paper highlights the seriousness of the “biodiversity crisis” on atolls and the need to place greater research and conservation emphasis on atolls and other small island ecosystems. It is based on studies over the past twenty years conducted in the atolls of Tuvalu, Tokelau, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. It stresses that atolls offer some of the greatest opportunities for integrated studies of simplified small-island ecosystems.
This list of indicators was developed through the Inform project at SPREP for use by Pacific Islands countries (PICs) to meet their national and international reporting obligations. The indicators are typically adopted by PICs for their State of Environment reports and are intended to be re-used for a range of MEA and SDG reporting targets. The indicators have been designed to be measurable and repeatable so that countries can track key aspect of environmental health over time.
There are 14 terrestrial PAs, which total at least 1407.2 hectares (five PAs are uncalculated), or about six per cent of the Cook Islands’ total 240 km2 land mass. Terrestrial PA are concentrated in a few locations. Three of the 15 islands in Cook Islands are wildlife reserves (Suwarrow, Takutea and Manuae), almost 40% of the terrestrial PAs are represented by four motu on Pukapuka, and three of Rarotonga’s four PAs make up 36% of total terrestrial PAs.
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.