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Natural disasters such as hurricanes, cyclones, and tropical depressions cause average annual direct losses of US$284 million in the Pacific. With a combined population of fewer than 10 million people, annual losses are the highest in the world on a per-capita basis. Extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall are closely linked to climate change, suggesting that Pacific Island nations face increasing risk of disasters such as flooding and landslides. Proactive management through infrastructure development, social solutions, and/or ecosystem-based adaptation can mitigate these risks.

Island conservation programs have been spectacularly successful over the past five decades, yet they generally do not account for impacts of climate change. Here, we argue that the full spectrum of climate change, especially Island conservation programs have been spectacularly successful over the past five decades, yet they generally do not account for impacts of climate change. Here, we argue that the full spectrum of climate change, especially sea-level rise and loss of suitable climatic conditions, should be rapidly integrated into island biodiversity research and management.

The “Invasive Species Battler” series has been developed to share what we have learned about common invasive species issues in the region. They are not intended to cover each issue in depth but to provide information and case-studies that can assist you to make a decision about what to do next or where to go for further information.

SPREP publication| available online

Call Number: [EL]

ISBN/ISSN: 978-982-04-0785-5,978-982-04-0786-2

Physical Description: 28 p

Climate change is expected to cause extinctions when native plants and animals are prevented from migrating out of their hotter or drier habitats to more suitable climates. But for many species a more

Tonga’s marine ecosystems are worth at least TOP 47 million per year, exceeding the country’s total export value. We are strongly committed to sustaining these values to build an equitable and prosperous blue economy.

Available online

Call Number: [EL],363.94 MAR

ISBN/ISSN: 978 82 7701 174 5

Physical Description: 84 p

Scientists have advocated for local interventions, such as creating marine protected areas and implementing fishery restrictions, as ways to mitigate local stressors to limit the effects of climate change on reef-building corals

Available online.

Call Number: [EL]

Physical Description: 30 p

The rational for this Policy Brief is to make clear the vital benefits of integrating
biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management by taking the Ecosystemsbased
Adaptation approach along with the Green Economy Initiative to achieve
equitable multiple ‘win-win’ objectives to ensure the continued well-being of human
society in the future.

Available online

Call Number: [EL]

Physical Description: 20 p.

Tonga is one of the many islands that are endowed with unique resources and derives much of its economic, environmental and social well-being directly or indirectly from its environment.
Tonga harbours numerous special ecosystems: from the peak of Mt, Talau in Vava’u, to the serenity of Vai Lahi in Niuafo’ou; the vulnerability of the Ha’apai Group to ‘Eua’s National
Forest and to the Fanga’uta Lagoon in Tongatapu. Beyond the aesthetic beauty of the ecosystems to tourists and visitors; they provide immense support to the communities whose

The combined pressures of climate change and development will not only aggravate existing challenges to the conservation of biodiversity in the Pacific, but also introduce new difficulties. There are a wide range of historical, current and planned studies that examine specific aspects of the relationship between climate change, conservation and development in the Pacific.

Over a million species face extinction highlighting the urgent need for conservation policies that maximize the protection of biodiversity to sustain its manifold contributions to people's lives.

Call Number: [EL]

Physical Description: 12 p.

The World Bank’s sixth environment and social standard [ESS6] recognizes that protecting and conserving biodiversity and sustainably managing living natural resources are fundamental to sustainable development.

Call Number: [EL]

Physical Description: 1:39:24

Reversing ecosystem degradation and halting global biodiversity loss due to climate change and other anthropogenic drivers are essential for socioeconomic development and human wellbeing, as well as for advancing global sustainability.

Call Number: [EL]

Physical Description: 9 p.

Protected areas safeguard biodiversity, ensure ecosystem functioning and deliver ecosystem services to communities.

Call Number: [EL]

Physical Description: 9 p.

The Pacific region has benefited from a number of regional and national programmes to both assess the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and develop programmes to adapt to climate change. Such programmes are critical considering that the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1/ states that the Pacific region has already experienced temperature increases of as much as 1°C since 1910.

Climate change is a major threat to global biodiversity. From the tropics to the Poles, the world’s ecosystems are all under pressure. A study published in the scientific journal Nature posited that 15 to 37% of terrestrial animal and plant species could be at risk of extinction because of human-induced impacts on climate (Thomas et al., 2004). Scattered across the four corners of the Earth, European Union overseas entities, are home to a biological diversity that is as rich as it is vulnerable.

One of the recommendations emerging from the COP-8 (Decision XIII/8 [6]) promoted a series of regional and/or sub-regional workshops on capacity building for NBSAPs. These will
be held with the aim to discuss national experiences in implementing NBSAPs, the integration of biodiversity concerns into relevant sectors, obstacles, and ways and means
for overcoming these obstacles. It was recommended that these workshops be held (subject to the availability of funding) prior to COP-9, to provide an opportunity to directly support

This brochure demonstrates how measures and policies can be shaped to simultaneously address climate change, biodiversity loss and poverty. It identifies opportunities for synergies and mutual enhancement of the objectives of international agreements, particularly the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well as decisions taken by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly following the recommendations of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF).

Available online|1 copy

The need for a Pacific Biodiversity Information Forum to provide a venue and support for biodiversity information needs in the Pacific Basin was established during the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) meeting on Maui in May of 2002. Interested parties met again during the October 2003 GBIF meeting in Tsukuba, Japan and reaffirmed the need and began to draw up a governing structure for PBIF and identify specific biodiversity needs in the Pacific Basin that can be addressed through projects.

Since the early 1990s the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has been promoting the use of environmental planning and assessment processes amongst its member countries and territories. SPREP's approach to environmental planning and assessment has been part of a global programme for improving environmental management and supporting sustainable development.

Since Elton highlighted the problem of biological invasions, numerous studies have established their importance in the structural evolution of natural communities, in particular insular communities. Because of their isolation, islands are regarded as natural evolution laboratories which are characteristically very fragile once the boundary is disturbed. This fragility is illustrated by the high proportion of species extinctions observed in islands: since 1600, more than 75% of monitored disappearances have been registered in islands.