In general, leatherback turtles face serious threats at all life stages, both on the beaches where they nest and hatch and in the water where they spend most of their life time. Sea turtle eggs are collected for food, while in some areas juveniles and adults are hunted for their meat and oil. Habitats that are keys to their survival are rapidly being degraded due to coastal development. They are also killed in great numbers as incidental catch, or by catch, in fisheries.
The term Marine Protected Area (MPA) includes any area of the coast and ocean that is under management to control potentially destructive activities and conserve the biodiversity resources. Other terms used in the Pacific to describe such an area are
In most tropical countries, coral reef ecosystems provide coastal populations with a number of goods and services. However, a variety of anthropogenic practices threatens reef health and therefore jeopardizes the benefits flowing from these goods and services. These threats range from local pollution, sedimentation, destructive fishing practices and coral mining, to global issues such as coral bleaching.
In The Early 1990s, Residents Of UCUNIVANUA VILLAGE, On The Eastern Coast Of Fijis largest island, realized that the marine resources they depended on were becoming scarce. Village elders remembered when a
Coral reef monitoring lias been an on-going activity in Samoa since 1997. In 1998. a pilot Village Level Coral Reef Monitoring Project (VLCRMP) was initiated in collaboration between The Fisheries Division, the Division of Environment & Conservation and the International Ocean Institute Pacific Islands. The pilot project provided monitoring equipment and assisted in training the trainers that, in nuns trained 46 villagers from six villages selected from around the country ( Mulipola 2001 ).
Western Samoa, the larger and more westerly portion of the Samoan Archipelago lies approximately centred on latitude, 13°45 ' south and longitude 1.72° West;. There are two main islands, namely Savai'i and Upolu, the smaller islands of Apolima and Manono and five uninhabited islets. The land area of Western Samoa is approximately 1,100 square miles and the archipelago lies approximately 2,500 miles from Sydney and Hawaii, 1,800 miles north east of New Zealand, with Fiji lying approximately 800 miles to the west.
The Fisheries Department is the sole agency responsible for the control (regulation), development and management of the fisheries resources within Vanuatu. However, consideration of the impacts from developments on the environment is the responsibility of the Environment Unit of the Ministry of Natural Resources. There is a possible overlap of responsibilities between the two agencies in certain areas like assessment work and conservation of species.
Available online|Fisheres Dept. version include graphics (2007; 117 mb). Subsequently published without graphics as IWP report
This draft model law has been designed specifically for countries which have already enacted
comprehensive marine pollution legislation, and in particular the model Marine Pollution
Prevention Act prepared by SPC and SPREP, and last revised in 2002. For countries that have not
enacted marine pollution legislation of that nature, it is recommended that instead of using this
draft model law, consideration be given to enacting comprehensive marine pollution legislation
This document is aligned with the Terms of Reference (TOR) issued by National
Environment Services (NES) for guidance and advice in the preparation of
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Installation of Tanker Moorings and
Construction of a Sub-sea Pipeline.
The TOR identifies all issues that need to be addressed by the EIA.
Both facilities are for the purpose of conveying petroleum fuels into onshore storage
facilities.
Tanker mooring facilities are located offshore at Areanu Tapere, Avarua District.
Fish communities in the lagoon of the Tikehau atoll were studied by only a few researchers. Harmelin-Vivien (1984) studied the distribution of the main herbivorous families (Scaridae and Acanthuridae) in the lagoon and on the outer slope to 30 m in depth. The total fish community of the outer slope was studied by Galzin (1985, 1987) at 12 m in depth. These studies were carried out in the southwestern part of the atoll. Spatial organization of coral associated fish community was studied throughout the lagoon by Morize et al. (1990). Most of the other
Some presentations refer to the term Marine Managed Area (MMA) instead of Marine Protected Area (MPA) in order to cover more management options. The workshop proposed and adopted a rough typology of MM As that will be useful to communicate with the key decision makers (land use planners, coastal zone planners and managers, regional planners, protected area planners and managers, community leaders, sectorial planners in fisheries and environment...)
Available online
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Physical Description: 28 p.
Principles for designing marine protected area (MPA) networks that address social, economic, and biological criteria are well established in the scientific literature. Climate change represents a new and serious threat to marine ecosystems, but, to date, few studies have specifically considered how to design MPA networks to be resilient to this emerging threat. Here, we compile the best available information on MPA network design and
The purpose of the action is to improve transportation and reduce maintenance cost by upgrading
causeway between Foa and Lifuka Islands, to become more resilient and less vulnerable to impacts
of high energy waves. Built in the period 1978-1979, the raised coral structure has served the people
of Foa and Lifuka well despite increasing maintenance cost. The replacement structure is similar to
the existing one but with rock armoring to reduce the energy of waves impacting on the structure
The Key Biodiversity Areas and Important Bird Areas (KBA's
& IBA's) approach is a simple, effective means of
implementing the protected areas elements of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD). KBAs and IBAs are places of
international importance for the conservation of biological diversity through protected areas and other governance mechanisms.
Available online
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Physical Description: 38 p
The Western Samoan Turtle Hatchery Project is, as the accompanying documents will show, a low-input, high-potential stock-reviving programme aimed primarily at increasing the amount of fresh protein currently available to the local population.
Available online
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Physical Description: 13 p.
An Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA) for a proposed coastal reclamation
by Terra Holdings Limited at Kawenu Cove, Fatumaru Bay was prepared by BECON in
September 2011. The EIA Report was submitted to DEPC in October 2011. The Review
Committee met on 4 November 2011 as per section 22 subsections (1) and (2) of the
Environmental Management and Conservation (Amendment) Act No 28 of 2010 and
section 12 (b) of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations Order No of 2011.
Researchers have listed fifteen areas of concern, emphasizing the need to tackle these issues. Examples include the mining of lithium form the deep sea, exploitation of species found in deep waters and the unforeseen effects of wildfires across different ecosystems.
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Physical Description: 4 p.
Oceania’s humpback whales are of global conservation concern having recently been re‐
classified from “Threatened” to “Endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation
of Nature (IUCN). Although humpback whales in many parts of the world are showing
encouraging signs of recovery from past exploitation, the small breeding populations in the
South Pacific Islands region remain vulnerable to extinction.
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Resilience underpins the sustainability of both ecological and social systems. Extensive loss of reef corals following recent mass bleaching events have challenged the notion that support of system resilience is a viable reef management strategy.
Available online
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Physical Description: 11 p