“Vemööre” is a term in the Kwenyï language spoken by people from the Isle of Pines in New Caledonia. It is used to highlight a collective commitment and responsibility to implement the principles of life, to preserve balance, to build alliances, and to respect the word between people and between the spirits of our environment.
This Pacific Islands Framework for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas2021-2025 is the principal regional strategy document for environmental conservation in the Pacific. Its purpose is to guide broad strategic guidance for nature conservation planning, prioritisation, and implementation in our region. It reflects the urgent need for transformative action in response to the multiple accelerating threats, both established and emerging, that are faced by nature and people in the Pacific.
Systematic conservation planning identifies priority areas to cost-effectively meet conservation targets. Yet, these tools rarely guide wholesale declaration of reserve systems in a single time step due to financial and implementation constraints. Rather, incremental scheduling of actions to progressively build reserve networks is required. To ensure this incremental action is guided by the original plan, and thus builds a reserve network that meets all conservation targets, strategic scheduling, and iterative planning is needed.
The sustainability of conservation area projects presently supported by the South Pacific
Biodiversity Conservation Programme is a major concern as the programme winds down
to its termination in December 2001. The development and implementation of transition
strategies is currently preoccupying the Programme. This initiative seeks to ensure a
smooth transition for each project to the post-SPBCP era. The challenge is to determine
the most effective ways of using remaining SPBCP resources to ensure viable and
This paper attempts to present a "quick snapshot" of the current status of biodiversity in the Pacific Islands and the prospects and challenges for the mainstreaming of its conservation and sustainable use by Pacific Island peoples during the 21st century. It is hoped that it will form the basis for useful discussion dining the conference. Particular emphasis is placed on providing an understanding of the status of biodiversity, not only from a scientific perspective, but also from the view of the Pacific Island peoples who have owned and used it for millennia!
Invasive alien species represent an insidious and pervasive threat to the environmental, economic and human well-being of the Pacific islands. Pacific island ecosystems make up one of the worlds important biodiversity hotspots, with high numbers of endemic species that are particularly vulnerable to extinction due to their limited habitat and isolation.|This book is intended to serve as a practical guide, calling attention to the need to link emergencies, disasters and development, not only in policy statements, but in practical ways.
Community-based management and co-management are mainstream approaches to marine conservation and sustainable resource management. In the tropical Pacific, these approaches have proliferated through locally-managed marine areas (LMMAs). LMMAs have garnered support because of their adaptability to different contexts and focus on locally identified objectives, negotiated and implemented by stakeholders. While LMMA managers may be knowledgeable about their specific sites, broader understanding of objectives, management actions and outcomes of local management efforts remain limited.
In 2019 The Sirebe Rainforest Conservation Area was declared a protected area under the 2010 protected area ACT. It protects and conserves one of the last untouched rainforest ecosystems in Choiseul Province and Solomon Islands. The protection of this unique area is the effort of the Sirebe Tribe, fulfilling their long-term commitment to safeguard their forest against large scale logging operations. The area features lowland and hill rainforest giving presence to a high variety of wildlife and plant species.
In 2019 the Siporae Rainforest Protected Area was declared a protected area under the 2010 protected area ACT. It protects and conserves one of the last untouched rainforest ecosystems in Choiseul Province and Solomon Island. The protection of this unique area is the effort of the Siporae Tribe, fulfilling their long-term commitment to conserve their forest against large scale logging operations. The area consist of lowland and hill rainforest giving shelter to many wildlife and plant species.
Well-managed and enforced no-take marine reserves generate important larval subsidies to neighboring habitats and thereby contribute to the long-term sustainability of fisheries. However, larval dispersal patterns are variable, which leads to temporal fluctuations in the contribution of a single reserve to the replenishment of local populations. Identifying management strategies that mitigate the uncertainty in larval supply will help ensure the stability of recruitment dynamics and minimize the volatility in fishery catches.
