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While the ocean covers more than two thirds of the Earth’s surface, the oceanic territory of Fiji is 70 times larger than its land territory. With an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of 1.29 million km 2 , Fiji is a large ocean state. This island nation contains many marine ecosys - tems, from globally significant coral reefs to man - groves, seagrass areas, seamounts and deep-sea trenches supporting more than 1,200 fish species, including sharks and rays, as well as whales, dolphins and sea turtles. We are committed to conserving this unique marine biodiversity.

Fiji is committed to the sustainable use of its marine resources and conserving its marine biodiversity. This commitment has been ratified through Fiji’s international responsibilities and obligations under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD).

The Phoenix Islands lie in the heart of the Pacific Ocean and are one of the most remote island chains on Earth. They are located approximately halfway between Fiji and Hawaii. The largest atoll, Kanton, is 1,750 km (1,087 miles) from the Kiribati capital Tarawa. The eight islands are uninhabited except for Kanton Atoll that houses a small caretaker population.

The Resilience of Ecosystems and Societies to Climate Change (RESCCUE) project is a regional project implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. The overall goal of RESCCUE is to contribute to increasing the resilience of Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) in the context of global changes. To this end RESCCUE aims at supporting adaptation to climate change (ACC) through integrated coastal management (ICM), resorting especially to economic analysis and economic and financial mechanisms.

This paper is based on presentations and discussions held during a marine managed areas (MMAs)2session organised by NOAA, SPREP and Conservation International (CI) as part of the “Our Seas of Islands” Regional Forum for Oceania on MMAs convened by
NOAA, UNESCO and partners held in Hawaii in January 2007. The overall objective of the session was to promote a shared understanding of the extent and diversity of MPA/MMA approaches and key lessons learned in their design, and to identify practical and strategic future actions to further apply these tools in the Oceania marine realm.

Coral reefs face threats from climate change and local pressures, but many initiatives designed to deliver conservation outcomes for them and the social-economic systems they support are limited by sustainable finance and the availability of funds over the long term. Conservation finance is viewed as part of a holistic approach to coral reef conservation that integrates science-based biodiversity, social, and economic solutions tailored to local socio-cultural, environmental, and economic conditions to ensure their effective design and implementation.

The health and integrity of coral reef ecosystems are in decline worldwide due to an increasing suite of human activities, which threaten biodiversity and human wellbeing. One of the major drivers of coral reef ecosystem decline is poor water quality from human activities on land. Land-based pollutants from human activities travel downstream via watersheds - through groundwater flow and land areas drained by streams – and are funnelled into coastal environments.

Microplastic pollution threatens marine ecosystems, especially in vulnerable regions like the Pacific Islands. This study examines temporal trends by comparing Anadara spp. specimens from Fiji's tidal flats in the 1980s and 2023–2024. Historical samples from the University of the South Pacific's Marine Collection and newly collected specimens were analyzed. Results show microplastic contamination increased from 76 % of 1980s samples (0.42 ± 0.4 particles per individual) to 100 % in 2023–2024 (0.93 ± 0.4 particles per individual).

The Pacific BioScapes Programme is providing support to produce the Samoa National Marine Sanctuary Management Plan (SNMSMP) which will provide guidance for government and the public to implement existing regulations which established the sanctuary to protect whales, dolphins, sharks, rays and turtles. This work will complement the existing marine spatial plan which identifies special marine areas for protection. The SNMSMP provides protection for marine species within the whole Exclusive Economic zone (EEZ) with the added objective to include seabirds, a current gap in the regulation.

In recognition of the need for National Parks and protected areas in the South Pacific, the New Zealand Government hosted the First South Pacific Conference on National Parks and Reserves in 1975, in association with the South Pacific Commission (SPC) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). This meeting was at Ministerial. A second South Pacific Conference on National Parks and Reserves, also at Ministerial level, was held in 1979 in Australia.