Key Biodiversity Areas

This report presents the Ecosystem and Socioeconomic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) prepared as part of Objective 4. ESRAM is a framework employed globally to evaluate and strengthen the resilience of both, natural ecosystems and the socioeconomic systems closely linked to them.

This project identifies two Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) options that are organisational tools to strengthen the ability of the Government of Fiji to manage for the resilience and diversity of ecosystem services over time.

This report presents the Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Options Assessment and Masterplan for Honiara prepared as part of the Solomon Islands Ecosystems and Socio-economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) to assess and prioritise climate change-related ecosystem-based adaptation options

This project identifies a range of Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) options that support ecosystem function and the community's continued to access to ecosystem services.

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This report presents the Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) Options Assessment and Masterplan for Wagina prepared as part of the Solomon Islands Ecosystems and Socio-economic Resilience Analysis and Mapping (ESRAM) to assess and prioritise climate change-related ecosystem-based adaptation options f

This management plan seeks to enhance the ecological value and resilience of terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine, coastal and marine ecosystems in the District of Nadi and adjacent coastal waters.

Monitoring of marine protected areas (MPAs) is critical for marine ecosystem management, yet current protocols rely on SCUBA-based visual surveys that are costly and time consuming, limiting their scope and effectiveness.

UNESCO biosphere reserves serve as learning areas for sustainable development, where preserving ecosystem functionality is an imperative. However, this critical assumption has yet to be thoroughly examined.

Ecosystems are characterized by interconnected structure and functions.

Engaging youth in early and sustained conservation education has important implications for promoting positive attitudes and behaviors in those who will become the future of conservation and management.

Many protected areas worldwide increasingly resemble habitat isolates embedded in human-modifed landscapes. However, establishing linkages among protected areas could signifcantly reduce speciesloss rates.

Predicting coral bleaching events has been key to reef conservation management efforts. Current satellite-based bleaching prediction tools offer effective regional-scale alerts of bleaching risk, but lack reliability at the reef-scale.

This guidance aims to inform the planning, design, and implementation of new and expanded MPAs, OECMs, areas conserved by Indigenous peoples, and networks of protected and conserved areas at the community, national, and international levels.

The Resilience of Ecosystems and Societies to Climate Change (RESCCUE) project is a regional project implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a primary tool for the stewardship, conservation, and restoration of marine ecosystems, yet 69% of global MPAs are only partially protected (i.e., are open to some form of fishing).

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are designed to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services. Some
MPAs are also established to benefit fisheries through increased egg and larval production, or the

Populations of many migratory taxa have been declining over recent decades. Although protected areas are a cornerstone for conservation, their role in protecting migratory species can be incomplete due to the dynamic distributions of these species.

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.

Coastal and marine ecosystems provide a variety of ecological functions1 that directly and indirectly translate to economic services with value to humans.

The Aleipata group of offshore islands have been identified as one of eight Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in Samoa. They are located at the south-eastern end of Upolu Island at 14o3’447.28”S, 171o25’23.84”W (Nu’utele) and 14o4’22.11”S and 171o24’36.17”W (Nu’ulua) offshore.

King, M, Lambeth, L. 2000. Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Noumea, New Caledonia.

Pacific Island communities are heavily dependent on fisheries for subsistence and livelihoods. Yet, despite their importance, coastal fisheries are poorly managed and commercial pressures increasingly threaten them.

Protected areas are essential to biodiversity conservation.

Crown-of-thorns seastars (COTS, Acanthaster spp.) are the most notorious coral predators, whose devastating outbreaks cause recurrent and extensive coral depletion across Indo-Pacific reefs.

The Global Biodiversity Standard is the world’s most scientifically rigorous biodiversity certification that recognises and promotes the protection, restoration, and enhancement of biodiversity.

Global Fishing Watch is the product of a technology partnership between SkyTruth, Oceana, and Google that is designed to show all of th

Protected Areas (PAs) are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation. Here, we collated distributional data for >14,000 (~70% of) species of amphibians and reptiles (herpetofauna) to perform a global assessment of the conservation effectiveness of PAs using species distribution models.

Understanding the state and value of the world’s wetlands The Global Wetland Outlook 2025 presents a synthesis of scientific information on the value of the world’s wetlands, the costs to society due to wetland loss and degradation and the scale of investment needed to restore wetlands.

The GlobalUsefulNativeTrees species selection App combines species data from the Botanic Gardens Conservation International GlobalTreeSearch database (GTS) ( website ; Beech et al. 2017 ) with data available from the World Checklist of Useful Plant Species (WCUPS) ( Diazgranados et al. 2020 ).

The entry into force of the “Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction” (BBNJ Agreement) marks a historic moment.

This technical summary document reports on the findings from the first phase of ESRAM activity that was conducted in Greater Port Vila between January and June 2016.

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022, provides a framework for the effective implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) through four goals and 23 targets.

These Guidelines deal with invasive plants, animals, disease agents and other organisms, in marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments, and their impacts on the environment, biodiversity, ecosystem services, human health, economies and society.

SPREP presents these guidelines for undertaking rapid biodiversity assessments in its Pacific island member countries and territories: Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. These assessments are referred to as BIORAPs.

1. Societies around the globe harvest wild species, to a greater or lesser extent, for food, building materials, healthcare, medicines, pest control, ornamentation, income, recreation, and cultural and spiritual purposes.

Islands  support  unique  plants,  animals,  and  human societies found nowhere else on the Earth. Local and global stressors threaten the persistence of island ecosystems, with invasive species being among the most damaging, yet solvable, stressors.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can increase the resilience of reef communities to disturbances, playing a role in sheltering biodiversity from climate-related impacts.

On May 24, 2023, Typhoon Mawar, one of the strongest Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclones ever recorded in the month of May and the strongest globally in 2023, hit the U.S. Territory of Guam in the Western Pacific.

This guidebook offers managers and other conservation practitioners a process and methods to evaluate the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for the purposes of Adaptive Management.

The dual mandate for many protected areas (PAs) to simultaneously promote recreation and conserve biodiversity may be hampered by negative effects of recreation on wildlife.

Forest and land cover across the Pacific are undergoing rapid transformation.

Transoceanic dispersal to far-away islands is an important mechanism for the generation of new species lineages and biotas and has captivated scientists since at least the time of Darwin.

Coastal communities in the south Pacific are vulnerable to cyclones which are projected to increase in intensity due to climate change.

Mangroves provide numerous ecosystem services and are increasingly recognized as a natural climate solution. As a result, multiple recent initiatives have set ambitious mangrove restoration targets.

Disseminating research through academic publishing is essential for contributing to global knowledge, advancing critical fields and finding solutions to humanity’s challenges.

The Indo-Pacific eel, Anguilla marmorata Quoy & Gaimard, has the widest geographic distribution of anguillid eels.

Hodgson, G., Hill, J., Kiene, W., Maun, L., Mihaly, J., Liebeler, J., Shuman, C. and Torres, R. 2006. Instruction Manual A Guide to Reef Check Monitoring.  Reef Check Foundation, Pacific Palisades, California, USA

Located in the Central Division of Fiji, the Navua River and Beqa lagoon support high social, ecological and economic values.