Globally deforestation continues, albeit at a slower rate, with 10 million hectares a year being converted to other uses since 2015, down from 12 million hectares a year in the previous five years, according to the key findings of a flagship report that is conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations […]
Category: Our region
Wallis and Futuna counts FADs washed up on its coasts
Wallis and Futuna is counting the number of lost and stranded fish-aggregating devices (FADs) that wash up on its coasts so it can calculate the damage they cause. The campaign is being run by the Wallis and Futuna Fisheries Service. Bruno Mugneret, from the Department of Fishing and Management of Marine Resources in Wallis, said […]
UN climate talks postponed amid coronavirus pandemic
The United Nations-backed climate change conference (the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) in Glosgow, Scotland due to be held in November this year, has been postponed to 2021 due to uncertain times ahead amid the new coronavirus or COVID-19. The decision was taken by the COP […]
Climate change research aims to give back Pacific’s ‘sustainable voice
A University of Waikato researcher says some of the current colonial representations of climate change in the Pacific are obscuring Pacific voices and failing to recognise the importance of Indigenous knowledge in the fight against the changing climate. Dr Jessica Pasisi’s thesis, Niue Women’s Perspective and Experiences of Climate Change – a Hiapo Aproach, brings […]
Climate Change changes the Atolls’ lifestyles
In the past, the women of Ontong Java in Malaita Outer Islands used to harvest sea shells not far from the shores to sell for incomes. Today, the women abandoned their activities because the sea level rise has covered the harvesting areas. Jenny Asua, who comes from the island confirmed to Island Sun in an […]
The local hero protecting Papua New Guinea from DDT
When Joshua Wowo was a child, his uncle would take him on rambling walks through the lush forest surrounding their home in Papua New Guinea’s East New Britain Province. On these explorations, Wowo would be introduced not only to the beauty of his country, but also to the health risks facing its people. Joshua’s uncle […]
Threats to Pacific Islands’ Rich Biodiversity a Key Focus of the Conference
Conservation management of the rich biodiversity across the Pacific islands region is at the core of the 10th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas. An important event, this will help protect our valuable ecosystem services that the world depends upon. The conference will take place in New Caledonia at the Tjibaou Cultural […]
Bill to end Palau’s 26-year fishing ban on endangered species faces pushback
A fisheries scientist warns that a move to lift a 26-year ban and allow fishing of an endangered fish species for personal use lacks controls with loopholes that could lead to it being overfished and exported illegally to Asian markets, where the Napoleon Wrasse is a delicacy. It is the most expensive reef fish in […]
Work to address marine plastic litter gets off the ground
A cleaner Pacific Ocean free from single-use plastics. This is the vision behind the Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP), a six-year AUD 16 million project, which aims to complement existing waste management projects to support the delivery of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)’s Pacific Regional Action Plan on Marine Litter 2018. […]
Marshall Islands, Suriname, Norway upgrade climate plans before COP26
The Marshall Islands, Suriname and Norway have submitted plans for tougher action to tackle climate change before a five-year milestone of the Paris Agreement in 2020, with almost 200 others ignoring an informal 09 February deadline. Together the three countries account for about 0.1% of world emissions. The Marshall Islands, which says its 53,000 citizens […]