Tonga is looking at phasing out single-use plastics such as shopping bags, cutlery, straws and more starting next year, confirmed Director of Environment, Lupe Matoto. Lupe told a regional conference last week that in September last year, Cabinet started the process to ban single-use plastics. Work is currently underway with the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance, […]
Category: Tonga
Giant, fruit-gulping pigeon eaten into extinction on Pacific islands
A large fruit-eating bird from Tonga joins the dodo in the lineup of giant island pigeons hunted to extinction. Fossils show that Tongoenas burleyi, a newly described genus and species, inhabited the Pacific islands for at least 60,000 years, but vanished within a century or two of human arrival around 2,850 years ago. Unlike the […]
Tonga needs half-a-billion for climate adaption – IMF
Tonga needs more than US$600 million to adapt to rising seas and more frequent cyclones, with the capital Nuku’alofa considered particularly vulnerable. An assessment was recently carried by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF said Tonga was one of the most exposed countries to natural disasters, which are forecast to get worse. The report […]
Pacific island nations at the climate talks: Leave no one behind
Describing climate change as one of the greatest threats to their survival, leaders of the sinking countries in the Pacific region urged the international community at the 25th Conference of Parties (COP25) to urgently act and avert climate crisis. “ We are clearly on the frontline of climate change. They are realities for countries in […]
Pacific lead in Waste Management
The Pacific region is the focus of cooperative waste management projects, including innovative recycling programmes, which are beginning to resolve long-standing waste problems in the region. This was revealed byKenichiro Koiwa of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Environmental Management Group during a presentation to journalists at the JICA Head Office in Tokyo Monday. The […]
‘We need support’: Pacific Islands seek help and unity to fight climate change
In recent weeks, children marched, nations made promises and teenage Swedish activist Greta Thunberg scolded world leaders for “failing us.” But while one of the groups most vulnerable to climate change, the Pacific Islands, may have received fewer headlines, it was among those making the strongest calls for action. Pacific Island government officials in New […]
Thousands to benefit from stronger, sustainable fisheries in Tonga
More than 40 coastal communities in Tonga and some 10 thousand Tongans directly engaged in fishing will benefit from improved management and recovery of fishery stocks, as well as better regulations, under a US$10 million grant approved today by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors. The Tonga Pathway to Sustainable Ocean Project aims to improve […]
Saving Tongan Whistlers
Nuku’alofa, Tonga – Mount Talau on the island of Vava’u in Tonga, is a conservation area. It is also a favourite sight-seeing place for many – locals and tourists alike. Hovering over Neiafu town, the view from the top is majestic. One gets to see the Bay of Refuge and surrounding islands from the mountain […]
Return of the kanahe in Vava’u
NEIAFU, Vava’u – Mullets (scientific name Mugilidae) were caught in waters of Vava’u around 50 years ago. “We used to have kanahe (mullet) around our island shores,” says Ulaiasi Vaisima, the town officer and local businessman. “Then they disappeared and for most of our lifetime, we did not see this species of fish again.” Vaisima’s […]
Saving Ha’apai
Every little action counts! The sentence remains true to the letter, especially in the campaign to reduce the impact of Climate Change here in Tonga and our neighbouring Pacific Islands. The action may be good or bad. The bottomline is every action we take and decision made impacts us either negatively or positively. Ha’apai Island […]