Countries of the Region
Programme
Key Issues
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Countries of this WCPA Region

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The Pacific Programme

The efforts within the South Pacific to enhance nature conservation are largely co-ordinated through SPREP. This body has a very active programme in areas such as marine conservation, environmental education, natural resource management, and climate change.

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Key Issues

The Pacific is a region of small islands scattered over the world largest ocean, one third of the world's surface. At one extreme is Papua New Guinea, the largest island in the Pacific and the closest to continental Asia. It is rich in rain forests with a great diversity of plants and animals. Moving east, the Melanesian islands are mostly large, rugged and volcanic; where it survives, natural vegetation is mainly forest, rich in species. Further east are Micronesia and Polynesia where the islands are smaller, geologically younger and isolated from one another by vast distances. Many are just small coral atolls with poor soils and few natural resources other than the sea.

Key issues relating to protected areas and conservation are:

Peoples in the Pacific region greatly depend on the natural environment. For thousand's of years, Pacific people have lived a relatively sustainable way of life, but at a low level of material wealth by modern standards. Economies of Pacific countries are small and fragile. They are vulnerable to natural events like cyclones and to dangerous trends like global warming. Because of the small size of most islands, they are particularly vulnerable to unwise development from outside. This fragility is combined with exceptionally high biodiversity, especially in the larger islands of Papua New Guinea and Melanesia. Marine life in the Pacific is among the most abundant on earth. On land, the ecosystems tend to be small and distinctive.

Nature is disappearing at an unprecedented rate. Commercial exploitation on land and at sea are contributing to a major loss of biodiversity. On many islands, protected areas and forests have already been logged, with substantial impact on natural systems and peoples livelihoods.

To combat this, specific countries have pioneered a new approach to conservation. Pacific countries have developed Community Based Conservation Areas, that develop systems of conservation appropriate to land ownership patterns in the Pacific. These conservation areas build on the great respect local people have for their natural resources and aim to both conserve biodiversity and allow sustainable use of natural resources. The challenge is now to expand this model, which has been pioneered by a number of countries in the region, with support from the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), an intergovernmental body of Pacific nations and territories. The challenge now is to scale up this programme and increase the number of protected areas before it is too late.

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Recent News from the Pacific Region

MARINE CONSERVATION STAMPS LAUNCHED

SamoaTel has launched a special Samoa Marine Protected Areas Stamp Issue on 19 March 2003. The stamps feature the logos of two Marine Protected Areas of Samoa, the Safata and Aleipata Marine Protected Areas. The logo designs were the product of district-wide school art competitions with winning children's images about their marine protected areas forming the basis of each logo.

The Samoa Marine Protected Areas programme involves the establishment of multi-use, community-based, marine protected areas (MPAs). Extensive coral reefs, diverse lagoons, offshore islands and critical mangrove habitats are found in Aleipata and Safata. Importantly, these marine areas have sustained many generations and are seen as a critical part of culture and livelihoods in Samoa. The people of Safata and Aleipata Districts have been developing their marine protected areas for the past three years. Both have agreed Management Plans which cover issues important to local people including; fisheries and coastal area management, tourism development, cultural heritage, aquaculture and no-take zones. The MPAs are firmly grounded in the Samoan way of life and decisions taken for the MPA are by local people. To achieve their MPA goals the people of Aleipata and Safata are working in partnership with the Government of Samoa, The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the World Bank.

The new stamps will help raise awareness and support locally, nationally and internationally for Samoa's Marine Protected Areas and are earning funds for the Samoa Marine Protected Areas Trust Funds. Marine Protected Areas will also be highlighted as a Cross Cutting Theme at the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa form this September.

For more information, please contact Sue Miller, Samoa Marine Protected Area Project Manager, at sue.miller@samoampa.com.

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Bruno Van Peteghem awarded Goldman Environmental Prize for Marine Conservation

The Goldman Environmental Prize for Marine Conservation was awarded to Bruno Van Peteghem in recognition of his efforts protecting the coral reefs of New Caledonia from mining activities. Mr. Van Peteghem is leading a coalition of organizations and indigenous communities to prevent mining companies from digging up tracts of reefs for calcium carbonate to be used to neutralize the acidic tailings from nickel mining.

The Goldman Environmental Prize, awarded for sustained and important efforts to preserve the natural environment, is given each year to six environmental heroes - one from each of six continental regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Island Nations, North America and South/Central America.

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