East Rennell (part of the island of Rennell, in Solomon Islands) was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1998. Its listing was a milestone in the development of the World Heritage Convention regime. It was the first listed World Heritage site in the independent Pacific Island States, and the first place anywhere in the world to be inscribed based on its natural heritage values and its protection under customary law.
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on conservation policies and practice at multiple scales, including protected and conserved areas (PCAs). There is a need to understand the implications for PCAs of recent actions, enacted or promoted in the wake of COVID-19. To fill this knowledge gap, we reviewed economic stimulus packages and other government policies that were implemented or advanced between January and October 2020.
Hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) are exploited for their beautiful shell known as tortoiseshell or bekko, making them extremely vulnerable in the illegal global trade of tortoiseshell products. In this study, we developed an effective, standardized method using a commercially available kit to extract DNA and obtain informative mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences (~800 bp) from hawksbill turtle products in order to trace the sample back to a likely stock origin.
This policy gap analysis identifies threats to coral reefs, evaluates the effectiveness of the existing legal framework to address these threats, and formulates recommendations to strengthen community-based natural resource management in Solomon Islands. Coral reefs are of crucial importance for food security and rural livelihoods in the archipelago. Logging is a major, yet often overlooked, threat to coral reefs in the country. Large-scale logging operations cause massive erosion, which has a detrimental effect on water quality.
The Guide contains information about essential components and sub-components of marine spatial planning legislation, describing each and highlighting its role and significance. The Guide also provides examples of textual provisions from existing marine spatial planning laws and regulations, along with sample provisions prepared by the authors, to illustrate how legislative or regulatory language can address each component. Appendix A contains a list of marine spatial planning laws to which the legal drafter can refer.
The 9th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas held in Suva, Fiji, December 2013 produced and adopted a new Framework for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas in the Pacific Islands Region 2014-2020.
This paper reviews the provisions and efforts to implement the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) and the 1980 Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). It illustrates progress and continuing challenges to stopping the over exploitation of living resources in high seas areas beyond national jurisdictions.
This report presents the findings of the Final Evaluation of the six year1 Global Environment Facility – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (GEF-FAO) Forest Protected Area Management (FPAM) in Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and Niue project, which was implemented between January 2012 and July 2017. The project’s global environmental objective was ‘to strengthen biodiversity conservation and reduce forest and land degradation’ and the development objective was ‘to enhance the sustainable livelihoods of local communities living in and around protected areas’
The high seas begin 200 nautical miles from coastal shores, beyond the jurisdiction of any country. Their vast expanse and distance from shore pose challenges for exploration and knowledge gathering. However, scientific expeditions in recent years have revealed that these areas, which make up nearly two-thirds of the world’s ocean, harbor an incredible array of species that provide essential services for life on Earth.
Vanuatu signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) joining other 190 CBD parties to protect our global biodiversity. Vanuatu’s first National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) was developed and endorsed in November 1999. Revision of this NBSAP has led Vanuatu to develop this new NBSAP (2018-2030). This revised NBSAP indicates the progress, successes and gaps that lie within the organisational, systemic and individual capacities at national, provincial and community levels to protect, conserve and wisely use our biodiversity.