Culture And Communication

Understanding the value of fishers’ Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge (ITK) and of fishers’ spatial use of customary fishing grounds is an important contributing factor to marine resource management. This study investigates and documents ITK of marine resources and the associated spatial knowledge of fishing areas in Qoma, a rural fishing village in Fiji. Using a sex-generational lens, our research combines theory and methods from Participatory Geographic Information Systems and ethnography.

The aim of the National Protected Areas Forum was to fulfill mandates and strengthen policies to protect the country’s abundant natural assets into the future to benefit all life and future generations. Led by the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority (CEPA) with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

A BIORAP is a biological inventory programme undertaken in marine and terrestrial environments, and is designed to rapidly assess the biodiversity of highly diverse areas. Options to manage threats and protect some remaining examples of indigenous biodiversity of national or international significance are recommended to governing communities.The Nauru BIORAP took place in selected terrestrial and marine areas of the Republic of Nauru during 17–27 June, 2013. The key finding of the Nauru BIORAP are presented in this synthesis report.

Accelerating ecosystem degradation has spurred proposals to vastly expand the extent of protected areas (PAs), potentially affecting the livelihoods and well-being of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) worldwide. The benefits of multiuse PAs that elevate the role of IPLCs in management have long been recognized. However, quantitative examinations of how resource governance and the distribution of management rights affect conservation outcomes are vital for long-term sustainability.

 'Gwala Rising in the Bwanabwana Islands' depicts the revitalization of traditional conservation practices in the islands of Papua New Guinea. The community of Anagusa Island is combating the effects of climate change and protecting the coral reefs they rely on using gwala: the traditional practice of setting aside a reef or forest area to allow the ecosystem to recover. Gwala is helping the community of Anagusa Island prosper - empowering men and women with improved access to food and livelihoods.

Meet Josefa Bau from Nataleira who runs a dolphin watching business with tours to Moon Reef, a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Fiji. Nurturing and protecting natural resources is not a new or foreign concept for i-Taukei (indigenous Fijians) like Josefa - ocean conservation is more than just environmental protection - it is an intrinsic part of their identity passed on for generations.

This Management Plan was prepared by the representatives of the Padezaka Tribe in partnership with the Natural Resources Development Foundation (NRDF), Integrated Forest Management Program (IFMP) and Ecological Solutions Solomon Islands (ESSI) in Choiseul. Members of the Padezaka tribe for their cooperation and patience through the process. The Padezaka Protected Area Management Committee acknowledged that the Padezaka Tribal Rain Forest Conservation Area is in the customary land of Padezaka tribe.

The time-tested Indigenous fishing knowledge (IFK) of Fiji and the Pacific Islands is seriously threatened due to the commercialization of fishing, breakdown of traditional communal leadership and oral knowledge transmission systems, modern education, and the movement of the younger generations to urban areas for work and/or study. Consequently, IFK, which has been orally transmitted for generations, has either been lost, not learned by the current generation, or remains undocumented.

BIOPAMA has provided 16 grants in 9 countries to carry out on-ground protected area management work. Tenkile Conservation Alliance received a Small Technical Grant to support the conservation of Critically Endangered tree kangaroos. For information on upcoming call for proposals please visit action.biopama.org

In an age of dramatic environmental and ecological challenges, the dynamics of sovereignty associated with the conservation of natural resources in Oceania are in flux. This article draws on the transformative work of Tongan anthropologist and political philosopher Epeli Hau‘ofa to articulate characteristics of an Oceanian Sovereignty that illuminate ongoing conceptual shifts around conservation in this region.