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Advancing Sustainable Development and Protected Area Management with Social Media‐Based Tourism Data

Sustainable tourism involves increasingly attracting visitors while preserving the natural capital of a destination for future generations. To foster tourism while protecting sensitive environ‐ ments, coastal managers, tourism operators, and other decision‐makers benefit from information about where tourists go and which aspects of the natural and built environment draw them to particular locations. Yet this information is often lacking at management‐relevant scales and in remote places. We tested and applied methods using social media as data on tourism in The Bahamas.

eDNA metabarcoding as a biomonitoring tool for marine protected areas

Monitoring of marine protected areas (MPAs) is critical for marine ecosystem management, yet current protocols rely on SCUBA-based visual surveys that are costly and time consuming, limiting their scope and effectiveness. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is a promising alternative for marine ecosystem monitoring, but more direct comparisons to visual surveys are needed to understand the strengths and limitations of each approach.

Samoa Ocean Strategy 2020-2030

Samoa has long recognised the Pacific Ocean as a source of social and economic benefit which has sustained its communities for generations. The ocean remains a primary resource for food and livelihoods that requires responsible stewardship. As a large ocean state, Samoa requires tools, resources and planning to effectively manage its vast ocean area. The Samoa Ocean Strategy (SOS) outlines a pathway towards sustainable management of Samoa’s ocean and marine resources.

Sirebe Rainforest Conservation Area - Management Rules

In 2019 The Sirebe Rainforest Conservation Area was declared a protected area under the 2010 protected area ACT. It protects and conserves one of the last untouched rainforest ecosystems in Choiseul Province and Solomon Islands. The protection of this unique area is the effort of the Sirebe Tribe, fulfilling their long-term commitment to safeguard their forest against large scale logging operations. The area features lowland and hill rainforest giving presence to a high variety of wildlife and plant species.

Siporae Rainforest Conservation Area - Management Rules

In 2019 the Siporae Rainforest Protected Area was declared a protected area under the 2010 protected area ACT. It protects and conserves one of the last untouched rainforest ecosystems in Choiseul Province and Solomon Island. The protection of this unique area is the effort of the Siporae Tribe, fulfilling their long-term commitment to conserve their forest against large scale logging operations. The area consist of lowland and hill rainforest giving shelter to many wildlife and plant species.

A sustainable ocean economy in 2030: Opportunities and challenges

In this report the World Ocean Initiative assesses the challenges facing key sectors in the ocean economy, including seafood, shipping, tourism and renewable energy. We look at the role of banks and investors in financing the transition towards clean, low carbon technologies, as well as opportunities in data and analytics. We examine solutions to marine plastic pollution from source to sea, and the ocean’s potential to remove carbon from the atmosphere and increase resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Spawning potential surveys in Fiji: A new song of change for small-scale fisheries in the Pacific

Catastrophic overfishing of small-scale coastal fisheries through the Pacific poses a major threat to regional food security and biodiversity. Globally, approaches to fisheries assessment and management that were developed for industrial fisheries, are failing small-scale data-poor fisheries. The Pacific Community has called for a complete rethink of fisheries methodologies for the region; a “new song” of change for small-scale coastal fisheries. This article describes the application in Fiji of a new approach to facilitating coastal fisheries management reform.

The Future of Our Ocean is in Our Hands: An Update on the Palau National Marine Sanctuary

Palau’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), with a total of 500,238 km2 (over 300,000 mi2 ), became a multi-zoned national MPA in 2015, through the Palau National Marine Sanctuary Act. The larger zone, taking up 80% of the EEZ, is called the Sanctuary and is one of only 25 Large Scale Marine Protected Areas in the world. The Sanctuary is a strict marine reserve which prohibits disturbance, alteration, destruction, or extraction of any resource.