Key Biodiversity Areas

We are entering an era of unparalleled opportunity to address the global crisis facing nature.

Whales and dolphins rely on critical ocean habitats – areas where they feed, mate, give birth, nurse young, socialize, and migrate – for their survival. These areas are connected by migratory pathways known as blue corridors, essential to their life cycle.

Ervin, J. 2003. Rapid Assessment and Prioritization of Protected Area Management (RAPPAM) Methodology. WWF, Gland, Switzerland.

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.

The purpose of the Nauru BIORAP was to improve the state of knowledge of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, to provide a scientific basis for the conservation and management of nationally, regionally and globally important ecosystems and species.

The Biological Rapid Assessment Programme (BIORAP) is a biological survey based on a concept developed by Conservation International and designed to use scientific information to catalyse conservation action.

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.

A Biological Rapid Assessment Program (BIORAP) was conducted from July 16 to August 3, 2016 in three Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in Samoa: the Central Savai’i Rainforest KBA, and the Falealupo Peninsula Coastal Rainforest KBA on Savaii; and the Uafato-Tiavea Coastal Rainforest KBA on Upolu.

his BIORAP (Biological Rapid Assessment Program) survey was undertaken as part of the process to facilitate improved management of the forests and biodiversity of Upland Savai’i.

The independent state of Papua New Guinea (PNG) occupies the eastern half of New Guinea, the world’s largest and highest tropical island and one of the last major tropical wilderness areas on earth.

Fiji and other Pacific Island Countries face a high risk of communicable disease outbreaks caused by endemic, emerging and re-emerging disease, which are influenced by social, economic and ecological changes.

Knowledge of the habitat use and migration patterns of large sharks is important for assessing the effectiveness of large predator Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), vulnerability to fisheries and environmental influences, and management of shark–human interactions.

Mangrove ecosystems play a critical role in harbouring biodiversity and providing a variety of ecosystem services. The need for developing better techniques for classifying and monitoring mangroves is increasing, especially with the growing demand in blue carbon markets.

Members of the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium met at the University of Auckland from 8-12 February, 2009 to discuss (i) the results of fieldwork and analysis conducted during 2008 and, (ii) conservation initiatives in the region.

The Sixth South Pacific Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas held in Palikir, Federated States of Micronesia, on 29 September – 3 October 1997, continued the series of nature conservation conferences held in New Zealand (1975), Australia (1979), Western Samoa (1985), Vanuatu (198

In recognition of the need for National Parks and protected areas in the South Pacific, the New Zealand Government hosted the First South Pacific Conference on National Parks and Reserves in 1975, in association with the South Pacific Commission (SPC) and the International Union for the Conservat

Baseline monitoring was carried out in two complementary programs : establishment of Permanent Monitoring Sites conducted by the Project Team, and trials of a Community Based Monitoring Program undertaken with village volunteers who will monitor their respective No-Take areas on a more frequent b

This report presents the results of the 2016 Funafuti Community-Based Ridge-to-Reef (R2R) Rapid Biodiversity Assessment (BIORAP) of biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES), hereafter referred to as the BIORAP.

Reporting Progress in Protected Areas: A Site-Level Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool

There are 102 species of reptiles and 25 species of frogs known from the Trans-fly region. 29 of the reptiles and one of the frogs are of special conservation concern. Seven of these species are of high conservation concern: 2 turtles, a monitor lizard, three snakes, and one frog.

The growing need for effective tools and new approaches for natural resource management (NRM) is being met by PNG’s NRM Hub initiative, which is already helping to centralise environmental data and make it accessible to stakeholders everywhere.

This guideline provides practical, science-based information for tourism operators and tourism regulators who want to offer the best possible experience to their customers, while conserving species and habitats and making a positive contribution to local communities.

The present study, commissioned by the French Agency for Biodiversity (Agence française pour la biodiversité, AFB), is part of the "Pacific Biodiversity Blue Belt" project.

This report brings together information on the status of and threats to whales and dolphins in the Pacific Islands region.

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.

Ocean threats: acidification, deoxygenation, warming, heatwaves. Do we have anything useful to bend, change, or reverse the results?

This manual is not a summary of all that is known about sea turtles. There are already very good books and resources that do that. It is also not exhaustive about research and monitoring. Nor it is the global synthesis of all turtle research options.

The Sepik River is the longest river on the island of New Guinea. The majority of the river flows through the Papua New Guinea provinces of Sandaun and East Sepik, with a small section flowing through the Indonesian province of Papua.

The Fiji Islands Marine Eco region which includes our coastal, Inshore and offshore marine environment is rich in marine biodiversity and endemism.

Data on chondrichthyan (sharks, rays, and chimaeras) populations is largely lacking for many countries and territories in the Indo-Pacific. Aims.

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.

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.

Kronen, M., Stacey, N., Holland, P., Magron, F., Power, M. 2007. Socioeconomic Fisheries Surveys in Pacific Islands: a Manual for the Collection of a Minimum  Dataset. SPC, Noumea, New Caledonia.  

Bunce, L. Townsley, P., Pomeroy, R., Pollnac, R. 2000. Socioeconomic Manual for Coral Reef Management. GCRMN, AIMS, Townsville, Australia.

It is through ministerial leadership with relevant stakeholders and partners’ collaboration that produces and finalizes the Solomon Islands National Plan of Action for Marine Turtles (NPOA) 2023-2027.

Reduce the risk of crocodile attack on people, while ensuring the long-term conservation and management of the species based on science, culture, and traditional knowledge for sustainable utilisation.

Some presentations refer to the term Marine Managed Area (MMA) instead of Marine Protected Area (MPA) in order to cover more management options.

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.

Previous research has cast doubt on the potential for marine protected areas (MPAs) to provide refuge and fishery spillover benefits for migratory species as most MPAs are small relative to the geographic range of these species.

The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030 (hereafter “UN Decade”) aims to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation and recover biodiversity, and ecosystem integrity; enhance human health and well-being, including sustainable delivery of ecosystem goods and services; and

Tonga’s Special Management Areas (SMAs) have been widely supported by the people of Tonga as a successful approach to the comanagement of their fisheries and marine resources.

The sea turtle conservation community has made remarkable strides in globalscale priority setting in recent decades thanks to the collective efforts of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), universities, and local communities.

Recognizing the imperative to evaluate species recovery and conservation impact, in 2012the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) called for development of a“Green List of Species” (now the IUCN Green Status of Species).

In a unique partnership that crosses community, language, province, and religious borders, the Arnavon Marine Park seeks to strengthen our spirit and cultural links to the environment through the preservation and protection critical habitats and species in the first and longest operating marine p

Islands are at the forefront of the global extinction crisis, with invasive vertebrates posing a significant threat to native flora and fauna.

Protected areas are a cornerstone for biodiversity conservation, and typically support more natural and undisturbed habitats compared to unprotected lands. The effect of protected areas on intra-specific ecological niche has been rarely investigated.

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 Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) initiative was launched by the Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in 2016, as a response to a conservation crisis in the protection of marine mammals and wider global ocean biodiversity.

We are in the midst of a major biodiversity crisis, with deep impacts on the functioning of ecosystems and derived benefits to people (1, 2). But we still have time to pull back. To do so, it is imperative that we learn from plants’ and animals’ past actions (3, 4).