Regional Protected Area Partnerships

Australian Marine Mammal Centre

The Australian Marine Mammal Centre is based in Hobart in the Australian Antarctic Division's Science Branch. The Centre has five staff and one student plus an extensive research community throughout Australia, representing over 20 institutions. A stakeholder advisory committee and a marine mammal scientific committee worked with the Centre's staff to review the priority research needs and to ensure cross-jurisdictional integration of the work program.

Birdlife International Pacific is a partnership of independent organisations working together as one for nature and people.  We create action through insight. Through our expertise on birds we act for nature and people. Through sharing local challenges we find lasting global solutions.  Birdlife International is active in more than 120 countries worldwide.

Cetacean Strandings of Oceania

Strandings of Oceania is a web site for documenting strandings of whales and dolphins in nations and territories of the South Pacific.

Conservation International (CI) is leading numerous initiatives across the Pacific region, helping communities and governments define and establish marine protected areas and create sustainable development activities.

The CTI-CFF is a multilateral partnership of six countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste) formed to address the urgent threats facing the coastal and marine resources of the Coral Triangle.

In 2009, the leaders adopted a 10 year CTI Regional Plan of Action with five goals:

Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP)

Although CEPF is no longer active in the Pacific, CEPF's web site provides useful information.  There are some basic METT analyses to indicate how the CEPG delivered benefits on protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures.

This Pacific Sustainable Development Report 2018 (PSDR) is the first quadrennial Pacific progress report on sustainable development. The report outlines high level trends on progress to date, as well as baseline information. The regional report complements national monitoring and reporting and since 2015, three Pacific Islands Forum member countries (Samoa, Kiribati and Australia), have completed their Voluntary National Review processes, and reported to the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. (HLPF). Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Tonga and Vanuatu are reporting to the 2019 HLPF on sustainable development. The PSDR 2018 highlights the need for increasing the pace of progress towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

Established in 1965, the FSPI is based in Fiji and works towards helping build sustainable communities in the Pacific Islands. They work with Pacific communities, through people-centred programmes, to foster self- reliance within a changing world

Framework for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas in the Pacific Islands Region

The Framework is intended to support focussed political conversations and settlements that address key strategic issues, including shared sovereignty, pooling resources and delegating decision-makin (Forum Leaders’ Special Retreat on the Pacific Plan Review, Cook Islands, May 2014). Rather than providing a list of regional priorities, it sets out a robust process through which regional priorities will be identified and implemented.

Since the Global Environment Facility (GEF) was founded, the GEF has been a strong partner and supporter of sustainable development for the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The GEF has supported the development of the green economy in the SIDS because nowhere is the inextricable connection between people’s wellbeing and prosperity and the environment more clear than on small islands. At the same time, SIDS are faced with fundamental challenges from climate change and unsustainable natural resource use that must be tackled immediately.

Small Island Developing States and the Global Environment Facility: Building Lasting Partnerships

GOPS develops, coordinates and ensures consistency of local systems and observation networks, platforms and marine stations in the region to create structure and harmony for spatial models for environmental research.

IUCN - Oceania

Oceania is geographically one of IUCN’s largest regional programmes, covering over 100 million square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean. The region comprises Australia, New Zealand and the 22 Pacific Island countries and territories making up Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. The total human population is estimated at approximately 35 million, of whom nearly two thirds are resident in Australia. 

InforMEA

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has expanded access to information on multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) through the online portal, InforMEA, which houses information on more than 60 treaties, 10,000 conference of the parties (COP) decisions, 5,000 national reports, 500 national plans, 3,700 national contacts, 3,000 websites and over 500 searchable terms.

Founded in 2000, the LMMA Network is a group of practitioners throughout the Indo-Pacific who have joined together to support effective community-driven coastal resource management by enabling effective learning, policy support and institutional development. Network communities, NGOs, government, universities and others share experiences and lessons learned, and seek information and best practices from across the Network to apply to their own sites. The Network also seeks to learn which conditions and factors, when using an LMMA strategy work, do not work, and why.

Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Management in Pacific Island Countries

Strengthening institutional and individual capacity to

manage and conserve biodiversity in marine and coastal ecosystems,

aiming to support economies and livelihoods of Pacific island states.

The Micronesia Challenge (MC) is a commitment by the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands to sustainably manage the natural resources that are crucial to the survival of Pacific traditions, cultures and livelihoods. The overall goal of the MC is to effectively conserve at least 30% of the near-shore marine resources and 20% of the terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020.

The Noumea Convention

The Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner:

A small, dedicated, team of ocean experts supports the Commissioner. The Office’s role includes:

The Pacific Biodiversity Information Forum (PBIF) seeks to develop a complete, scientifically sound, and electronically accessible Pacific biological knowledge-base and make it widely available to local, national, regional and global users for decision-making.

PBIF’s geographic scope includes the countries of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia, as well as the Australasian countries bordering these regions.

The Pacific Biosphere Reserve Network (PacMAB) was established in 2006 and now comprises members from Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa and Tonga. The members of the network have agreed to actively collaborate for the integration of biodiversity conservation management and sustainable development, recognizing the uniqueness of the cultural, social and environmental context in the Pacific Islands.

Pacific Community - Communauté du Pacifique

The Pacific Community (SPC) is the principal scientific and technical organisation in the Pacific region, proudly supporting development since 1947. We are an international development organisation owned and governed by our 26 country and territory members.

Mission

A leading provider of technical support and capacity development for invasive species management in the Pacific.

The PILN empowers effective invasive species management through a participant-driven network that meets priority needs, rapidly shares skills and resources, provides links to technical expertise, increases information exchange, and accelerates on-the-ground action.

The objective of the PIC Fund is to increase the number of Pacific Islanders attending regional and international conferences or events relevant to their countries’ development.

Supporting people to attend conferences strengthens the ownership of development processes and activities in their home countries. 

Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA)

The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) strengthens national capacity and regional solidarity so its 17 members can manage, control and develop their tuna fisheries now and in the future.

Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is based in Suva, Fiji. The Secretariat’s mandate is delivered through the annual Leaders’ Communiqués and high level ministerial meeting decisions.

The Forum Secretariat is led by the Secretary General (currently Dame Meg Taylor of Papua New Guinea) who is directly responsible to the Forum Leaders and to the Forum Officials’ Committee (FOC). FOC is the Secretariat’s governing body comprising representatives from all Forum members.

The Forum Secretariat is also mandated to coordinate the implementation of the Framework for Pacific Regionalism.

Established in 2005, The Pacific Islands Managed and Protected Areas Community (PIMPAC) is a long-term capacity sharing program and social network in the Pacific Islands. PIMPAC is co-coordinated by NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program and the Micronesia Conservation Trust, and therefore, largely provides services to partners in the US Flag Islands and the Freely Associated States. However, PIMPAC is always open to supporting partners in other areas of the Pacific, upon request.

The Pacific Islands Marine Portal project is a collaborative project between the Pacific Islands Marine Resources Information System (PIMRIS) and the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange" (IODE) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO to improve access to Pacific marine information for the Pacific Islands community.

Pacific Islands Regional Ocean Policy and Framework for Integrated Strategic Action

Pacific Ocean Alliance

An Alliance to Unite Ocean Interests in a Common Vision to Support Sustainable Development, Management and Conservation of the Pacific Ocean.

Pacific Oceanscape Framework

Some 23 Pacific island nations and territories have come together to create the Pacific Oceanscape, a framework to conserve and sustainably manage this vast, shared region of islands and ocean for generations to come.

Pacific Oceanscape Vision

A secure future for Pacific Island Countries and Territories based on sustainable development, management and conservation of our Ocean

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA), has prepared this Pacific Marine Litter Action Plan (MLAP). The primary focus of MLAP is marine sourced litter, but it also covers terrestrial based marine litter point sources as outlined in the Cleaner Pacific 2025. The action plan sets out the policy context and key actions to minimise marine litter across the Pacific islands countries and territories.

ReefBase Pacific is the first regional focus of the global ReefBase project and provides a unique collection of information for the Pacific region. The ReefBase Pacific project aims to improve quality and accessibility of data and information on reef-associated livelihoods, fisheries and biodiversity.

To formally launch the second phase of the Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) programme, a regional inception workshop for the Pacific was held at the Tanoa Tusitala Hotel, Apia, Samoa from 11th to 15th June 2018. The aim of the inception workshop was to ensure that all 15 countries in the Pacific ACP Group of States were engaged for the second phase of BIOPAMA. The working title of the workshop was ‘Regional Workshop on Improving Information and Capacity for More Effective Protected Area Management and Governance in the Pacific’.

Sasakawa Peace Foundation

SeaWeb believes the long-term success of conserving Asia Pacific marine environments and their unparalleled resources depends on bridging the gaps between communities, government, ocean experts and the media. We are dedicated to empowering communities, nongovernmental organizations and governments to advance ocean conservation through strategic communications. To that end, we offer a suite of services—from communications workshops and online resources to media briefings, fellowships, field trips, lectures and one-on-one interactions with scientists—to increase coverage of ocean issues in the news while also strengthening the communications capacity of our partners.

SPREP has been charged by the governments and administrations of the Pacific region with the protection and sustainable development of the region's environment.

The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation is an inter-governmental organisation that is committed to the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the fishery resources of the South Pacific Ocean and in so doing safeguarding the marine ecosystems in which the resources occur. The SPRFMO Convention applies to the high seas of the South Pacific, covering about a fourth of the Earth's high seas areas. Currently, the main commercial resources managed by the SPRFMO are Jack mackerel and jumbo flying squid in the Southwest Pacific and, to a much lesser degree, deep-sea species associated with seamounts in the Southeast Pacific.

South Pacific Whale Research Consortium

The first edition of the Newsletter of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Oceania (2019). IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) is the world's premier network of protected area expertise. It is administered by IUCN's Global Programme on Protected Areas and has over 2,000 members, spanning 140 countries. 

Full Newsletter (Pdf)

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

The Pacific Islands are on the front lines of a variety of worldwide challenges, in particular global climate change and natural disasters. With some areas in the Pacific Islands only 15 feet above sea level, these nations are among the most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, and they are some of the least able to respond. The United States has significant security and trans-border interests in the region, which is home to more than 8.5 million people, major fisheries, coral reefs and important tropical forests.

U.S. Department of State - Pacific Regional Environment Office

Based in Fiji, WWF South Pacific works to ensure that the richness and resilience of the Pacific Island ecosystems are managed and conserved in harmony with the aspirations and sustainable development needs of our people.

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) was established by the Convention for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPF Convention) which entered into force on 19 June 2004. The Convention was concluded after six years of negotiation which commenced in 1994. The period between the conclusion of the Convention and its entry into force was taken up by a series of Preparatory Conferences that laid the foundations for the Commission to commence its work.