Governance

This report is the outcome of a review commissioned by the Protected Areas Learning and Research Collaboration (PALRC) in 2018, with the following aims:
• Review the range of current models for short courses that meet protected area agency, Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) and non-government organisation land managers’ needs
• Assess the potential for PALRC partners to adapt and/or develop new short courses that meet these needs

All forms of tourism create environmental impacts, but these differ by orders of magnitude. At one end of the scale are minimal-impact wilderness travellers, either on foot or by water. These are permitted in many protected areas worldwide, and there is a well-tested suite of management and monitoring tools, summarised in this volume, to provide benefits to visitors without compromising primary conservation goals. At the other end of the scale are large-scale infrastructure, accommodation, and catering facilities, some of which can handle over a hundred thousand visitors a day.

This report explores the role of traditional marine resources management in meeting both the goals of communities and those of national and international conservation strategies.

This report updates the 1992 State of Environment report with the latest findings from the Marshall Islands. Environmental reporting is defined as a requirement for RMI in the ‘Office of Environmental Planning and Policy Coordination (OEPPC) Act 2003’. The present report results from a concerted effort of all national stakeholders with OEPPC being the lead agency working with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in gathering information from national stakeholders to compile this report.

This study identifies the importance of: acquiring robust baseline data, being fully protected (no-take), using ecosystembased management, community inclusion, and of adopting an ecologically connected network approach. These features are needed for large marine reserves to maximize achieving both ecological and socioeconomic goals, with particular attention to engagement of local communities.

These Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines for Coastal Tourism Development in Pacific Island Countries and Territories (Guidelines) represent a sector specific version of SPREP’s regional EIA Guidelines first published in 1993 and recently expanded and updated in 2016. These Guidelines aim to assist with the implementation of national EIA legal requirements and to promote best practice in EIA process for Coastal Tourism Development in the Pacific.This publication provides general guidance to support environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for coastal tourism development.

This report outlines the process undertaken to define and describe the special, unique marine areas of Fiji. These special, unique marine areas provide an important input to decisions about, for example, permits, licences, EIAs and where to place different types of marine protected areas, locally managed marine areas and Community Conservation Areas in Fiji.

Full Report (Pdf)

This is a simple guide on the Solomon Islands Protected Areas Act 2010 and how to establish terrestrial and marine protect areas through its provisions. The guide was produced and published with the assistance of the SPREP Pacific Ecosystem-based Adaptation to Climate Change (PEBACC) project.  

This research focuses on coral reef health in the South Pacific region, an area of high global coral diversity. Coral reef health surrounding two study sites in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, has been assessed in areas that have not been previously surveyed. Each study site has distinct differences based upon marine management practices. Marine management practices are identified and described and some historical rea- sons as why they exist are discussed.

Though I had heard the word ra’ui, until I started working in the environment field I was not sure of its meaning. As a consequence of my work, I started to learn more about ra’ui through reading and talking to other conservationists and elderly people. Only then did I begin to understand more about this traditional practice.