Pacific Islands

1
Pacific Islands
2
(No Transcript)
3
Physical Features

• Pacific Ocean over 1/3 of the planets surface
• Not counting Papua New Guinea, the region
  comprises 21 island states, 200 high islands and
  2500 low islands and atolls
• Four largest states (Solomon Islands, New
  Caledonia, Fiji, and Vanuatu) account for most of
  the land mass
• Except for the Pitcairn group and the southern
  part of French Polynesia, all lie in the tropical
  zone

4
Cultural Sub-Regions

• Ethnically, culturally, and linguistically there
  are three sub regions
• Melanasia Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and
  New Caledonia
• Micronesia Palau, FSM, Guam, Northern Mariana
  Islands, Marshall Islands, and Kiribati
• Polynesia Tuvalu, Tokelau, Samoas, Niue, Cook
  Islands, and French Polynesia

5
(No Transcript)
6
Melanesian Countries

• Western Pacific (Solomon Islands, New Caledonia,
  Vanuatu, and Fiji)
• Large, mountainous and mainly volcanic islands.
  Considerable natural resources
  fertile soils, large forests, and
  mineral deposits
• Rural and agricultural (about 85 of the people
  live in rural areas 90 of Solomon Islanders are
  farmers)
• Cultural and social diversity. More than 100
  dialects are spoken each in Solomon Islands and
  Vanuatu
• Ethnic conflicts (in Fiji there are major
  conflicts between Indian and Melanesian groups)
• Fast growing cities (7.3 in Vanuatu, 6.2 in the
  Solomon Islands)

7
Mid-sized Islands of Polynesia and Micronesia

• Mid-sized islands of Polynesia (Tonga,
  Samoas, French Polynesia) and Micronesia
  (Palau, FSM, Guam, Northern Mariana
  Islands) have limited land resources,
  little or no commercial forests,
  and no commercial mineral deposits
• Few tradable natural resources and virtually no
  manufacturing industry
• Butmany of these islands enjoy a high standard
  of living from foreign assistance and remittances
  from expatriate island communities

8
Small, Low, Island States

• Small coral islands and atolls spread over vast
  areas of the ocean
• Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, FSM, Marshall
  Islands, Niue, and
  Nauru
• Land and soil poor
• 60,000 Marshall Islanders live on 181 sq km of
  land, giving each person
  only 0.3 hectares of land
• Natural resources are mostly limited to the
  ocean
• High urban area growth rate (e.g. Marshall
  Islands, 8.2 per year)
• The most vulnerable places on Earth to the
  adverse impacts of climate change and sea level
  rise. Elevation usually only 1-2 meters
  (Kiribati, Marshalls, Tokelau, and Tuvalu)
• Key problems shore erosion, vulnerability to
  storms and droughts, fresh water scarcity, ground
  water pollution, solid waste disposal

9

• All but one of the countries of the region
  (Tonga) were colonized by European nations during
  the 18th century
• Most Pacific countries became sovereign states in
  the last 40 years
• American Samoa US territory
• Cook Islands New Zealand-affiliated developing
  country
• Fiji Independent developing country
• French Polynesia French territory
• French Polynesia French territory
• Guam US territory
• Kiribati Independent developing country
• Marshall Islands US-affiliated developing country
• Micronesia US-affiliated developing country
• Nauru Independent developing country
• New Caledonia French territory

10

• Niue New Zealand-affiliated developing country
• Northern Marianas Commonwealth of the US
• Palau US-affiliated developing country
• Pitcairn Islands Dependency of UK
• Samoa Independent developing country
• Solomon Islands Independent developing country
• Tokelau Dependency of New Zealand
• Tonga Independent developing country
• Tuvalu Independent developing country
  (worlds smallest independent nation)
• Vanuatu Independent developing country
• Wallis and Futuna French territory

11
Regional Cooperation

• The region has a strong history of regionalism,
  which derives from
• Many island states share common problems, which
  justify a collaborative search for common
  solutions
• Island states do not have the technical expertise
  or human resources to deal with global or
  regional issues and therefore have organized
  specialized bodies to address them (such as South
  Pacific Regional Environment Program, SPREP..
  http//www.sprep.org.ws/default.htm)
• Mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation were
  established as part of islands colonial history

12
Physical Characteristics

• Low arable land per person
• Poor soil on the small islands results in limited
  agricultural production and a greater dependence
  on marine products for food and income
• Coral reefs typically surround the islands either
  close to the shore (fringing reef) or further
  offshore (barrier reef)
• Mangrove forests often border the
  inshore
  waters, especially those of the
  larger islands,
  and provide habitat for
  the juveniles of many
  important food fish
• Marine and terrestrial biodiversity is
  greatest in
  the equatorial region in west
  of the Pacific
  Islands area

13
Coastal Resources

• Heavy reliance on living marine resources for
  subsistence and economic, social, and cultural
  well-being
• The economies of most atoll and small islands are
  based on marine resources. Coral reef ecosystems,
  mangroves, and lagoons provide habitat for
  commercial fish and shellfish species and protect
  the coastline from erosion,the force of waves and
  cyclones
• Fish and other marine resources provide a high
  percent (40) of the total animal protein in the
  diet of Pacific Islanders (gt 2X the worldwide
  average)
• Tourism, which is highly dependent on the quality
  of the coastal environment, provides the islands
  with an estimated 1 billion in revenues annually

14
Economic Characteristics

• People living in territories have better access
  to goods and services than people of the
  independent states
• Typically a big difference between urban and
  remote area lifestyle and standard of living
• Outer island communities are generally small,
  isolated and resource poor
• In terms of relative development, Solomons and
  Vanuatu are the poorest
• Economic growth rate is low in last 2 decades
  population and urbanization growth rate are high
• High level of development assistance per capita
  and remittance income tend to mitigate the
  appearance of poverty

15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
(No Transcript)
18
Population Pressures

• Population growth, combined with low economic
  growth rate and weak prices for agricultural
  commodities such as copra and taro, has
  intensified the commercial harvesting of coastal
  resources
• As more people migrate from island interiors and
  distant atolls to population centers, coastal
  pollution worsens
• Increasing urban population density results in
  spread of shantytowns and slums, and
  environmental degradation
• For example 3/4 of all Tahitians live in the
  capital city of Papeete
• 95 of the population of American Samoa live and
  work on the main island of Tutuila, most in the
  capital of Pago Pago
• Small islands, with limited space and resources
  can least afford the damaging effects of crowded
  coasts

19
Productive Activities

• Agriculture and fishing are the main activities
• Agriculture employs more than 40 of the labor
  force Melanesian states, FSM, Tonga, Samoa,
  Kiribati
• Tourism is the fastest growing industry. Guam,
  Fiji, New Caledonia and French Polynesia are the
  major tourist destinations. Tourism is important
  in the economies of Palau and Cook Islands
• Virtually all countries produce and export copra
  and other coconut products. Decline in copra
  markets has seriously affected the economies of
  most outer islands and rural areas
• Timber is an important resource in large forested
  countries of Melanesia. Aggressive harvesting by
  mainly foreign companies has caused controversy
  in recent years

20
Commercial Fishing

• Exclusive economic zone is a major economic
  resource in the region
• Little large-scale commercial fishing from
  Pacific island states
• Some countries earn significant expert earning by
  selling fishing rights to their waters

21
Non-market/Subsistence Economy

• Subsistence culture condition of well-being
  outside the cash economy and limited consumerism
• Non-monetary subsistence economy is still high
  Solomon Islands (80), Samoa (60), FSM (at least
  50)
• Development of cash-economy opportunities is
  limited

22
Factors that Contribute

• Fertile soil and benevolent climate.
  Subsistence farming and fishing
  provide an efficient means of
  surviving
• Effective traditional resource management,
  land ownership, and social
  support systems that
  provide a safety net for disadvantaged members of
  societyand prevents anyone from suffering
  absolute poverty
• High level of development aid per capita and cash
  remittances by relatives living overseas

23
Subsistence Culture is Under Threat

• high rates of rural to urban migration
  (and emerging pockets of
  urban poverty)
• deterioration of traditional authority and
  social systems
• increasing dependency on the cash economy
• population growth
• unsustainable practices in natural resource use
• aid and remittances face an uncertain future as
  the countries that provide aid and the countries
  that accept Pacific Island immigrants change
  their policies

24
Environmental Problems

• Coastal and marine resources
• Global warming
• Biodiversity
• Freshwater resources
• Pollution
• Unsustainable agricultural practices
• Forestry

25
Coastal Resource Decline

• A growing realization in the 1990s that the
  physical environment of Pacific nations was
  fragile
• World Bank (1999) study surveyed 31 communities
  throughout the Pacific Islands region and found a
  common perception that coastal resources are
  declining, particularly as the result of
  overharvesting and pollution (sewage,
  fertilizers, silt and toxins)
• Other reasons include destructive fishing
  practices, use of poisons, and global warming

26
Level of Threats to Coral Reefs
27
Biodiversity

• The plants and animals of the Pacific island are
  often found nowhere else on Earth
• New Caledonia has been isolated from other lands
  for 80 million years. 76 of the flora and fauna
  evolved on the island
• Worldwide, the largest number of documented
  extinctions has occurred on islands of the
  Pacific
• The decline of biodiversity of the Pacific island
  began with the arrival of the first humansbut,
  the arrival of European settlers greatly
  accelerated the loss of biodiversity
• Agriculture, logging, hunting, population growth,
  habitat change and introduction of exotic species
  are main causes of loss
• Marine biodiversity is threatened by pollution,
  overexploitation, global warming and destructive
  fishing practices

28
Pacific and South-East Asia Coral Distribution

• Tropic of Capricorn to the Tropic of Cancer
• Indo-Pacific reefs Greatest Species Diversity

29
Management Actions

• Conservation areas -- planned and
  managed by local communities with
  government agencies
  and NGOs
• Endangered species protection strategies (e.g.
  sea turtles)
• Land use planning
• Control of agriculture and forestry development
• Community-based resource management
• Education and public awareness
• Promote enterprises that are linked to
  biodiversitye.g. eco-tourism, handicrafts, whale
  watching, butterfly ranching
• International assistance (e.g. 10 million SPREP
  grant for biodiversity conservation from GEF)

30
Climate Change

• Sea level rise caused by elevated sea
  temperatures. In most Pacific islands, the
  people, agricultural land, tourist resorts and
  infrastructure are concentrated in the coastal
  zones and are especially vulnerable to any rise
  in sea level
• Coral bleaching caused by global warming and
  elevated sea temperatures
• El Nino is thought to be associated with global
  warming. El Nino brings increased risk of
  tropical cyclones
• Shifts in rainfall patterns from climate change
  causes droughts in some regions and excessive
  rainfall/flooding in others. Recent severe
  droughts in Marshall Islands, FSM, American
  Samoa, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati and Fiji.

31
Responses

• Small island developing states banded together
  into an Alliance of Small Island States during
  the 1990 World Climate Conference
• http//www.sidsnet.org/aosis/
• An active and united forum arguing for
  industrialized countries to pay damages to small
  island states and to reduce emissions of
  greenhouse gases immediately
• Assess vulnerability to climate change
• Develop adaptation options
• Continue to lobby industrialized nations to take
  action

32
Freshwater Resources

• Water shortages and contamination problems are
  critical in smaller Pacific islands, and on the
  leeward side of large high islands
• Population growth, tourism, and agriculture
  elevate water use to unsustainable levels
• Many Pacific island fresh water streams are
  contaminated by silt and sewage
• Groundwater supplies, especially in islands with
  porous limestone aquifers, are endangered by
  sewage and agricultural chemical pollution
• Water treatment systems are not maintained. It is
  seldom safe to drink water from urban systems

33
Pollution

• Serious problems with disposal of raw sewage,
  domestic wastes, non-biodegradable wastes,
  and toxic chemicals
• Few working sewage treatment plants
• Most sewage and municipal wastes end up in
  shallow lagoons or shallow coastal waters
• The coastlines around nearly every urban center
  in the Pacific are clogged with untreated sewage,
  municipal wastes and household garbage
• Few landfills. Unregulated dumping of solid
  wastes and synthetic chemicals is a common
  problem
• Hazardous chemicals and nutrient pollution find
  their way into the marine environment and damage
  wetlands, mangrove forests, sea grass beds and
  coral reefs

34
Agricultural Practices

• Agriculture is the leading cause
  of deforestation in the
  Pacific islands
• Poor practices result in topsoil erosion from
  both rain and wind (in drought conditions), loss
  of biodiversity, pesticide and nutrient runoff
• Some 60 percent of the South Pacifics islands
  suffer from soil degradation
• Fiji has destroyed over 4,000 hectares of
  mangrove forests for the expansion of
  agricultural land (mostly sugar cane)
• In Ponopei, forests are converted to grow Sakau

35
Forestry

• The big Melanesian island have extensive
  tropical rainforests Papua New Guinea,
  the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu
• In the Solomon Islands, commercial licenses
  have been granted to harvest up to
  97 of the existing rainforests. It
  provides a large part of the
  nations foreign exchange needed to pay for
  imports (fuel, machinery, vehicles and
  electronics)
• Commercial logging results in erosion, soil
  degradation, and loss of biodiversity
• Siltation of streams and runoff smothers
  coral reefs

36
Environmental Problems and Causes

• Environmental Concerns
• Coastal erosion
• Coral reef damage
• Declining fish stocks
• Deforestation and biodiversity loss
• Land erosion and siltation from poor land use
  practice
• Eutrophication
• Solid waste disposal and management in urban
  areas
• Freshwater scarcity and degradation
• Sea level rise
• Natural disasters
• Invasion of exotic species

• Pressures and Challenges
• Urbanization
• Population density and growth rate
• Rapid tourism growth
• Destructive fishing practices
• Sand and gravel mining
• Coral harvesting
• Over-fishing
• Commercial logging
• Low awareness of resource decline
• Weak institutional coordination
• Poverty
• Unemployment

37
Case Study American Samoa

• American Samoa is caught in a whirl of
  environmental change -- population is growing
  while natural resources are declining
• Coral reefs have been severely damaged by natural
  disasters and human
  impacts
• Major infestation of Crown of Thorns starfish in
  the late 1970s
• Devastating hurricanes in 1990 and 1991
• In 1994, coral bleaching from elevated sea
  temperatures killed over 80 of the living corals
  to a depth of 10 meters and fishing catches
  declined drastically in the wake of the coral
  death
• Live coral coverage has dropped from
  about 60 to 10
• Fish numbers have dropped 75

38
(No Transcript)
39
Pollution

• Sedimentation. After every heavy rainfall,
  chocolate colored plumes of sediment are flushed
  out of the streams and onto the coral reefs
• Eutrophication. Only about 10 of
  the homes in American
  Samoa are
  hooked to a sewer line. Abundance
  of algae in near shore
  waters indicates
  nutrient enrichment. Overgrown algae
  kills coral
• Pollution. Recent surveys find near
  shore fish contaminated
  with toxic
  substances, such as heavy metals

40
Overfishing

• Over fishing. Some highly prized resources such
  as giant clams have been over harvested. One
  species is locally extinct and the other two are
  scarce

41
Causes-Effect Relationships

• American Samoa reef decline
  illustrates how human-induced and
  natural stresses combine to adversely impact the
  marine ecosystem
• Impacts are additivehurricanes have been hitting
  the island for millions of years, but...
• Corals ability to survive natural stresses might
  be weakened by the incremental impacts of
  sediment loading, pollution and overgrown algae
• Only one sure conclusionneed to treat the coral
  reefs with greater care and respect

42
Constraints to Environmental Protection in the
Pacific

• Limited money, people, and expertise in public
  agencies
• Weak interagency cooperationmakes it difficult
  to carry out the integrated efforts needed to
  manage island environments
• Lack of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
  devoted to conservation
• Difficulty communicating between countries
• Low awareness in government that natural
  resources are declining to critical levels and
  that management is necessary for their recovery
• Break-down of traditional culture and resource
  management

43
Environmental Principles

• Recognition of the limits to growth and
  acceptance of a conservation ethic
• Recognition of the wisdom of restraint some
  natural resources will be more
  valuable in the future
• Recognition that for management to be successful
  it must be socially acceptablework with and do
  not ignore traditional systems of resource
  management
• Recognize that island ecosystems differ from
  temperate ecosystems. The multi-species nature of
  tropical fisheries demands more cumbersome
  regulations and correspondingly more enforcement
  than systems in temperate waters
• Recognize that rapid population growth overtaxes
  the natural resources of Pacific islands, making
  resource management increasingly difficult