Agrodeforestation and the loss of agrobiodiversity in the Pacific Islands: a call for conservation

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randolph Thaman
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Ecosystem Goods And Services ◽  
Livelihood Security ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Aichi Biodiversity Targets

Our ability to conserve biodiversity and to adapt to climate, environmental and economic change in the Pacific Islands will be greatly dependent on the conservation, restoration and enrichment of biodiversity within traditional multispecies agricultural land use systems. “Agrobiodiversity” is the most well-known, culturally-useful and accessible biodiversity on most islands and constitutes the most important foundation for ecosystem goods and services that support food, health, energy and livelihood security. This rich Pacific agrobiodiversity heritage, including associated ethnobiodiversity is highly threatened and deserves more prominence in mainstream conservation initiatives as a foundation for long-term sustainability. Such action is in line with Aichi Biodiversity Targets 7 and 13 which set goals for sustainable management of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and the maintenance of genetic diversity as critical for successful biodiversity conservation globally. It is also supported by the findings of the Japan Satoyama-Satoumi Assessment, which stresses the critical importance of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provided by traditional agricultural and village landscapes.

scholarly journals Looking north or looking anywhere? Indo-Fijian international relations after the coups of May 2000 and December 2006

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eberhard Weber
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Hard Core ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
High Profile ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Old Friends ◽  
The Eu

Between 1987 and 2006 Fiji experienced four coups in which Governments were overthrown by their military forces or parts of it. After the fourth coup in December 2006 old metropolitan friends such as Australia, New Zealand, the USA and the EU responded with travel sanctions, cancellation of military cooperation and frozen development assistance. When Fiji was politically isolated it fostered secondary political friendships of olden days and established new ones. The paper searches for evidence of Fiji’s agency to change the structure of its International Relations (IR) after the coup of 2000. Such relations were first shaped in Prime Minister Qarase’s ‘Look North’ policy, but following the coup of December 2006 Fiji’s IR took a new quality once political isolation was overcome and internal power stabilized. The paper concentrates on Indo- Fijian relations, which, however, are embedded in Fiji’s general effort to achieve greater independence from old friends by forcing new international relationships. Of particular interest in this context is, if Fiji’s political orientation after 2006 has just been a temporary necessity born out of political isolation or if Fiji’s policy of fostering South–South relations will remain a decisive element of the country’s foreign policy in the long term. To understand IR in the context of Fiji and India it is essential to look at both countries, their interests and agency. Looking at Fiji alone would leave the question unanswered, why Indian Governments had an interest to cooperate with the country in the Pacific Islands despite hard-core nationalist anti-Indian sentiments and politics pursued in Fiji after the coup of 2000. It also won’t be conclusive why India should be interested at all to foster high profile relations with a tiny country like Fiji in a situation when Indian governments were aiming at much higher goals.

Principles for integrated island management in the tropical Pacific

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy D Jupiter ◽  
Aaron P Jenkins ◽  
Warren J Lee Long ◽  
Sean L Maxwell ◽  
Tim J B Carruthers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Well Being ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
National Systems

We propose a new approach for island-wide planning and implementation of ecosystem management in the Pacific, recognizing a lack of replicability, sustainability and cost-effectiveness in other approaches. ʻIntegrated island managementʼ (IIM) operates through coordinated networks of institutions and communities focused on sustainable and adaptive management of natural resources. IIM enables simultaneous and cost-effective achievement of ecosystem-based management, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction while conserving biodiversity, maintaining ecosystem services and securing human health and well-being. We present ten guiding principles for IIM, and then use these to evaluate 36 case studies from the Pacific islands. Most case studies were pilot or demonstration projects with little evidence of planning to ensure long-term financial and human capacity needs were sustained, beyond the life of the projects, or could be replicated at significant scales. Management outcomes in the Pacific will be enhanced by: (1) building on foundations of customary management practice and social networks; (2) working holistically across relevant ecological and governance scales, through coordinated but decentralized and nested institutions; (3) empowering local communities to participate in integrated planning and implementation; and (4) embedding IIM practice into national systems for long-term sustainability and replication. These also ultimately depend on the context and externalities, beyond the control of practitioners. Cost-effectiveness and appropriateness are also critical for successful IIM in the Pacific islands but ultimately there is little alternative for effective biodiversity conservation.

Human rights for conservation: A rights-based approach to fisheries governance

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-59
Author(s):  
Gina Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Fishing Communities ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Fisheries Governance ◽  
Fishery Resources ◽  
The Pacific

The sustainable management of fishery resources in the Pacific region will greatly influence the long-term development of many Melanesian nations. This article will demonstrate that the incorporation of a rights-based approach to fisheries governance would facilitate the achievement of conservation objectives by encouraging sustainable behaviour amongst fishing communities. The significant role of legal stewardship will be highlighted thus emphasising the importance of robust law for both sustainability and human rights.

scholarly journals Forest Degradation: When Is a Forest Degraded?

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angélica Vásquez-Grandón ◽  
Pablo Donoso ◽  
Víctor Gerding
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Structure Function ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Degraded Forest ◽  
Ecosystem Goods And Services ◽  
Progressive Decline ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Degree Of Degradation

The concept of forest degradation tends to be addressed in broad terms, and existing definitions are difficult to apply in practice. These definitions are based on a reduction in the production of ecosystem goods and services, but fail to address how, when and to what degree this reduction—which ultimately leads to degradation of a forest—occurs. Generally speaking, degradation is the result of a progressive decline in the structure, composition and functions upon which the vigor and RESILIENCE of a forest is based. A degraded forest is one whose structure, function, species composition, or productivity have been severely modified or permanently lost as a result of damaging human activities. So far, no guidelines have been developed for classification and evaluation of a degraded forest at the stand level, nor are there methodologies for assessing the degree of degradation found. The present work proposes stand-level guidelines for identification of a degraded forest according to a list of structural, compositional and regeneration criteria and characteristics. Emphasis is put on the need for local definitions of forest degradation, and identification of thresholds that determine the points where the processes of degradation finalize into degraded forests. Finally, the present work makes a call to move forwards in sustainable management in order to prevent degradation, and in implementation of restoration or rehabilitation practices in degraded forests.

scholarly journals Minimum 60 years of recording are needed to compute the sea level rate of rise in the Western South Pacific

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Parker
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Time Windows ◽  
Tide Gauges ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Short Time ◽  
The Tropical Pacific

Abstract Sea levels generally oscillate with multi-decadal periodicities worldwide with up to the quasi-60 years detected in many tide gauges. Nevertheless, the most part of the literature on sea levels computes apparent rates of rise of sea levels much larger than the legitimate by using short time windows in selected locations only covering part of a valley-to-peak of this multi-decadal oscillation. It is shown in this paper that along the Pacific coast of Australia the sea levels oscillate with a frequency close to the Southern Ocean Index (SOI) oscillation of 19 years and a lower frequency of about 60 years. The rates of rise of sea levels computed by linear fitting of the data recorded since the early 1990s in selected locations of the Australian Pacific coastline and in the tropical Pacific islands are from a valley of the peak and valley oscillations and are much higher than the legitimate long term values.

scholarly journals FOUR NEW STRATEGIES TO GROW THE ORGANIC AGRICULTURE SECTOR

AGROFOR ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
John PAULL
Keyword(s):  
Organic Agriculture ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Indian States ◽  
Agriculture Sector ◽  
Agriculture Land ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Certified Organic ◽  
New Strategies

This paper presents four new strategies for growing the organic agriculture sector.Globally there are 51 million hectares of certified organic agriculture land and afurther 39 million hectares of wild culture land. For the past two decades organicagriculture has been growing at 11.9% per annum, thereby doubling the size of thesector every six years. Nevertheless, despite ten decades of advocacy for organics,only 1.1% of the world’s agricultural land is certified organic. From the outset, thestrategy has been to advance the sector ‘one farm at a time’. This strategy has leftthe organics sector well short of the vision of the pioneers of organics who saworganic farming as a universal solution and a practice suited for all farmers and allagriculture. Successful exemplars of marketing strategies of converting ‘oneconsumer at a time’ remain elusive. Recent years have seen the development ofnew strategies for growth of the organics sector. The strategy of ‘one crop at atime’ has proved successful for the Dominican Republic which now produces 55%of the world’s certified organic bananas. The strategy of ‘one state at a time’ hasseen the state of Sikkim (in India) declare itself as the first Indian organic state.Meanwhile, other Indian states are working towards all-organic status, includingMizoram, Goa, Rajasthan and Meghalaya. The strategy of ‘one island at a time’ hasseen the Pacific islands of Cicia (in Fiji) and Abaiang (in Kiribati) commit to 100%organic farming. The strategy of ‘one country at a time’ sees Bhutan with the statedgoal of being the world’s first organic nation. These new strategies rely for successon the tripartite cooperation of government, community and commerce. In themeantime, as these new strategies play out, only 11 countries report that 10% ormore of their agriculture land is organic, while 111 countries report that less than1% of their land is certified organic, which reveals great potential for new growthstrategies.

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