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February 2007 SPREP Monthly Highlights
Welcome Back!
Talofa All! The SPREP team welcomes you to another edition of Highlights. We thank you for your continued interest in this service from the Secretariat.
Wetlands
“ Fish for Tomorrow” was the theme of this year’s World Wetlands Day. The theme draws attention to the role that wetlands play in supporting and sustaining fisheries throughout the world. The coastal wetlands (mangroves and coral reefs) of the Pacific region play a dominant role in the lives of coastal people. Coastal resources mean food, income, employment, and form a significant part of customary and traditional lifestyle pursuits of dependent communities. The survival of inland and coastal fisheries depends on healthy and functional nurseries for fish, known as wetlands. Mangroves are typical wetlands that support deep-ocean and most coastal species that make up fish catches. Aquaculture ponds, also known as artificial wetlands under the Ramsar Convention, are important for commercial fish and shrimp farming activities. SPREP Director, Asterio Takesy, said that everyone has an obligation to “protect these rich marine bastions; that means we need to re-evaluate our harvesting practices and tread cautiously with development as these challenge the sustainability and health of our coastal and mangrove resources.” Wetlands Day is on February 2 every year, commemorating the date of the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian City of Ramsar. For more information contact Associate Ramsar Officer, Vainuupo Jungblut, VainuupoJ@sprep.org Resources on integrated coastal management can be found here http://www.sprep.org/topic/coastal.htm
Land Resource Working Group
SPREP played a leading role in initiating the re-establishment of the
CROP Land Resources Working Group. The LRWG has met twice and will
be a useful mechanism for strengthening collaboration and coordination
among regional organisations in support of Pacific Countries and Territories,
in the area of sustainable land management. The objectives of the Working
Group, through the CROP mechanism are to: progressively work towards
an integrated approach to land resource management, share information
and seek areas of interest for collaboration, raise the profile of
land resources management and community level activities as a development
issue to underpin economic growth in PICs. The LRWG will assist regional
organisations in coordinating efforts and combine skills and resources
to assist PICTs develop and implement strategies, action plans and
programmes relating to land resources management. LRWG membership is
open to relevant regional NGOs and development partners.
Members of the core working group is recommended to involve: CROP agencies - Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS), Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), SPREP, the University of the South Pacific (USP); and Non-CROP agencies - Asian Development Bank (ADB), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI), Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technishe Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Pacific Islands Association of Non Government Organisations (PIANGO). The activities of the working group will cover all key land resource-based sectors including agriculture, forestry, energy, minerals, and water.
Country visit - Cook Islands
SPREP Director Asterio Takesy was in Cook Islands late January for two
reasons – firstly to be present at the launch of Cook Island’s
National Sustainable Development Plan (2007-2010) and secondly, to
make courtesy calls to various government agencies and Non Government
Organisations. On the Cook Islands NSDP, Mr Takesy applauded the country’s
achievement and noted that it “makes Cook Islands one of the
few countries to satisfy their obligations under Multilateral Environment
Agreements that call for a national sustainable development plan.” While
there has been much public debate about the NSDP, Mr Takesy noted, “it
is now the leaders’ role to make sure that that debate leads
to constructive measures and that is – to help implement the
Plan.” Mr Takesy’s courtesy calls raised a few issues,
which he intends to follow up with relevant SPREP officers and CROP
bodies. Some issues raised were – next steps for the Cook Islands
IWP project, environmental degradation, and soil-enriching plants.
Mr Takesy highlighted areas that SPREP could assist and also engage
the assistance of CROP agencies with expertise outside of the SPREP
domain. For more information contact, SPREP Director, Mr Asterio Takesy,
AsterioT@sprep.org
International Waters Project
Many lessons have grown out of the International Waters Project (IWP)
after seven years of engagement in 14 Pacific Island Countries. What
happens now? The activities and lessons are expected to be absorbed
into the work programmes of national Governments. IWP Manager, Muliagatele
Joe Reti, anticipates that the “agencies will incorporate some
of the activities into their corporate plans.” SPREP has been
assisting its Members for many years in the management of various waste
streams. SPREP’s Solid Waste Officer, Mark Ricketts, says “the
work of the IWP will provide valuable lessons in how best to incorporate
community action into waste planning and actions.” Papua New
Guinea was the first country to mainstream its IWP activities into
the work of its Department of Environment and Conservation. Cook Islands,
Samoa, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Palau, Fiji, and the Marshall Islands aim
to complete the integration process by February end. The IWP held its
final meeting on January 17-18 in Samoa to discuss its Terminal Evaluation
Report put together by US consulting firm, Transboundary Consulting.
Its Managing Director, Alan Fox, says that while the IWP has achieved
good momentum, he was more concerned about the sustainability of the
effort and whether the effort would translate to real and lasting improvements.
Both Muliagatele Joe and Alan agreed that lessons from the IWP be reviewed
after a year. For more information contact IWP Manager, Muliagatele
Joe Reti, iwpmgr@sprep.org Get more on IWP country activities here
http://www.sprep.org/iwp/index.asp
Pharmaceutical Waste
A recent follow-up SPREP trip to Kiribati has helped to temporarily control
the country’s pharmaceutical waste. SPREP’s Pollution Prevention & Waste
Management Advisor, Frank Griffin, was in Kiribati to assist the health
department and the Ministry of Land, Environment and Agricultural Development
(MLEAD) in the cleanup process. The pharmaceutical waste has been repackaged
into healthcare rubbish bags and stored in a new steel container. A
disposal plan has been finalised. The plan involves incinerating the
repackaged waste in a controlled manner – they need to be incinerated
with a certain percentage of general hospital waste. “They have
to do it as soon as possible. Since it’s a substantial amount,
they need to incinerate it consistently over a long period of time,” Frank
said.
SPREP is now helping the Kiribati Government put together a healthcare waste management plan. Frank notes that one of the components in the three-week workshop of Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) with World Health Organisation (WHO) and SPREP, to begin February 19, is on waste management at the hospital and country level. It will be an opportunity, he said, for waste workers to gain on solid waste management. In the case of Kiribati, Frank adds: “Now that they have a disposal plan, they’re able to dispose off their waste material in an environmentally sound manner. Kiribati is being proactive about it. If there’s no plan, give yourself another 10 to 12 years and the whole leakage problem will start again.” For more information contact Frank Griffin, FrankG@sprep.org Get more waste resources on SPREP online http://www.sprep.org/solid_waste/index.asp
Climate Change Communications Strategy
A new communications strategy that was developed by SPREP and the Ministry
of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) in December 2006 will guide
the Ministry to identify target audiences for its climate change messages.
Yet to be fully finalised, the communications strategy sets clear guidelines
to identify target audiences for the Ministry’s climate change
messages. MNRE plans to weave the strategy into its other environmental
projects. Anne Rasmussen, Principal Climate Change Officer, says that
the Ministry intends to also use the lessons gained from the workshop
to develop strategies for other projects unrelated to climate change.
The workshop highlighted the importance of planning and the notion
that communications is based on broader objectives and goals. Tamara
Logan, SPREP’s Education & Social Communications Officer,
raised the importance of positive branding and the need for people
to move away from alarmist language. She wants people to adopt an action-oriented
approach and focus on collaboration and partnership. A workshop report
will be made available to SPREP stakeholders and interested parties.
In 2007, SPREP partners are encouraged to consider developing communications
strategies to support priority areas. With the Pacific Adaptation to
Climate Change (PACC) initiative, there will be greater focus on communications
and the need to raise awareness about the issue. The next step for
SPREP is gauging what MNRE’s climate change objectives are for
2007 and to build on the key elements that came out of the training.
For more information on the communications strategy for climate change
contact Tamara Logan, TamaraL@sprep.org Visit SPREP’s climate
change portal at http://www.sprep.org/climate_change/index.asp
SPREP/PINA Environmental Media Awardees Announced
The recipients of the 2006 SPREP/PINA Environmental Media Awards are:
· Nanette Woonton for a broadcast item on Cook Islands TV – “Tereora College Recycling Project”,
· Vasemaca Rarabici for a feature article in the Fiji Sunday Sun – “Rebirth of a Harbour”,
· Sakiasi Nawaikama for a feature in USP’s Wansolwara student newspaper – “Fighting Chance [for fish larvae]”.
The prizes were sponsored by the IWP. In line with IWP objectives, the theme for the 2006 competition was: “Environmental protection and management at work in Pacific communities.” There were no radio entries during this first year of the awards that were inaugurated at the biennial conference of the Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) in November 2005. Organised by SPREP and fully supported by the PINA executive, the awards are to encourage a high standard of environmental reporting in the Pacific news media. The judging panel comprised: Ken Clark (PINA President & Fiji TV CEO; Nina Ratulele (Pacific Director of the Asia Pacific Forum of Environmental Journalists, APFEJ); Jake Brown (Journalism Lecturer at the National University of Samoa); and Dr Jaap Jasperse (Editor and Publications Officer at SPREP). For more information contact Jaap Jasperse JaapJ@sprep.org
For full details on the awards and winning entries, visit the awards news link
http://www.sprep.org/article/news_detail.asp?id=327
Year of the Sea Turtle Updates
The 2006 Pacific Year of the Sea Turtle is still sprinting into 2007. In fact the YOST campaign didn’t kick off until March 2006. YOST Coordinator, Megan Krolik, has more on the latest YOST happenings – the Samoan Tourism Authority has pledged its support for YOST. Blue turtle bags are now being sold at the STA, their information fale on Beach Road. Intrepid marine saviour, Lui Bell, was in Tonga in January to conduct satellite-tagging training. Popora, a tagged green turtle, has already moved into Cook Island waters. Popora was released in French Polynesia last year and now appears to be heading straight for Fiji. The Marine Species Programme Framework 2003-2007 will be reviewed on March 12-14 in Samoa. The Framework consists of Action Plans for whales and dolphins, dugongs, and marine turtles. All three Action Plans will be revised for the next five years. The review will also involve the assessment of the implementation of the plan and YOST campaign. The Turtle Research and Monitoring Database System (TREDS) is expected to be launched during the Marine Action Plan review meeting in March. Megan and SPREP’s Communication and Social Education Officer, Tamara Logan, were in Hawai’i in January to attend the International Pacific Marine Educators Conference. The Pacific Marine Educators Network was established to provide a venue for information sharing among marine educators in the Pacific. Tamara presented a paper on the use of communication tools to promote environmental education and awareness in the Pacific, while Megan shared education strategies used in the YOST campaign. For more information contact Megan Krolik, YOST Coordinator, MeganK@sprep.org Further information can be obtained from SPREP online at http://www.sprep.org/yost/index.htm
IWP publication record boosted
The formal publication record of the International Waters Project (IWP)
received a major boost with the release of 20 edited consultancy reports
on the SPREP website. The consultancy reports, commissioned over a
number of recent years, cover topics such as environment-related legislation,
governance of coastal resources, ecological baseline assessments, socio-economic
baseline studies and waste management in the 14 IWP-Pacific member
countries. The release coincided with the Special Meeting to consider
the Report of the Terminal Evaluation of the International Waters Project
at SPREP headquarters in Apia (17 and 18 January 2007). Many more reports
are in the pipeline for completion, but these twenty are now widely
available for the first time. You can access the full list through
the following linkhttp://www.sprep.org/publication/pub_list.asp?int_pub_cat1=8&offset=0
New Staff
SPREP welcomes several new staff members to its community. They are:
- Peter Murgatroyd is the new Information Resource Center Manager. He replaces Satui Bentin, who completed her contract in December 2006. Peter was the Law Librarian at the University of the South Pacific, Emalus Campus in Port Vila, Vanuatu since 1998. He was a volunteer Library Manager for the Solomon Islands Centre Library (1995-1996), Library Manager for Phillips Fox in Auckland (1993-1995) and a Research Librarian/Acting Library Manager for Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Wellington (1991-1993). Peter is from New Zealand.
- Caroline Vieux is a French national and SPREP’s new Coral Reef Management Officer. Since 2005, Caroline was Project Manager and Reefbase Pacific Coordinator for the Polynesian region under the CRISP programme for the CRIOBE Research Center in Moorea, French Polynesia. From September 2003 to September 2004, she was GCRMN Polynesia Mana Project Manager for CRIOBE Research Center (AFD-SPREP funded); involved in the funding proposal for GCRMN from October 2002 to August 2003; and Project Manager for the Moorea lagoon fisheries project for IFRECOR (French Coral Reef Initiative) - April to September 2002. Caroline is not a total stranger to SPREP- she served a six-month internship with the Secretariat from June - December 2001 under then Coastal Management Adviser, Mary Power.
- Simeamativa Leota-Vaai joins SPREP as the Senior Administration Officer. Tiva is Samoan and was recently the Assistant Chief Executive Officer (Human Resource & Personnel) for the Public Service Commission in Samoa. Her 12-year stint with the PSC started in 1995 when Tiva was Manpower Planning Officer. In 1997, she was Chief Human Resource Management Officer; Assistant Secretary – Performance Development Division (2001); Assistant Secretary – Resourcing (2003).
- Ruth Touwa Pune has taken up a 12-month appointment as the 8th Pacific
Nature Conference Coordinator. Ruth will support the Action Strategy
Advisor, Kate Brown, and the Island Ecosystems Programme team organise
the 8th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected
Areas. The conference will be held in Papua New Guinea this year. The
8th PICNCPA is the region's premier nature conservation conference
held every 5years. Ruth is a Science graduate of the University of
Papua New
Guinea. Since 2002, she was an International Financial Institution
Campaigner for the Centre for Environmental Law and Community Rights
in PNG. Ruth
was also a part-time Research Officer for the Department of Petroleum
and Energy in PNG and a Herbarium Assistant, Biology Department, UPNG.
Upcoming Events – February
5/2 - 9/2: 24th Session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment
Forum of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Kenya.
5/2 - 7/2: Highly Critical Adaptation Meeting Jamaica.
5/2 - 16/2: Post Relocation Survey, Vanuatu.
12/2 - 15/2: PILN trip to French Polynesia; First to finalise the PILN
application of the French Polynesia team and secondly to discuss the
offer to host the meeting with the new government.
13/2: Bird conservation MoU signing between SPREP & BirdLife, SPREP,
Samoa.
13/2 - 14/2: Climate Change and Vulnerability Conference, Netherlands.
18/2 - 23/2: Pacific Island World Heritage workshop and to review the
Pacific 2009 World Heritage Action Plan, New Zealand.
19/2 - 9/3: 6th JICA-SPREP-WHO Municipal Solid Waste Management Training
Workshop for Pacific Island Forum Countries, Samoa.
19/2 - 23/2: Inception workshops for the National Action Plan for Land
Degradation and the National Capacity Self Assessment, Pohnpei, Federated
States of Micronesia.
26/2 - 28/2: UNFCCC Expert Meeting on Adaptation for Small Island Developing
States, Cook Islands.
ACRONYMS and their explanation
The use of many acronyms in international organisations and administrations
is inevitable. As an extra service to our readers, we table here the
acronyms used in this month’s Highlights, and their meaning.
8thPICNCPA: 8th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas
ADB: Asian Development Bank
AFD: French Development Agency
APFEJ: Asia Pacific Forum of Environmental Journalists
CRISP: Coral Reef Initiative for the South Pacific
CRIOBE: Centre de Récherches Insulaires et Observatoire de l’Environnement (Island Ecosystem Research Center and Environment Observatory)
CROP: Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific
FAO: Food and Agricultural Organisation
FSPI: Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International
GCRMN: Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network
GTZ: Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Technishe Zusammenarbeit
IFRECOR: French Coral Reef Initiative
IWP: International Waters Project
JICA: Japan International Corporation Agency
LRWG: Land Resource Working Group
MEA: Multilateral Environment Agreement
MLEAD: Ministry of Land, Environment and Agricultural Development (Kiribati)
MNRE: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Samoa)
NSDP: National Sustainable Development Plan (2007-2010)
PIANGO: Pacific Islands Association of Non-Government Organisations
PICs: Pacific Islands Countries
PIFS: Pacific Island Forum Secretariat
PINA: Pacific Islands News Association
SPC: Secretariat of the Pacific Community
STA: Samoa Tourism Authority
SOPAC: South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission
TREDS: Turtle Research and Monitoring Database System
UNDP: United Nations Development Programme
UPNG: University of Papua New Guinea
USP: University of the South Pacific
WHO: World Health Organisation
Please send your comments to sprep@sprep.org or contact SPREP by phone:
(685) 21929, fax: (685) 20231 or mail: PO Box 240, Apia, Samoa. Visit
the SPREP website at www.sprep.org
..