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March 2007 SPREP Monthly Highlights
Intergovernment Panel on Climate Change report
SPREP welcomes the IPCC fourth assessment report (IPCC AR4) released February 2007. The report is by the world’s top climate experts under the auspices of the United Nations. Titled “The Physical Science Basis”, it states there is now 90 percent certainty that global warming is the result of human activities and not a natural phenomenon. This largely confirms an emerging scientific consensus on the effect of industrial development on the world’s health. The findings of the IPCC AR4 point at a temperature increase of 1.8 to 4 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. In the Pacific Ocean this could have serious impacts on ecosystems based on coral reefs that currently exist within a very sensitive temperature range. The direct impact of this temperature increase on agriculture could also be significant, as could be the indirect impacts through for example changes in rainfall patterns. The sea level rise prediction of 28 to 43 centimetres by year 2100 is very serious for Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs), particularly low-lying atolls. Impacts in the Pacific region could be as catastrophic as the destruction of entire countries. SPREP is working within its resources and capacity to respond to the IPCC report. Its Climate Change staff are studying this report, noting that it is only the first of four volumes. For more information contact SPREP Climate Change Advisor, Espen Ronneberg EspenR@sprep.org More IPCC resources can be found at http://www.ipcc.ch/ Read the full SPREP article here.
International Waters Project
Seven years after major activity in its participating island nations, the IWP ended its presence at SPREP late February. Officially known as the Strategic Action Programme for the International Project Waters of the Small Islands Developing States, it has been a huge cooperative effort. The project’s US$12 million-funding came from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Muliagatele Joe Reti, who managed the final stages of the Project, says there have been many successes both at the national level and community level. There are now several pilot projects in a number of Pacific countries that can act as catalysts for further development, and many lessons have been learned that can be applied for future developments. "The strength of the most successful IWP pilot projects was based on the level of community ownership, and indeed community leadership of the initiative. With strong participation of the community in the work, the pilots were not only successful in their own right but were also being replicated. This was the case in the pilot projects in Fiji, Kiribati, and Vanuatu and to some extent Tonga and Federates States of Micronesia," said Joe. The project has had its challenges. But it has built an impressive record of formal and informal of publications ranging from numerous media articles to a consultants’ publication series, the IWP-Pacific Technical Reports covering various environmental aspects of the 14 participating countries. IWP’s website on the SPREP server will remain accessible. For more information contact Jaap Jasperse, Editor and Publications Officer JaapJ@sprep.org IWP archives http://www.sprep.org/iwp/
Turtle Database Exposure
The official component of the 2006 Pacific Year of the Sea Turtle (YOST) may have come to a close in March, but research, monitoring and conservation efforts to protect
our marine turtles continue. The Turtle Research and Monitoring Database System (TREDS) has been released for wide use by marine turtle conservationists throughout
the Pacific Islands region. Before that, participants of the 27th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation had a sneak preview into TREDS. Dr Nicholas Pilcher,
Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group and Executive Director of the Marine Research Foundation says the database has the “potential to accommodate a
wide range of data sets, from the most complex experimental research projects to simple daily track counts,” says Dr Pilcher. “It is also helping standardise the manner in which data
is collected in the region.” TREDS has been trialled in American Samoa, Fiji, French Polynesia, Samoa and Vanuatu. The upgrade and update of the SPREP Regional Turtle
Database is an important component of the SPREP Marine Turtle Action Plan 2003-2007. It was also an integral part of the 2006 Pacific Year of the Sea Turtle campaign. For
more information contact Associate Turtle Database Officer, Anne Trevor AnneT@sprep.org YOST archive http://www.sprep.org/yost/index.htm
Satellite tagged green turtle – French Polynesia
Popora, a male adult green turtle that was satellite-tagged and released off the coast of Bora Bora, French Polynesia, in November 2006 flippered his way into Fiji waters after a three-month voyage across the Pacific Ocean. Popora journeyed through the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Niue and Tonga. He follows in the flipper path of Lady Vini, the satellite-tagged hawksbill, whose seven-month travels took her through seven Pacific EEZs. The release of tagged sea turtles in French Polynesia in 2006 was the culmination of a tagging and data management event facilitated by SPREP and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Marine Turtle Research Programme. Data from satellite tagged turtles help marine researchers in the Pacific understand the migration habits of sea turtles and better plan conservation strategies for the species in the region. Satellite tagging was identified as a priority action of the Marine Turtle Action Plan 2003-2007 currently under review. For more information contact Marine Species Officer, Lui Bell LuiB@sprep.org More online materials on YOST activities can be found at http://www.sprep.org/yost/index.htm
More turtle talk
SPREP’s Marine Species Officer, Lui Bell, hosted a seminar on flipper tagging and nest monitoring for Tonga’s Ministry if Fisheries and Department of Environment. The session culminated in the release of four sub-adult turtles in Nuku’alofa. It is hoped that capacity training such as this will contribute to the establishment of a national marine turtle conservation programme for Tonga. And most importantly, says YOST Coordinator Megan Krolik, don’t forget that there are many small things we can do every day to protect our ocean, and that by following the following simple tips, we can all make the Pacific a safer place for our endangered sea turtles:
- Report turtle sightings to fisheries or environment departments;
- Do not disturb turtle feeding or nesting grounds;
- Take reusable bags to the shops and say no to plastic;
- Dispose rubbish properly and look after our local beaches;
- Talk to family and friends about sea turtle conservation;
- Stop excess harvesting; and
- Do not buy products made from turtle shell.
Solid waste management training
Sixteen participants from 12 Pacific Island countries went through three weeks of intensive training on solid waste management at the SPREP headquarters in Samoa. The participants of the 6th Regional Training Programme represented various levels of the waste industry in their respective countries. Participants were trained in most aspects of waste management such as waste minimisation, landfills, and managing the increasing costs of waste. Highlights included field trips on the successful Samoan landfill system at Tafaigata on the island of Upolu and a similar system currently being developed on Savai’i. The Samoan landfills have been built at a fraction of the costs of comparable facilities elsewhere in the Pacific, and their design means that they are cheaper to run, emit less foul smell and greenhouse gases, and have a reduced impact on nearby streams. The recent successes of Kiribati solid waste control methods were shared. The training was supported by the Government of Japan and the World Health Organisation (WHO). For more information contact Solid Waste Officer, Mark Ricketts MarkR@sprep.org Access waste resources here.
Cash for trash!
The Pacific Islands region now approaches waste control very differently from twenty years ago. While the landfill option used to be thought of first, that practice has altered. Today, says SPREP’s Solid Waste Officer, Mark Ricketts, Pacific Island people are taking resources from the waste stream for recycling and economic development. They are also minimising what is disposed as rubbish in the first place. Mark says that it is in recycling and other reusable waste elements that the private sector can help boost the economic development of Pacific Island nations. Mark’s comments revolved around the 2006 SPREP-International Waters Project publication titled Rubbish is a Resource - a Waste Resource Kit for the Pacific Islands. The 64-page book is printed on recycled paper and comes with an interactive DVD compiled by well-known recycling expert, Alice Leney. The Resource Kit contains a wide range of practical hints for recycling different materials, information on toxic wastes and landfills, deposit refund systems for collecting recyclables, and on resources for financing a waste system. The DVD will continue to be updated on SPREP’s website. Copies of the Kit (booklet and DVD) are available from the SPREP Information and Resource Center – irc@sprep.org Tel: +685 21929 or Fax: +685 20231. For more information contact Solid Waste Officer, Mark Ricketts MarkR@sprep.org Rubbish is a Resource is available on pdf here.
Bird Conservation MoU
SPREP and BirdLife International signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to work more closely to protect Pacific birds. The MoU is the result
of talks between SPREP and BirdLife members in Fiji in 2005. At that
meeting delegates emphasised the following: the Pacific region has more
threatened bird species per unit of land area or per person than any
other region in the world, and the most extinctions; birds have long
been indicators of biodiversity; no more bird species must be allowed
to become extinct in the Pacific region; and that the conservation status
of threatened birds must be improved. SPREP and BirdLife are now developing
strategies to improve the status of bird species in the Pacific region.
Over 95 percent of the world’s recent bird extinctions have occurred
on islands and around 30 percent of Pacific birds are currently threatened
with extinction.
Bird conservation under SPREP’s programme of work is covered under
its Regional Bird Conservation Strategy. BirdLife’s Pacific strategy
for the protection of bird species is covered under its Pacific Regional
Programme and BirdLife International’s Important Bird Area and
Globally Threatened Species Programme. The duration of the MoU will be
five years, renewable upon agreement. For more information contact SPREP’s
Island Biodiversity Officer Ana Tiraa AnaT@sprep.org Online resources
on Pacific bird conservation can be found at http://www.sprep.org/topic/bird.htm
Pacific Environmental Acronyms
What’s the difference between RAMSAR and RAMSI? WWF can either be World Wide Fund for Nature or World Water Forum depending on the context. Acronyms - “a disease that everyone gets infected with, then becomes resistant to and next becomes a carrier…” The SPREP list of acronyms and their meanings has been collated during the work of the Editor and Publications Officer (EPO) since August 2005, incorporating an earlier list from 2000 and the UNEP-MEA list of 2006. The present list contains mostly acronyms used at SPREP, in working papers for, and reports of, the annual SPREP Members’ Meeting, Annual Reports, and other SPREP Publications. The list is neither comprehensive nor 100 percent correct, but is shared here to assist staff and others with a focus on Pacific Environment documents. Comments, additions and corrections are welcome. Formal documents should always explain an acronym at first use and also contain a comprehensive listing of acronyms and their meaning - this will cut down considerably on confusion and assist readers both new to, and experienced in, the topic. A more generic and broader listing of world acronyms is on the web at: http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/ Pacific Environmental Acronyms can be found at http://www.sprep.org/PEAs2007.pdf For more information contact the Editor and Publications Officer, Jaap Jasperse JaapJ@sprep.org
Regional Meteorological Meeting report
SPREP has just published the report on the Eleventh Meeting of Regional Meteorological Service Directors (11RMSD). The meeting took place in Noumea, New Caledonia in July 2006, and emphasised ten main issues: strategic planning for meteorological services in the Pacific region; maintaining meteorological equipment to meet World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) requirements; extending invitations for future RMSD meetings; improving coordination and collaboration among meteorology and hydrology programmes’ activities and projects; participation and coordination/collaboration in meteorological and other related international fora; training; emergency response (integrated multi-hazards approach); enhancing meteorological services for aviation; management and exchange of climate data; and RMSD institutional strengthening. The meeting concluded with 35 recommended actions to address these 10 issues, agreed that the period of implementation would be 18 months, and requested a report on the status of the recommendations at the 12RMSD to take place in 2007. The entire report is available on-line in pdf format at http://www.sprep.org/att/publication/000538_11RMSD.pdf For more information contact Pacific Islands Global Climate Observing System Officer Dean Solofa DeanS@sprep.org The report can be ordered through the Information Resource Centre - irc@sprep.org
New Staff
SPREP welcomes a new staff member to its community. Litia Brighouse takes over from her predecessor, Malama Hadley, as the newly appointed Personnel Officer within SPREP’s Corporate Services division. Before joining SPREP, Litia was the Marketing and Administration Officer for Samoa Realty Limited.
EVENTS
March 2007
5/3 - 10/3: SPREP/CMS Regional Meeting on Cetaceans, Samoa
5/3 - 9/3: Scoping of potential projects to be funded under the Coral Reef Initiative for the South Pacific (CRISP) programme, French Polynesia
7/3 - 8/3: Roundtable Management Group Meeting 2007, Samoa
7/3 - 9/3: Global Outlook for Ice and Snow Steering Committee, Switzerland
9/3 - 13/4: Pacific Islands Community Conservation Course, Fiji
12/3 - 14/3: Regional Marine Invasive Species Workshop, Samoa
12/3 - 15/3: Waste Formulation Work Plans, Papua New Guinea
12/3 - 16/3: Review of the Marine Turtle & Dugong Action Plans, Samoa
12/3 - 22/3: UNCCD - Meeting of the Committee for Review and Implementation of the Convention
19/3 - 20/3: Waste Formulation Work Plans, Solomon Islands
21/3 - 23/3: Waste Formulation Work Plans, Fiji
22/3 - 23/3: ANU Forum Workshop on transnational environmental crime in the Asia Pacific, Australia
22/3 - 29/3: PILN travel to Kiribati
26/3 - 29/3: Waste Formulation Work Plans, Vanuatu
The calendar is updated regularly and can be viewed here.
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.
11RMSD: Eleventh Meeting of Regional Meteorological Service Directors
ADB: Asian Development Bank
CRISP: Coral Reef Initiative for the South Pacific
EEZ: Exclusive Economic Zone
GEF: Global Environment Facility
IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IPCC AR4: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change fourth assessment report
IUCN: The World Conservation Union
IUCN SSC: The World Conservation Union’s Species Survival Commission
IWP: International Waters Project
MoU: Memorandum of Understanding
NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
PICTs: Pacific Island Countries and Territories
TREDS: Turtle Research and Monitoring Database System
UNCCD: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
UNDP: United Nations Development Programme
UNEP-MEA: United Nations Environment Programme – Multilateral Environment Agreement
RAMSAR: Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Not an acronym: Place in Iran where the Convention was signed)
RAMSI: Regional Assistance Mission - Solomon Islands
WHO: World Health Organisation
WWF: World Wide Fund for Nature
WWF: World Water Forum
WMO: World Meteorological Organisation
YOST: Year of the Sea Turtle
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
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