Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme

Pacific island countries vote to ban asbestos 22 September, 2017 - Apia, Samoa: History was made in Apia yesterday with the endorsement of a proposal to work with Pacific islands on restricting or banning asbestos.The proposal, championed by Cook Islands and co-sponsored by Tonga and Australia, was endorsed by representatives of the 21 Pacific island and five metropolitan members of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional ... More detail

Coral Reef Futures for the Pacific 21 September 2017, Apia, Samoa – In the light of the predicted adverse impacts of warming oceans on coral reefs, the long-term health of Pacific reefs depends on strong leadership and sound management. New actions and tools to support reef resilience were launched today in a special event as part of the annual meeting of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Pro... More detail

Pacific proposes microbeads ban 19 September 2017, Apia, Samoa – France proposed a ban on plastic microbeads at the 28th annual meeting of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) Members today in Samoa."There is an increasing flow of plastic and the presence of plastic microbeads present in our oceans, which have negative impacts on marine species, coral reefs and associated ec... More detail

Benefits of Integrated Ocean Governance Highlighted By Tonga, Kiribati and Fiji Fiji, Tonga and Kiribati shared their experiences on ocean governance processes during the Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Management (MACBIO) side event held at the 28th Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) meeting.The MACBIO project commenced in 2013 and is implemented within five Pacific Island countries (Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati ... More detail

Side Events at the 28th SPREP Meeting - Effectiveness of Papua New Guinea's Protected Areas Better understanding of protected areas management and priorities were some of the key outcomes from Papua New Guinea's (PNG) Protected Areas project highlighted during a side event at the 28th Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) meeting, in Apia, Samoa.PNG currently has 58 gazetted protected areas, both marine and terrestrial. Under PNGs new Prote... More detail

New regional node for marine litter prevention 20 September 2017, Apia, Samoa – The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has been recognised as the Pacific regional node for the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML).The GPML is a global partnership gathering international agencies, Governments, NGOs, academia, private sector, civil society and individuals. As a regional node for the GPML ... More detail

Environmental priorities and national development planning - the case of Kiribati Experience has shown over time that ad-hoc, uncoordinated national actions coupled with fragmented data and inadequate policies and strategies have contributed little to improving environmental quality in the Pacific Islands region. The Kiribati Integrated Environment Policy or KIEP,developed with the support of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPR... More detail

Conserving Turtles and Promoting Community Benefits A side event held at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) meeting in Apia today reported on the outcomes and lessons of a five-year project funded by the New Zealand government to encourage the conservation of marine turtles through community-based monitoring and eco-cultural tourism development in Pacific island countries.The 2012-2017 project ... More detail

The right information at the right time, says Pacific Environment Forum Pacific countries gathered at the 2017 Pacific Environment Forum, an annual meeting for environment officials, in Apia on Monday, 18 September.This year's theme for the Forum was Connecting the Dots: Environment, Knowledge, and Governance, featuring interactive sessions relating to improving the consolidation of data, information, and knowledge in initiatives dealing with vario... More detail