Circulars

CLIMATE CHANGE RESILIENCE PROGRAMME

Manager, Pacific Climate Change Centre

CITES is the global instrument for regulating international trade in wild plants and animals to ensure such trade does not threaten their survival. Member countries apply a common set of international rules for legal international trade in CITES-listed species using standardised permits and certificates. Countries cannot trade in the 35,000 CITES-listed species with CITES Parties unless they trade consistently with CITES requirements.

SPREP, with funding assistance from UNEP, are now undertaking a mid-term review of the Cleaner Pacific 2025, to assess progress towards achieving the aims of the strategy, and to develop a new implementation plan.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread and its impacts upon human health and the economy intensifies day-by-day, governments of SPREP Members are urged to treat waste management, including of medical, household and other hazardous waste, as an urgent and essential public service in order to minimize possible secondary impacts upon health and the environment.

Further to Circular 20/22 dated 20 March 2020, this serves to provide a brief update from the Secretariat on our medium-term plans working under these uncertain times of COVID-19. As many of you are aware there are strict health and travel advisories in place including border closures due to COVID-19, which restrict movement of SPREP staff within ans across the Pacific region. The State of Emergency in Samoa, the host Government of SPREP remains in effect until 2 May 2020.

As per SPREP Circular# 20/24 and follow-up email from DDG, the Secretariat would like to understand your internet connectivity status so that we can find the most effective ways to continue to support you while the CONVID-19 Pandemic prevents travel and face-to-face meetings, workshops and training activities.

SPREP is pleased to announce following appointments and engagements.

This serves to advise that in considering the ongoing worldwidw effects of COVID-19, the convening of the Post-COP25 Analysis Workshop tentatively re-scheduled for 4-6 May 2020 in now Cancelled.

En I'absence  de mise en oeuvre de projets sur site,de réunions en personne et d'activitiés associées dan els pays du fait des restrictions imposées par la pandémie du COVID-19, le personnel du Secrétariat travaille désormais á distance. Nous nous attendons á ce que la situation actuelle se prolonge de quelques mois, si ce n'est plus, et nous allons donc continuer á travailler á distance avec les Membres du PROE afin de fournir des résultats réalistes.

As you may be aware, the Pacific Islands Regional Marine Species Programme 2013-2017 and action plans (RMSAPS) are under review with the intention to produce new plans for the period 2020-2025. As part of that review process, as has been done for previous iterations, we would like to undertake a review of progress on implementation of the current plans including identification of issues and challenges to assist with finalizing drafts of the new plans.

The Senior Management Team (SMT) met this morning to discuss the continued preventative measures for the protection of SPREP staff and the continued but limited services we will endeavour to provide to you all, noting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is to advise you that the Government of New Caledonia, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme  and the Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation officially announced on 10th March 2020, the postponement of the 10th Pacific Island Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas, which was scheduled to be held 19-24 April, due to the growing global concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak.

Regretfully we have had to postpone the second regional training on "Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction - adaption options of land use management and physical structures and human mobility"prepared through the Project for Capacity Building on Climate Resilience in the Pacific (CBCRP - PCCC) originally scheduled to be held on 20 April - 1 May 2020 at the Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) in Api, Samoa, for which call for nominations was made through SPREP Circular 20/13 on 28 February. 

Dr Jason Turner of the University of Hawaii Hilo, is offering summer courses on marine turtles and sharks and marine conservation from 22 June to 31 July, 2020. These courses would provide a great opportunity for professional development for government staff involved in managing these marine species, particularly at a technical level.