Tuesday 25 March 2025, Alofi, Niue – The collection of traditional knowledge data and information has evolved over the years since the start of the Climate and Oceans Support Programme in the Pacific (COSPPac) project, with the introduction and availability of new technology which has made the process more convenient and increased community involvement in the data collection and monitoring process.
A significant part of the work to integrate traditional knowledge into climate and weather forecasting is identifying what traditional knowledge indicators exist in a particular environment, and collecting and documenting them for monitoring. This exercise often becomes the key to keeping traditional knowledge alive and ensure that it is not lost when the elders or traditional knowledge custodians pass on.
The Tongan Meteorological Service now uses a mobile application, which was launched in October 2024. The mobile app was developed to communicate forecasts, advisories, and extreme weather warnings, but it also includes a functionality which allows users to get more information about traditional knowledge indicators and also to submit traditional knowledge data to the Tonga Met Service.
“We also utilise social media for collection of monitoring and have set up Facebook groups and pages for different villages, where an authorised officer can post and share information pertaining to the weather from their specific location. They can also verify weather bulletins and forecasts issued by the Tonga Met Service by observing the traditional knowledge indicators in their village,” said Ms. Vaiola Vainikolo.
For a country such as Vanuatu, data collection can become an expensive and time-consuming exercise, as Vanuatu is made up of more than 80 islands spread out over 12,000 sq kilometers. The Vanuatu Meteorological and Geohazards Department (VMGD) depended on the Vanuatu Rainfall Network officers who are stationed in the outer islands to collect data on rainfall but also to collect data on traditional knowledge indicators. This was a timely process, as the officers use paper forms to fill in their observation and then send the forms by post to the main island of Efate where the VMGD main office is located.
As a result, the Vanuatu Klaemet Infomesen blong Redy, Adapt Mo Protekt (Van-KIRAP) project introduced a Climate Watch App, which is free for all to download, and allows ni-Vanuatu people within communities across the countries to submit traditional knowledge data to VMGD.
The data collected from the Climate Watch App can then be sorted and sifted through easily through the use of computer programmes, which alleviates the load of having to manually sort through hundreds of forms and written observations.
Data collection in Vanuatu is now also more gender inclusive, with the development of the Van-KIRAP project Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion Community Engagement Checklist, which is used to ensure that data collection is inclusive of all the different groups in the community.
“If you go out into the community to collect data, you must ensure that you are going at an appropriate time. Sometimes, the wives and mothers may not be available at a certain time as they will be at home cooking, so you will need to adjust the time accordingly. Also, youths can be rather shy when interviewed individually, but may fare better in a group setting, so you will need to make sure that you schedule group sessions in order to get what you need out of the young people,” said Ms. Glenda Pakoa of VMGD.
Ms. Siosinamele Lui, Traditional Knowledge Adviser with the Climate and Oceans Support Programme in the Pacific (COSPPac) Phase 3 project, stated that for the Pacific, the collection of traditional knowledge is about ensuring the survival of their culture.
“Collecting traditional knowledge is a time consuming and resource-intensive undertaking. With the development in technology, it has allowed for modern tools to assist with the collection and monitoring of traditional knowledge indicators for weather, climate and natural hazards," Ms. Lui says.
"The apps and the tools have also allowed and encouraged the intergenerational interactions between elders and young people in the documentation and collection of traditional knowledge."
The Joint Regional Peer-to-Peer Learning on Integrating Traditional Knowledge and Gender into Climate Early Warning Systems is being held in Alofi, Niue from 21 – 28 March 2025. It is jointly hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme through the Climate and Oceans Support Programme in the Pacific (COSPPac) Phase 3 Project and the United Nations Environment Programme’s Enhancing Climate Information and Knowledge Services for resilience in the 5 island countries of the Pacific Ocean (UNEP CIS-Pac 5) Programme.
The Climate and Oceans Support Programme in the Pacific Phase 3 (COSPPac 3) project is a four-year project funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Government of New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), which aims to support Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services to deliver useful and usable climate and ocean information services to enable all Pacific peoples to remain resilient to the impacts of climate change and disasters. It is jointly implemented by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), the Pacific Community (SPC), and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme.
The UNEP CIS-Pac 5 is a USD 49.9 million programme led by UNEP and funded by the Green Climate Fund to establish integrated climate and ocean information systems and a multi-hazard early warning systems in Cook Islands, Niue, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Tuvalu.
For more information, please contact Ms. Siosinamele Lui at siosinamelel@sprep.org.