Wednesday 26 March 2025, Alofi, Niue – Pacific National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) have recognised the benefits of integrating traditional knowledge indicators into weather and climate early warning systems, and are now looking at trialing the integration into regional climate outlook forums such as the monthly Ocean and Climate Outlook Forum (OCOF) and the Pacific Island Climate Outlook Forum (PICOF) held in April and October each year.
According to Mr. Philip Malsale, COSPPac Senior Climatologist, integrating traditional knowledge into these User Interface Platforms (UIPs) will not only bridge the gap between modern science and traditional knowledge and build more resilient Pacific communities, but will also ensure the continuity of traditional knowledge for generations to come.
“Combining traditional knowledge with modern science can empower and inform our Pacific island people to make good decision on how to adapt to, and minimise the impacts of weather and climate related extreme events,” Mr. Malsale said.
“Every day we are losing traditional Knowledge libraries and that is losing elderly people who are traditional knowledge holders. By collecting, archiving and continuing to monitor traditional knowledge indicators, we can save our national heritage which is our cultural knowledge on weather and climate and how to adapt, to empower our Pacific people to be more resilient,” he added.
The Ocean and Climate Outlook Forum is a monthly forum which is hosted under the Climate and Oceans Support Programme in the Pacific (COSPPac) Phase 3 project. The forum is a platform that provides National Meteorological Services (NMSs) to discuss the status of the climate and seasonal prediction derived from both statistical and dynamical models through their monitoring system. The climate information is shared by the NMHSs to national stakeholders.
NMHSs are now required as part of their operations to collect and compile their seasonal prediction reports each month to present at the OCOF, and with the inclusion of climate extreme event traditional indicators. They then use the monthly OCOFs to discuss their climate status and outlooks with other National Meteorological Services from around the Pacific.
“In the next few months, we will trial utilising these traditional knowledge indicators especially for El Niño, La Niña, and cyclone as part of the OCOF process. This is a call from the NMHS Directors who want climate divisions to start utilising these climate indicators in seasonal products to help communities prepare themselves, and for them to see the linkages between Traditional Knowledge indicators and modern science and appreciate their heritage. This process will require cared documentation and research” said Mr Malsale.
“Once we start using the TK indicators in the OCOF process and see commonalities emerging from different countries, we will utilise the common indicators in the PICOF regional statement to better inform the communities on the different El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) related events in the coming years.”
The PICOF is a platform used by the Pacific island Meteorological community to discuss and verify the climate and it’s impacts of the past six months, provide climate prediction for the upcoming season as well as engage with sectors.
El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a major climate driver that influences normal rainfall, temperature, and sea level patterns across the Pacific.
Mr. Mark Stege of the Republic of the Marshall Islands shared that bringing traditional knowledge into these discussions is a step in the right direction.
“It will be good to see traditional knowledge brought into the OCOFs and PICOFs because it will allow us to look at the same questions using additional tools and knowledge systems. This will hopefully validate the traditional knowledge and improve the science,” Mr. Stege added.
Ms. Glenda Pakoa of Vanuatu echoed these sentiments, adding that integrating traditional knowledge into the OCOF and PICOF processes will expand the tools that we use to reach our stakeholders in a way that they understand and are already using.
“Also, when we engage with these stakeholders, it provides them with a formal process to get in contact with the OCOF and gives them space to participate in the monthly forum,” Ms. Pakoa added.
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 Mr. Philip Malsale, COSPPac Senior Climatologist, at philipm@sprep.org.