Bionesian..............................Care for Land, Land for Life

Scenes from UNCCD COP 10

2011-10-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

21 October Changwon Korea - Photos by SPREP

L - R Albert Williamsn Vanuatu, Hon Stehens Kalsakau, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Vanuatu

Outside the Conference venue is the opportunity to experience Korean culture

SPREP photo opportunities with other UNCCD COP 10 participants

Explaining how the Eco-robot works

Osea Bolawaqatabu the Director for Land Resources Planning and Development of the
Department of Agricultre in Fiji

Volunteers of the UNCCD COP 10 gather for a group photo

SPREP's Nanette Woonton takes photo with UNCCD COP 10 volunteers

Picture by Makhmudjon Eshonkulov, Uzbekistan

Pacific delegates take a break outside the Rio Ecosystems Pavilion

Tyrone of Nauru visits exhibitions at the Rio Ecosystems Pavilion

Leaving messages outside the Conference venue

The messages to save Planet Earth

The Pacific meet with the Global Environment Facility

Delegation from Kiribati

Negotiating at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD

2011-10-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

21 October 2011, Changwon Korea - One of the issues followed closely by the Pacific at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 10) has been that of the Global Mechanism.

This is a specialised institution dedicated to mobilising resources to support developing countries to increase investments into Sustainable Land Management in order to help reverse, control and prevent land degradation and desertification.

Negotiations at the UNCCD COP 10 have revolved around the operation of the Global Mechanism as well as the location. The headquarters of the GM is currently hosted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, based in Rome. The Secretariat of the UNCCD is based in Bonn, Germany.

We interviewed Louisa Karika of the Cook Islands Delegation who has closely followed this thread of negotiations over the past few years.

L - R Louisa Karika Cook Islands, Maria Elder Fiji

Q. Tell us about the negotiations process on this particular issue, how has it been?

“For me this whole process started at the last Conference of the Parties in Argentina in 2009, it was there that an agreement was not reached so I took this up again during these negotiations in Korea. Negotiations can last all day and night, and go on like this all week, and you often end up cold, hungry and frustrated by the lack of progress!

It has been nice to see a lot of familiar faces and renewing friendships with negotiators for other regions and groups, we spend so much time in one room together during negotiations that we end up friends, even if we are opposite sides of an issue, and we always find a way to have a laugh.”

Q. How have the negotiations been this time?

“This year we actually started on the second day of the conference and I think it was good as it allowed for discussions over what the issues and viewpoints were before we actually went into text negotiations. I think this helped as we were able to agree in principle on what kind of outcome we wanted to see from our negotiations earlier on. We then started negotiating text after that and since then we have been working pretty much day and night, that’s a lot of hours!”

Q. So for someone who doesn’t know about negotiations, what happens inside the negotiating room? What happened with this particular issue?

“We negotiate text and concentrate on the language of a decision to make sure it says what we mean. We will work this way until it is agreeable to everyone and we reach consensus on different parts of the text. You can come across what we call ‘sticky points’ which are those that we can’t agree on but you can’t move forward we have to overcome these sticky points. For example during the last two days we were really stuck on an issue and we basically spent one full day negotiating on one paragraph. In order to make progress through the text, especially since we had already spent so long trying to find a compromise, the Chair of our contact group called a smaller informal group made up of representatives from each party and we basically sat in a small group on chairs and talked about our issue. By doing this we were able to negotiate in one hour what we could have spent a whole day trying to achieve – and that was an agreed text.”

Q. So you finally reached a consensus on this issue?

“We agreed on a number of governance and institutional issues of the Global Mechanism which includes a revision of the Memorandum of Understanding between the host of the GM – the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD. We have agreed to a process for implementing these changes and tabled the decision on the location of the GM until the next Conference of the Parties.

We also agreed that during the intercessional period (the two years in between each COP) the Executive Secretary in consultation with the COP Bureau will review proposals for housing the GM based on costs, synergies, operational modalities, governance efficiency etc so that come the next COP we are recommending that a decision on this issue be made as all the information will be before us.”

The draft decision prepared was approved by the Committee of the Whole to go before the Conference of the Parties for a final outcome on Friday evening. It was expected that the final meeting of the 10th Conference of the for the UNCCD was to start on friday night. This interview story was completed early Friday evening.

For more on the final outcome of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD please visit: http://www.unccd.int/cop/cop10/menu.php

Pacific voice raised at UNCCD COP 10

2011-10-21T01:19:00.000-07:00

21 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Several Pacific island nations were given a special mention during the last meeting of the Asia Pacific Group at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, in Korea today.

The increasingly positive involvement of the Pacific Island delegates in negotiations was mentioned on several occasions. Compliments have been made on the growing numbers of Pacific island delegates attending the UNCCD negotiations as well as their active participation .

“In the past I have not seen such active participation from the Pacific islands but more recently I have noticed our friends from the Pacific are not only engaging themselves in the contact group but also negotiating the text with our European Union and African friends,” said Chencho Norbu the Director of the Department of Agriculture from Bhutan. He was also the Chair of the Committee of the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC).

L - R, Bruce Jefferies SPREP, Louisa Karika Cook Islands, Chencho Norbu CRIC Chair

“I was very pleased to note this development and I am saying that I hope this will continue in the future. If we move forward collectively we can raise our Asian and Pacific voice and this is something, it’s a big step and I feel proud to be a part of the Asia Pacific region.”

Bhutan ratified this convention in 2003 and Norbu began following and attending the negotiations in 2004. At this Conference, Norbu’s term as the Chair of the CRIC comes to an end. The Chairs of the different committees are rotated amongst the sub regions at each Conference of the Parties.

Bruce Jefferies - Terrestrial Ecosystems Management Officer at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme commented that it was satisfying to hear comments such as this.

“It demonstrates that the investments made in SPREP facilitated Conference of the Party preparatory meetings are helping to build the capacity of Pacific Island staff.”

Eco-robots in Korea

2011-10-20T04:23:00.000-07:00

Eco-robot Dr Boomerang to recycle empgy cans and PET bottles

20 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Eco-robots could be the future of recycling.

Bright and bold, these eco-robots are a common sight at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification with several of them on display for which Pacific island delegates have been interested in.

Also known as automated recycling equipment, there are different types of eco-robot types that dispose of bottles, cans, plastics, films, glass bottles and cell phones. They automatically control the process of handling valuable recyclables including sorting, compressing, separating, storing and recovery. The eco-robot also comes with an eject door for unidentified objects and can compress up to 30 pieces per minute.

Delegates from Vanuatu and Samoa trying the Eco-robot

They were developed by a company from Korea called Eco-save that was formed in 2007 and develops and manufactures environment-friendly recycling automated equipment.

In order to use the Eco-robot you must be a member for which you are provided with a membership card. You insert your card before inserting your recyclables into the eco-robot, from there your recyclables will be processed and the weight of your carbon dioxide emission will be shown to you and the points you receive for recycling will be added on to your membership card.

Eco-robot will calculate your emissions

You can use the points on your card at supermarkets for discounts as well as purchases.

There are 60 eco-robot units in 30 stores nation-wide in Korea that are all linked together through an internet web base that is connected to a central operating system. When problems occur with the eco-robot troubleshooting and repairs are done through the remote system.

To find out more about the Eco-robot please visitwww.eco-save.co.kr

Slot to insert bottles and cans in Eco-robot

Insert your membership card

Eco Robot Phone Moa to dispose and recycle used cell phones

Pacific Emerging Environmental Leaders’ symposium starts in Apia, Samoa

2011-10-20T00:14:00.000-07:00

Reposted 17 October 2011, Apia Samoa - The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is hosting its first symposium for young professionals who are emerging as environmental leaders in the Pacific islands.

The Symposium, being held in Apia, Samoa from 16-20 October, was officially opened this morning by SPREP Director-General, David Sheppard.

Twenty young Pacific Islanders, hailing from a diverse range of professions, are participating in the Symposium, which will set the stage for the Pacific Emerging Environment Leaders’ (PEEL) Initiative, a longer-term programme aimed at supporting action by young professionals for environmental management and leadership.

Mr Sheppard congratulated participants on their selection and highlighted the value of young minds in developing innovative solutions to today’s problems. He made reference to the Pacific’s “youth bulge” and noted that in the region, the age group of 15-29 years accounts for a third of the working age population.

“You are arguably the most important sector of the populations, particularly as you move into leadership positions in our Pacific countries over the next few years,” he said.

“You are the ones who will be influencing and setting policy which will determine how well our environment is managed in the future.”

The Director-General referred to pressing issues in the Pacific region, which included biodiverisity, waste management and climate change as an environmental issues cutting across all sectors. He observed the range of different work sectors from which participants hailed and stressed that this bode well for addressing environment in a multi-sectoral manner.

The 20 participants to the week-long Symposium were selected from over 100 applications received from across the Pacific islands region. Seema Deo, SPREP’s Education and Communications Adviser, and organiser of the initiative, explained that participants were selected on the basis of drive, commitment, ability to nurture the growth of others and on their written vision statements.

“All applicants were of an exceptionally high calibre, which made the selection process a challenge for the four-person panel,” she said. “We are however, confident that we have a dynamic, self-motivated group, capable of thinking beyond barriers and who can contribute to good decision-making that integrates environmental thinking in the development framework.”

“We also hope to be in a position to engage those who missed out on this Symposium through an electronic forum and, potentially, through face-to-face interactions as the PEEL gains momentum.”

The Symposium participants have a wide range of interests, including energy, health, marine conservation and agriculture and come from media, government, civil society and the private sector. They will spend the week developing leadership skills, identifying clear pathways for action and developing a framework for a capacity building programme for young professionals in the region.

Samoa and Palau: Sustainable land management

2011-10-19T23:24:00.000-07:00

20 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Samoa and Palau are two of the 48 countries worldwide that are part of the Sustainable Land Management (SLM) project which aims to bring about effective land management in Least Developed Countries and Small Islands Developing States.

Funded by the Global Environment Facility and coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), this project has also helped these party countries implement the UN Convention to Combat Desertification through building local capacity.

According to a UNDP presentation, the project allows for approximately USD 500,000.00 per country to help bring about sustainable land management practices, and will come to an end next year in the Pacific region.

For the island nation of Palau, their project is focused on effective land use planning. This involves taking into consideration the various social, economic and environmental factors that may contribute to land degradation when planning to use land for a range of purposes; it also involves linking comprehensive planning with best management practices.

“This project has emphasised the value of land use planning and establishing more efficiency along institutional lines; SLM for Palau has not been focused on farming techniques, but rather more on how to facilitate stronger coordination among agencies involved in land management,” said Madelsar Ngraingas the SLM Project Coordinator through the Office of the PALARIS under the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Industries and Commerce.

“I think the project has been successful particularly with coordinating agency activities and building strong partnerships and collaborative efforts, particularly in terms of land use planning and other related activities outlined in the project.”

The Palau SLM project has three key areas which include; compilation of best management practices; development of a national land use policy that contains a financial strategy to sustain institutional operations and; supporting the mobilization of resources to help states develop master plans that ensure comprehensive planning and sustainable development.

Palau plans to complete their national activities for this project in December of this year with a project final evaluation to take place sometime early next year.

In Samoa the National Action Programme for sustainable land management was developed in 2006 outlines how the island nation is implementing the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. The Sustainable Land Management Project is one of the activities under the national action programme.

“It is through this project that we have been able to attract significant attention to the threat of land degradation upon the survival of land based natural resources upon which sustainable livelihoods depend,” said Fa’ainoino Laulala, the Principal Land Policy and Development Officer of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Samoa.

“Degraded land areas are visible in Samoa, due to infrastructural development and the frequent occurrence of natural disasters such as the 2009 tsunami. There is a greater need to protect our land at all costs through the promotion of sustainable land manage practices such as sustainable agriculture and wastershed management, to name a few, as well as through rehabilitation and conservation measures.”

A successful land degradation project in Samoa was that which restored 10 acres of largely degraded land that was an old government quarry site. As part of the National Action Programme the site is now restored through the rehabilitation efforts to revive the health and integrity of terrestrial ecosystems of the site, it is now a national park reserved mainly for recreational purposes.

“Apart from the SLM project which we hope to successfully complete by December, the Vaitele Rehabilitation project through funding from a UNCCD – Venezuela grant, is one of our success stories. Our main challenge now is to ensure we are able to sustain the ability to address desertification, land degradation and drought. The 5^th round of funding from the Global Environment Facility may have potential for us to address this challenge”

While at the UNCCD COP 10, Samoa has been in discussions with the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), UNDP and the Global Mechanism about a project to help strengthen sustainable financing activities in Samoa.

The 14 Pacific island countries that are a party to this project are: Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Pacific shares land managment experiences

2011-10-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

20 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Pacific experiences and lessons from a global project on Sustainable Land Management were shared with a wide group of participants at a side event at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

In all there are 46 least developed countries and small island developing states have participated in this project which aims bring about effective land management through building capacity and mainstreaming.

The “Sustainable Land management: Impacts and Lessons from a Programmatic Approach to Building Capacities for Sustainable Land Management in Least Developed Countries – Small Islands Developing States” event was held at the Rio Ecosystem Pavilion.

Land degradation is widely recognized as a fundamental ecological problem that affects the economic and social wellbeing of people at national and local levels and undermines the functions and services of ecosystems at a global level. Least developed countries and Small Island Developing (SID) states are particularly vulnerable.

Lessons were shared from the Africa, Asia, Caribbean and Pacific regions and these highlighted experiences in developing national and local human capacity to address Sustainable Land Management issues at a national level.

L - R William Ganileo Vanuatu, Annie Mauga Samoa

Samoa and Vanuatu made a joint presentation on Pacific regional lessons.

Achievements made in the region under this project include; seawalls to control coastal erosion; studies to minimise slopes erosion; coastal planting; nurseries to rehabilitate degraded areas; resource and training centres; skills transfer in nursery establishment, and grafting; agro-forestry; on-site demonstration training; and awareness at local, community and national levels.

The Pacific also experienced a number of challenges during the implementation of the project. These ranged from the acceptance of new hybrids versus local root crops, policy changes so as to address desertification, land degradation and drought as well as the introduction of new practices, to name only a few.

“One of the challenges we faced in the Pacific was changing the traditional systems of agriculture for communities and promoting new ways which will prevent degradation,” said Annie Mauga, the assistant coordinator of the Samoa Sustainable Land Management Project.

“Land ownership where the majority of Pacific land is traditionally owned can become a big challenge for us in the region,” added William Ganileo, the Sustainable Land Management Coordinator of Vanuatu.

Bruce Jefferies, SPREP Terrestrial Ecosystems Management Officer, who attended the presentations, commented after the side event that both staff members had made particularly useful contributions as they had focused their presentation material on “real world” examples.

“During international forums, such as the UNCCD COP10, presentations tended to dwell on theoretical ideas and concepts, it was important to share experiences from people that were actually working at an operational level.”

“This was an excellent side event! We’d like to hear more planning experiences from actions that people are doing on the ground and what are the strategies to expand and consolidate those successes and lessons learnt,” said Tepa Suaesi, SPREP’s Environmental Planning Officer.

“It would be really interesting to know more about the numbers of people involved with these worldwide projects, how many are facilitating SLM initiatives and the level of participation."

To access the pdf versions of the Pacific power point presented please click here.

5 Minutes with Palau...

2011-10-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

19 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Ms. Madelsar Ngraingas is the Sustainable Land Management Project Coordinator of the Office of PALARIS - Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Industries and Commerce. She is the sole delegate representing Palau at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

L - R Ms. Madelsar Ngraingas Palau, Ms. Cindy Ehmes FSM

Q. What has been the main issue for Palau at this 10th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification?

The harmonisation of requirements and sufficient distribution of resources across the 3 Rio conventions (UNCCD, Convention on Biological Diversity and Convention of the Framework of Climate Change) is of great interest to us in Palau. Another thing is to find out how we can move our current national land management priorities forward with the assistance of the UNCCD 10 year strategy.

For Palau, one of our key priorities is land use planning to avoid primarily the large sedimentation, soil erosion, coastal erosion that we are experiencing in the country. We are also interested in looking at the impacts of sea level rise and changing ocean temperatures as well as salt water intrusion in agricultural areas. What we would like to be able to do is make sure that the UNCCD ten year strategic plan is aligned with our national activities to maximise on the support offered by the convention as well as avoid unnecessary duplication.

Why is it important for Palau to be at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD?

I am new to this convention, this is my first time, but I think the advantage of being a party to the UNCCD is that in this international setting, we can provide another perspective of some of the key issues faced by the Pacific.

Palau, for example, is concerned with and driven by sustainable development, that is, a balance between economic growth and effective management of our natural resources. Being here at this meeting and being a party to the UNCCD, which focuses on desertification, land degradation and drought, allows us to highlight our key issues in a global context, helping to ensure that adequate support and attention are given to Palau and the rest of the Pacific.

5 Minutes with Samoa

2011-10-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

19 October 2011, Changwon Korea - The official delegation of Samoa at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is Ms. Filisita Heather and Ms. Faainoino Laulala of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. In the absence of the Minister and Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Heather is the Head of delegation in her capacity as the Assistant Chief Executive Officer of Land Management.

Ms. Laulala is the Principal Land Policy and Development Officer of the Ministry and is Samoa’s official correspondant of the UNCCD Committee on Science and Technology, she has been responsible for implementing the Convention at the national level.

L - R Ms. Fa'ainoino Laulala, Ms. Filisita Heather

Q. What is the key issue for Samoa at the UNCCD COP 10?
Land degradation is important for us in Samoa, and we are encountering drought as well this month. I think this convention is a good way for us to look forward for long term solutions and activities to help address these issues.

Q. Why is it important for Samoa to be part of the UNCCD?The convention has parties from all around the world, for Samoa it’s important as it is through implementing the requirements of this convention that we have activities on the ground to bring about sustainable land management. By being part of this convention we can also have access to funds or financial support to improve our land quality.

Ms. Fa’ainoino Laulala
Q. How important do you think the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is, on the global scale?

Desertification for Samoa can be clearly understood in the context of land degradation and drought, it is the main issue of consideration for us in this Convention. Our thanks goes out to the UNCCD for trying to make ‘Land’ clearly visible as the most basic natural resource which essentially connects us to all other parts of our natural ecosystems upon which humans can survive.

If we don’t ‘care for land, for land is life’ everything we do to address climate change and restore the loss of biodiversity, fails.

We must be mindful that land physically houses all other environmental natural resources such as water, forests, biodiversity and soil, only then can we fully understand the intrinsic value of our land in the context of the sustainable development framework especially aswe approach the Rio+20 meeting come June 2012 which we hope will further highlight the need for synergetic efforts of the three Rio Conventions to address the global environmental problems.

We all need to place ‘land’ as an important issue of the highest priority on the national agenda through mainstreaming sustainable land management practices into national plans and effective implementation of these plans through law enforcement. We small island states are relatively small in size and are vulnerable to climate change and have a fragile resource base, so we rely on our land for survival. I call on all to give Land and this convention the priority and support it deserves.

Fiji committed to combatting land degradation

2011-10-18T19:53:00.000-07:00

18 October, Changwon Korea - Fiji is serious about their commitment to reducing land degradation.

This was made clear during the United Nations General Assembly in September; the Prime Minister of Fiji, Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainamarama, outlined the important role of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification for the island nation.

“We must encourage the donor community and the United Nations system to continue to address the needs of more than one billion inhabitants of dry lands by encouraging appropriate investments to contribute to achieving the internationally agreed development goals include the Millennium Development Goals,” presented the Prime Minister.

“In this regard, we should promote awareness and support the exchange of best practices based on lessons learned, and to mobilise adequate and predictable financial resources for these investments.”

Osea Bolawaqatabu the Director for Land Resources Planning and Development of the Department of Agricultre in Fiji is attending the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD in Changwon Korea this week. He is pleased by the pledge of support made by the Prime Minister at the United Nations General Assembly.

“If there is to be mainstreaming of sustainable land management practices in Fiji, the political will must be in place,” he said.

“In this global era of escalating crisis and economic downturn where governments are striving to implement bailout policies with little attention to the potential of the land and soil it is crucial and important to highlight our commitment of being a county party to the UNCCD.”

The land and water resource management decree is now undergoing a final round of legal drafting and vetting with the office of the Solicitor General of Fiji before being submitted for cabinet endorsement next month.

“This will assist in the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in Fiji since it will ensure Government will allocate resources in the fight against land degradation.”

During the COP 10, discussions have been underway between Fiji, the Global Mechanism, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the United Nations Development Programme Fiji Country Office on the development of the UNCCD National Action Plan for Fiji. It will be combined with their Integrated Financial Strategy to raise financial resources for activities related to the Sustainable Land Management Project.

The National Action Plan will be aligned to the 10 year strategy of the UNCCD.

“In brief, this Nactional Action Plan will be the key instrument that carries out the UNCCD work in Fiji. It will spell out the practical steps and measures for Fiji to take to combat land degradation,” said Bolawaqatabu.

“The formulation of our NAP will start next month and will be completed and presented to cabinet for endorsement in February next year.”

“It’s an exciting time ahead for the implementation of UNCCD in Fiji."

The 10th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is held in Changwon, Korea from 10 - 21 October, 2011.

The Pacific at the UN Conference on Desertification

2011-10-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

18 October, Changwon Korea - While many of you may wonder why the Pacific is a part of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, given we don’t have any deserts in the Pacific, the range of this convention goes beyond desertification to include land degradation and drought.

For our corner of the world, land degradation and, as we are seeing right now in Tuvalu and some other small islands, drought is a crucial issue. Without fertile land and adequate water Pacific livelihoods and our way of life is at risk.

SPREP and Global Mechanism meet with Pacific country delegates

This week in Changwon, Korea a team of three from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is providing technical and communications support to 10 Pacific island countries attending the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD. This convention, which has 193 state party signatories, 14 of these are from the Pacific island region.

Inside the contact groups of the two week meeting, where the actual negotiations take place, the Pacific raises its collective voice as part of the wider Asia grouping to ensure that our concerns are heard amongst 193 other countries.

As part of the support from SPREP, the inter-governmental environment organisation coordinated a regional preparatory meeting in August, for all Pacific parties to this convention to meet and form a united voice and way forward at the UNCCD COP 10.

“The COP process provides an opportunity for the Pacific delegates to outline the role of their island nation in the global village,” said Bruce Jefferies the Terrestrial Ecosystems Management Officer at SPREP.

“We are aligned with the Asia Pacific region and it is easy to be subsumed by the big countries of Asia, such as India, Pakistan and Thailand, but we all experience similar problems, it’s just that in terms of scale the impacts are several times above what we experience in the Pacific, make no mistake the impacts on communities and natural resources are the same in our countries.”

One of the take home lessons for Jefferies was a presentation made during the first round table of the high level segment of the UNCCD by Dr Dennis Garrity, the Drylands Ambassador who shared a success story from North Africa in Burkina Faso where traditional and contemporary knowledge was combined with the vision and commitment of a local farmer. This involved planting indigenous trees, which in turn, progressively transformed degraded dry lands into productive forest and grazing lands.

Jefferies is hopeful the Pacific would be able to adopt and apply this method into a Pacific success story using appropriate indigenous species.

“This was very impressive and has a lot of potential for us in the Pacific. If we can develop the approach and find the right species, that can provide nutrients, fodder, timber and the ability to under plant productive crops this could be a good intervention for us in the Pacific as we have the advantage of working with smaller scale lands.”

Jefferies remains in Korea until the end of the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD accompanied by Tepa Suaesi, the Environment Planning Officer and Nanette Woonton, the Media and Public Relations Officer.

The UNCCD COP 10 is held in Changwon, Korea from 10 October to 21 October, 2011

Pacific resources not to be taken for granted

2011-10-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

18 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Understanding the resources we have in the Pacific cannot be taken for granted has hit home for the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Forest of Fiji, Viliame Naupoto.

He is currently in Changwon, Korea to attend the high level segment of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

70% of the land degradation that happens occurs outside of the dry lands. More than 12 million hectares of land is lost each year due to desertification, land degradation and drought, jeopardizing the livelihoods and survival of over one billion people in over 100 countries.

“Our resources have to be managed sustainably now for us, and for future generations,” said Permanent Secretary Naupoto.

“The little mistakes we make as far as our small resources are concerned have far bigger impacts than the little mistakes in the big countries. We cannot afford to make mistakes with our small resources - we need to get it right.”

The high level segment of the UNCCD COP 10 revolves around round table sessions which begin with a panel discussion before opening up for interactive dialogue sessions between the parties.

“UNCCD in the context of Rio+20: addressing desertification, land degradation and drought as a cornerstone of the green economy” was the topic of the second round table today.

In 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, three UN Conventions were formed to ensure sustainable development; the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the UN Framework on the Convention of Climate Change and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

Next year marks the 20^th anniversary of these Conventions for which the UN Conference on Sustainable Development will be held in Rio de Janeiro, more commonly known as the Rio+20.

Challenges to sustainable development that may be addressed at Rio+20 include issues of: access to renewable energy; water conservation; food security; ocean ecosystems; urbanisation; population dynamics; and disaster preparedness.

Land issues are central to the majority of these issues.

Discussions at the UNCCD COP 10 today indicated hope that that the Rio+20 can bring about a shift in the global understanding of the shared priority for the land agenda and understand the challenges of Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought (DDLD).

“I think the three conventions resulted from Rio, link with each other,” said Permanent Secretary Naupoto.

“We cannot talk about biodiversity on its’ own, we cannot talk about climate change on its own. They are all a part of each other and we need to remember this. We need to make sure that the UNCCD is high on the agenda as without soil or land, what is there?”

Vanuatu calls for UNCCD to be a priority

2011-10-17T18:50:00.000-07:00

Mr. Albert Williams, Vanuatu

18 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Calls for support to raise the priority of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) to the same level of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework for Convention on Climate Change are often echoed at the 10th Conference of the Parties of the UNCCD in Korea.

Albert Williams, the Director of Environment from Vanuatu has added his voice to others with this call for support. He is one of a delegation of three from Vanuatu that has convened with the 193 parties at the convention this week.

“Without the UNCCD, if we don’t manage or finance this convention to a level where the needs of a country are met, then you are compromising what you want for biodiversity and climate change,” said Williams.

“Everything happens on land and the degradation of the land will add to the problems caused by biodiversity loss and climate change. It is very important that the UNCCD gets the support and attention needed at national, regional and an international level.”

Land degradation is a key issue for Vanuatu. William explains that pressure on existing prime agricultural land from residential sub divisions, deforestation and other activities has resulted in a loss of soil fertility in Vanuatu.

“This overarching threat will impact on our food security and livelihoods of our local communities”.

Williams was joined by the Minister for lands and natural resources, the Hon. Stehens Kalsakau and the Sustainable Land Management Coordinator Mr. William Ganileo this week in Korea for the second week of the 10th Conference of the Parties which opened this week with the High Level Segment.

Fiji and Niue: Food security talks at UN Convention on Land degradation

2011-10-17T02:33:00.000-07:00

17 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Desertification, land degradation and drought and food security: Preserving the resource base for our food security was the topic of Round table 1 of the high level segment of the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Korea today.

For Niue it is difficult to measure the effects of food security.

According to the Associate Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Niue, Hon. Dalton Tagelagi explained that the low population of Niue places very little pressure on the available resource base on the island.

L - Associate Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Niue, Hon. Dalton Tagelagi

“This does not mean that it is not important, we too are taking all necessary precautions to ensure sustainable development at all levels with regards to resources we have contributing to food security in Niue.”

The Niue National Strategic Plan 2009 – 2013 addresses food security issues and the island nation currently has Food and Agriculture Organisation projects and activities on Food Security underway in Niue, spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

“We recognize the importance of preserving the resource base for food security and understand the effects of climate change together with land degradation in the agricultural sector with losses of some important plant species and the depletion of soil nutrients due to continuous burning and shifting cultivation.”

For the Fiji Permanent Secretary of Fisheries and Forest, Mr. Viliame Naupoto after listening to the dialogue on desertification, land degradation and drought (also known as DLDD), he believes from an island viewpoint another "D" can be added to this acronym to include Disappearance of land.

“Our land is not only suffering from land degradation, but also disappearance due to the effects of climate change,” said Permanent Secretary Naupoto.

“We have some takeaway lessons here, when we hear what is happening in Africa and how they are working towards greening their bare areas of land, from Fiji’s perspective we need to make sure that we do not arrive at that stage. Due to our small island size, we cannot afford for our land to be degraded to the extent that we are seeing in the bigger continents.”

While 41% of the earth’s land area are drylands that house two billion people, in the Pacific region only 2% is terrestrial while 98% is Ocean. Permanent Secretary Naupoto points out that due to our land size, our ecosystems are very much interconnected from the top of the hills and mountains to our reefs and ocean. When it comes to the issue of food security, our ecosystems play a large part.

“When we talk about food security we do not only talk about land issues we also talk about the fisheries issues as fish provides a big portion of our food security. To combat land degradation and drought we must look at it with an ecosystem approach, what we do on land and in the hills it affects our seas.”

During day one of the High Level Segment the delegates finished the discussions of Roundtable one. Still to be completed are Round table two and three which will continue through to the second and final day of the High level segment.

Ministers meet in Korea for UN Convention on Land degradation

2011-10-17T02:26:00.000-07:00

17 October 2011, Changwon Korea - The High-Level Segment of the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification today in Korea. This is the first time the 194 parties to the UNCCD have convened in Asia.

There are two Pacific Ministers attending this meeting representing Niue and Vanuatu as well as the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Forest from Fiji.

The opening of the High level segment had a range of speeches and messages.

A video message from His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales Prince Charles was shown at the opening of the two day High level segment as well as a video message from the UN Secretary Mr. Ban Ki Moon.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea, Mr.Hwang Sik Kim also made an opening statement as well as the President of the UNCCD COP 10, Don Koo Lee, Minister of the Korea Forest Service.

Mr. Lee reiterated the importance of desertification, land degradation and drought.

“Today, more than 12 million hectares of land are being lost every year due to desertification, land degradation and drought,” he stated.

“This is jeopardizing the livelihoods and the survival of more than one billion people in over 100 countries.”

The High level segment has 3 sessions of interactive dialogue sessions on different topics.

Round table 1 was on the topic of “Desertification, land degradation and drought and food security: Preserving the resource base for our food security.” This drew discussion and comments from the high level delegates at the meeting.

Round table 2 is on the topic of “The UNCCD in the context of the Rio + 20: Addressing desertification, land degradation and drought as a cornerstone of the Green Economy.”

Round table 3 is on the topic of “Harnessing science knowledge for combating desertification/land degradation and drought: the path to improvement.”

During the two day high level segment, the Government of Korea will be introducing the Changwon Initiative which is a mechanism to achieve the global target of zero net land degradation by 2030.

5 minutes with....

2011-10-14T02:57:00.000-07:00

Nauru

Tyrone Deiye

Environment Policy Officer

Nauru.

Q. What are the key issues for Nauru at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification?

For us mainly it is to keep abreast with the sustainable land management issues because at the moment we are finalising our National Action Plan for this. Land degradation is a big issue for Nauru due to the phosphate mining and we need to integrate this issue in the work that is being done by the environment service to put plans and policies in place for sustainable development.

Q. Why is it important for Nauru to be a party to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification?

A key objective of the Convention is to address land degradation. That is a big issue for us we need to keep informed of the connected issues and the ways to mobilize funds for us to address this a national level.

Q. What does Nauru hope to get out of this 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification?
We want to be more acquainted with the issues at this COP but we also want to unite with the Pacific and give our region a stronger voice at this meeting.

The Marshall Islands

Mr. Warwick Harris

Deputy Director

Office of Environmental Planning and Policy Coordination

Marshall Islands

Q. What are the key issues for the Marshall Islands at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification?

A. This is a fine opportunity to align our National Action Plan to the UNCCD ten year strategy, for which discussions are taking place on at this COP. Yesterday we met with the Global Mechanism and talked about the integrated finance strategy process. We would like to align our sustainable finance plan for the Micronesia Challenge with the ten year strategy and the integrated finance strategy of the UNCCD.

Q. Why is it important for the Marshall Islands to be a party to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification?

For the Marshall Islands one key cause of land degradation amongst others is coastal erosion and one of the reasons we are a party to this convention is to take advantage of every opportunity to develop our capacity to mitigate against droughts and coastal erosion.

Q. What does the Marshall Islands hope to get out of this 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification?
We’d like guidance as to how we can align our current sustainable finance plan under the Micronesia Challenge with the UNCCD Integrated Financial Strategy. I think that will be a start to us receiving financial support and assistance for this regional initiative under the UNCCD.

Notes:

The Micronesia Challenge is a shared commitment to conserve at least 30% of the near-shore marine resources and 20% of the terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020

The Global Mechanism (GM) is a specialised institution, dedicated to supporting developing countries to increase investments into Sustainable Land Management in order to help reverse, control and prevent land degradation and desertification.

More scenes of the UNCCD COP 10

2011-10-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

Changwon Korea 10 - 20 October, 2011
Photos by SPREP www.sprep.org

Fiji, Samoa - morning coffee run

Facts

Civil Society stalls

Craft making at the Civil Society Stalls

Step 1...

Step 2...

And there it is, butterfly in pot plant

FSM, Fiji, Cook Islands, Palau

Free donuts

Receiving free donuts

Samoa and Vanuatu, in line for free donuts

SPREP, Pacific delegates and Global Mechanism meet at UNCCD COP 10

Traditional Korean entertainment at the UNCCD COP 10

FSM to seek ways to access services of Global Mechanism

2011-10-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

14 October 2011, Changwon, Korea - The Federated States of Micronesia participation in the 10th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is mainly focused on the agenda items of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC) as put forthcat this COP10.

Two key items are of most interest is the future of the Global Mechanism, and the duplication at national, regional and sub-regional levels.

The Global Mechanism (GM) is a specialised institution, dedicated to supporting developing countries to increase investments into Sustainable Land Management in order to help reverse, control and prevent land degradation and desertification.

“FSM would like to receive more support from the Global Mechanism,” said Cindy Ehmes, the sole representative from FSM at this meeting.

Cindy Ehmes, FSM

“Our participation in the Conference of the Parties in Changwon, Korea this week is to seek ways for FSM can begin to access the services of the Global Mechanism.”

Another key concern for FSM is the need to align all plans to avoid duplication of work.

The UNCCD requires Parties to develop its National Action Plan as the main plan to address land degradation at the National level.

FSM is currently developing its National Action Plan however the Convention also requires the development of Regional and Sub-regional Plans.

“There are too many reports and we’d prefer to see resources or funds that might otherwise be utilised to develop plans at regional level or sub-regional levels, be made available to Parties to actually do work on the ground.”

FSM believes that much can be learned from the experience with the Global Environment Facility where principles of aid or development assistance are better applied with a focus on country priorities.

UNCCD a priority for Fiji

2011-10-13T04:15:00.000-07:00

13 October 2011, Changwon Korea - The Government of Fiji has announced their support for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification as an important agreement at the High Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly in September, which addressed the issue of desertification, land degradation and drought in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication.

For Maria Elder, the Science and Technical Correspondent of Fiji to this Convention, this is welcoming news.

“It is really helpful in terms of implementing the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Fiji as we have been working to mainstream sustainable land management in our country. We are also reviewing our National Action Plan as part of our report due in 2012, and ultimately we need cabinet endorsement before we can take it to the UNCCD Secretariat.”

The statement made by the Prime Minister of Fiji, Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, outlines Fiji’s commitment to combat continuous land degradation sharing the nations role in strengthening integrated water resource management, integrated land and coastal use planning and reforestation initiatives to complement the efforts to halt land degradation.

“We believe that we must prioritise sustainable land use, agriculture and food security as cornerstones of the green economy for poverty eradication and sustainable development,” he presented.

The Prime Minister of Fiji also called for a sustainable development target of ‘zero net land degradation’ and for the UNCCD to be an essential tool to achieve food security.

The full statement made is available below:

Statement by COMMODORE JOSAIA VOREQE BAINIMARAMA

PRIME MINISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI

at the

HIGH-LEVEL MEETING OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON

“ADDRESSING DESERTIFICATION, LAND DEGRADATION AND DROUGHT IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY ERADICATION”

19-20 SEPTEMBER 2011

UNITED NATIONS

NEW YORK

19 September 2011

___________________

Distinguished Co-chairs and Excellencies,

My delegation’s participation at this first High-Level Meeting on today’s theme in the General Assembly is a testimony of the utmost importance that my Government attaches to the important global issues of desertification, land degradation and drought. Reality would affirm that without addressing these issues, the world would not achieve its internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs. The Secretary-General’s Report clearly emphasises that desertification and land degradation are now pervasive problems in all ecosystems which affect us all in various ways, but has a disproportionate impact on many of the world’s poorest people.

For a small island developing State such as Fiji, the impacts of climate change pose immediate threats to our economy and our survival.

Climate variability and the effects of El Nino and La Nina further exacerbate the vulnerabilty of our ecosystems and pose a greater risk to the sustainability of our environment. The increasing occurrences of natural disasters make our land more susceptible to degradation and drought. These are challenges that we cannot escape from, the effects of which we must mitigate.

In mitigating these challenges, Fiji has put in place measures towards the sustainable management of our natural resources. We have mainstreamed sustainable land management issues into most of the key sectors of its national strategic plan, and importantly, we have put in place appropriate laws and policies that ensure an integrated and comprehensive approach towards the effective implementation of the Convention (UNCCD).

With a view to combatting continuous land degradation, not only have we focused on landuse, emphasis has also been placed on intergrated water resource management and intergrated land and coastal use planning. In line with these strategies are our reforestation initiatives which have effectively complemented our efforts to combat land degradation. We believe that we must prioritise sustainable land use, agriculture and food security as cornerstones of the green economy for poverty eradication and sustainable development.

At this high level meeting, it is important for us to recognise the urgent need of exerting our collective efforts to addressing the issues at hand in a manner that further progresses the objectives of the Convention.

As we look forward to Rio+20, my delegation wishes to submit the following points to be included in the outcome of this high level meeting:

(i) We must encourage the donor community and the United Nations system to continue to address the needs of more than one billion inhabitants of dry lands by encouraging appropriate investments to contribute to achieving the internationally agreed development goals including the MDGs. In this regard, we should promote awareness and support the exchange of best practices based on lessons learned, and to mobilize adequate and predictable financial resources for these investments.

(ii) We need to strengthen our scientific capacity to understand and monitor the seriousness of the issues at hand. For this reason, we support the establishment of a panel of experts to deal solely with the issue of DLDD.

(iii) We should set ourselves a target of ‘zero net land degradation’ as a sustainable development target.

(iv) We should make UNCCD an essential tool to achieve food security.

Fiji trusts that the outcomes of this high level meeting sets the global community on track, to effectively address and curtail the peril of desertification, land degradation and drought.

Thank you.

Science valuable to combatting land degradation in Fiji

2011-10-13T04:08:00.000-07:00

13 October 2011, Changwon, Korea - Science plays a vital role in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

Recognising this, the Convention has formed a body called the Committee of Science and Technology which has a representative from each country that is a party to this convention. Their role is to assist the national UNCCD focal points to provide scientific data to support the implementation of national activities.

In the Pacific region, these activities focus on land degradation and sustainable land management.

Maria Elder, Fiji

“We help to help collect and analyze physical scientific data to assist with the policy and decision making for our countries in carrying out the convention,” said Maria Elder, of the Department of Agriculture of Fiji.

The Committee of Science and Technology are currently meeting during the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD which is a biannual gathering. This Committee also gathers every other year during a ‘special’ session.

“Our meetings are focused in terms of the types of data we need to collect on the field, the socio-economic, bio-physical and economic issues related to land degradation. This week in Korea we have had feedback from 11 countries on a pilot project that tested the new reporting cycle for the UNCCD.”

No Pacific countries were part of this project, however despite this, attending the meetings of the committee of science and technology have been valuable for Fiji.

The national reports that review country implementation of the UNCCD take place every two years. For Elder, the UNCCD COP 10 will assist with Fiji’s preparations to complete their next report which is due in 2012.

“For Fiji, I have to go back and meet with the national UNCCD focal point and really look at the reporting template and try to get the missing information that we need. Sometimes our work at national level is general so through attending this meeting it has given me the chance to look at what is needed scientifically so we can realign our activities on the field in Fiji and start collecting the important information needed for our next report”.

The Committee of Science and Technology meets during the first week of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD. Elder will be returning to Fiji tomorrow as next week the actual meetings of the parties to discuss the Convention will take place.

SPREP speaks at South-South Cooperation event on land management

2011-10-13T00:47:00.000-07:00

12 October 2011, Changwon, Korea - The Pacific region was highlighted during a special event at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification which focused on the South-South cooperation between Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific.

Sustainable Land Management and Finance was at the core of this discussion which had presentations made sharing experiences from each of the three regions.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) shared experiences on Ecosystem based adaptation and mainstreaming land management projects from the Pacific in a joint presentation from Tepa Suaesi the Environment Impact Assessment Officer, SPREP and Bruce Jefferies the Terrestrial Ecosystems Management Officer, SPREP.

The Pacific was asked as to how they would recommend synergy at the sub-regional and regional level between all three Rio Conventions which focus on biodiversity, climate change and land.

Tepa Suaesi, Environment Officer, SPREP

“For the Pacific, the regional frameworks are in place, which cover environment and development. We have the Council of the Regional Organisations of the Pacific, we have a Pacific Plan document,” answered Tepa Suaesi, the Environment Officer of SPREP.

“The challenge for our region is bringing the planning process from the regional and national level to the local level as we have the traditional structures in place, so we can increase the number of people with knowledge in the global context.”

This side event was coordinated by the Global Mechanism, the organization tasked with resource mobilization for the UNCCD

"Save the Earth" Cartoon Exhibition

2011-10-13T00:05:00.000-07:00

13 October 2011, Changwon, Korea - 140 works of art are on display at the Changwon Exhibition Convention Center (CECO) which is the venue of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Drawn by students and world famous cartoonists, the art pieces are about combating desertifcation and protecting our environment; they have messages for us all.

By Pawel Kuczynski, Poland

Fadi Abou Hassan, Palestine

Makhmudjon Eshonkulov, Uzbekistan

Pavel Constantin, Romania

Nam Myunglae,

Pawel Kuczynski, Poland

Juli Sanchis Aguado, Spain

Fadi Abou Hassan, Palestine

Makhmudjon Eshonkulov, Uzbekistan

The Cook Islands at UN Convention on land degradation

2011-10-12T03:21:00.000-07:00

12 October 2011, Changwon, Korea - There is a delegation of two representing the Cook Islands at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, in Korea.

Land degradation is of major concern to the Cook Islands, as it can have a major impact upon local communities in the island nation.

“Land degradation issues are so closely tied to our lagoon areas, any development or unsustainable practises that happen on our lands can impact upon our lagoons including through sedimentation in our lagoons,” said Louisa Karika the Sustainable Land Management Project Coordinator of the Cook Islands National Environment Service.

Louisa Karika interviewed by a Korean radio station at the UNCCD COP 10

She began her involvement with the UNCCD negotiations on behalf of the Cook Islands in 2007.

“It is hard to separate land degradation concerns from biodiversity and climate change issues on small islands like the Cook Islands because our environment is so interrelated. Our land management is so closely tied together with other environmental concerns that we cannot manage them in isolation.”

As a party to the UNCCD there are conditions and indicators which the Cook Islands must report against. It is at this Conference that support for activities to stop land degradation is being sought by the Cook Islands.

“We have a lot of problems in terms of funding these activities and at times, it can be seen as an additional burden. At this meeting we are looking to find ways to support the implementation of this convention to stop land degradation through activities that are relevant to us in the Pacific.”

Science is a major part of this UN Convention, as it is through science and research that the progress of the convention in each of the parties can be determined. It has been said that more than 12 million hectares of productive land is lost due to desertification every year the equivalent of losing an area the size of South Africa every decade.

Tavake Manuel-Karika

Tavake Manuel-Karika the Agriculture research officer of the Ministry of Agriculture is also at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD to contribute towards the scientific aspects of this Convention. He is the alternate science and technology correspondent to the Convention on behalf of the Cook Islands.

For the Pacific region, strengthening land quality to support livelihoods and biodiversity is vital.

“Agriculture is an important part of ensuring sustainable land practices, it is through working with local growers in the Cook Islands to promote sustainable land management to reduce land degradation can take place.”

“We work closely with the ministry of agriculture, they are one of our partners for this convention and they are fully supportive of allowing Tavake to take part in these meetings.”

The Pacific featured at climate change side event in Korea

2011-10-11T22:51:00.000-07:00

12 October, 2011, Changwon, Korea - The voice of the South Pacific was heard amongst the African concerns at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Korea.

While 41% of the earth’s land area are drylands that house two billion people, in the Pacific region only 2% is terrestrial while 98% is ocean. Despite this land degradation is a major concern for the Pacific region under this Convention. Without the ability to grow food, protect water sources the Pacific faces major threats ranging from loss of livelihoods ecosystems and loss of food security.

Day 3 of the two week conference focused on Ecosystem-based Approaches to Climate Change: Addressing Adaptation and Mitigation at the Rio Ecosystems Pavilion.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) was one of a panel of six that presented on the Pacific environment at a special session on Dryland Protected Areas: Ecosystem-based Approaches(EbA) to Climate Change.

Bruce Jefferies the Terrestrial Ecosystems Management Officer at SPREP provided a Pacific overview of biodiversity conservation and ecosystem based adaptation which clearly outlined that drylands are not a landmark of the Pacific, however the Pacific is utilising EbA to adapt to climate change.

“The Pacific makes up 30% of the surface area of the planet and the islands are very diverse,” said Jefferies.

“Small islands don’t have the advantages that continents have, communities can’t move to higher altitudes and they are very small so moving laterally is also unrealistic. We’re here to provide a “Pacific Voice” at this Conference and to ensure that the Pacific is back on the global radar.”

The SPREP Conservation International (CI) partnership is working on a Ecosystem-based Adaptation Project. This aims at encouraging climate change adaptation that integrates the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services into an overall strategy that will help people adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change.

“In the Pacific mangrove protection is valued at between US200, 000.000– 900,000.00 per hectare. Without mangroves protection the communities, would be vulnerable to storm surges and tsunamis that not only cause environment degradation, but have already caused loss of life.”

Another key point from the panel presentations was made by Ms. Kathy MacKinnon of the IUCN - World Commission on Protected Areas that are promoting Natural solutions.

“Land conversion is responsible for 20% of the greenhouse gas emissions. If we can stop habitat loss we can reduce these emissions. 12.7% of the World’s land surfaces are Protected Areas, through protecting our biodiversity and ecosystem services and good we can help people cope with climate change, desertification, drought, and land degradation.”

Scenes of the UNCCD COP 10

2011-10-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

Changwon, Korea, 10 - 20 October, 2011
Photos by SPREP - http://www.sprep.org/

L - R Louis Karika Cook Islands, Tepa Suaesi SPREP, Bruce Jefferies SPREP

Friendly chat before the Asia Pacific Group Meeting -
L - R Mr Tyrone Deiye Nauru, Mr Warwick Harris Marshall Islands

Delegates from Samoa L - R Ms. Fa'ainoino Laulala, Ms. Filisita Heather

Billboard outside of the Conference venue

Security checkpoint inside conference venue

L - R Madelsar from Palau with Cindy from FSM before the plenary starts

Foyer of the UNCCD COP10 during early morning hours,
this is where accreditation and registration takes place

Maria Elder, Fiji

Kiribati seeks support for waste problem at UN Conference

2011-10-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

11 October 2011, Changwon, Korea - Land degradation in caused by waste and pollution is an issue Kiribati hopes the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification will address.

A two member delegation from Kiribati is attending the UNCCD COP 10 in Changwon, Korea hoping that the outcomes of this meeting will lead to programmes of work to help Kiribati carry out national activities to address the waste and pollution issue.

L - R Mr. Puta Tofiga, Mr. Rui Tabutoa

“We already have a National Action Plan (NAP) that will focus on land degradation caused by pollution and waste on land and in water”, said Puta Tofinga the Environment Impact Assessment Officer of the Kiribati Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development.

“Somehow we cannot really implement our actions at the national level without support and financial assistance.”

Rui Tabutoa, the Assistant Secretary of the Kiribati Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agricultural Development is hopeful the voice of Kiribati will be heard and outcomes will address their priority issue.

“Kiribati is a party to the UNCCD and it’s our obligation to comply with this convention, land degradation caused by land based pollution is a problem we hope we are closer to resolving with help from this Convention.”

The Cook Islands, Vice Chair of the Asia Pacific region at the UNCCD

2011-10-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

10 October, Changwon, Korea - The Cook Islands has been elected as the Vice Chair for the Asia and Pacific region at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. The position of Chair is held by Iran.

“This was a bit unexpected,” said Louisa Karika of the Cook Islands.

Louisa Karika (Center) with delegates from Bhutan

“Our Chair was nominated however he will not be here for the full Conference so I was asked to fill in his place for next week. In that process while getting the concensus of the group, it was amended into the Cook Islands becoming the Vice Chair for the regional Asia annex.”

The Pacific is recognised as one of the 6 sub regions under the regional annex of Asia at this UN Convention for which land degradation is a key concern for the region. However the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD has labelled this group as the Asia and Pacific Group.

There are 14 Pacific island countries and territories that are a party to this UN Convention which was formed out of the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

It was acknowledged that this is the first time the Pacific region has held such a position.

“Over the next two years I will be supporting the Chair when he is not available in terms of coordinating in the region, this position is more a supportive role.”

Care for Land, Land for Life

2011-10-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

10 October 2011, Changwon, Korea - The 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification has opened in Korea.

14 Pacific island countries are parties to this Convention that addresses land degradation and sustainable land management, a significant issue of concern for the region. (Visit www.bionesian.blogspot.com)

While productive land becomes scarcer, providing food for the 9 billion people predicted to live on Earth in 2050 will require a 70 per cent increase in global food production.

Over the course of the next two weeks, island nations in the Pacific are at the conference with the 180 parties to the convention to shape the way forward that will help stop land degradation in our region.

“The Earth, once a healthy planet is slowly losing its’ health and vitality,” said the Governor of the Gyeongnam Province, host to the UNCCD COP 10.

The past President of the UNCCD COP asked that parties at these negotiations multiply forces to achieve the objectives under the convention.

Opening UNCCD COP 10 Plenary

“Dont forget the beneficiaries for whom these efforts are being deployed,” asked Jose Cueva, Director of Soil Conservancy of Argentina, before he welcomed the election of Don koo Lee, the Minister of Korea Forest Service as President of COP 10 who asked that countries be bold, ambitious and creative in talking the unresolved methodological and institutional issues.

“At the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, desertification, climate change and biodiversity loss were identified as the greatest challenges to sustainable development, now desertification, drought and land degradation remains with a low profile but these issues are equally important as others.”

The 10^th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD Opened in Changwon Korea on 10 October and will end on 21 October, 2011.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has a delegation of three to provide technical and communications support to the 14 Pacific island countries and territories at this Conference.

L - Mr. Bruce Jefferies, Mr. Tepa Suaesi

"We have provided support to the Pacific countries in the months leading up to this international event, providing both a Policy brief for guidance for the Pacific as well as staging a Pacific regional preparatory meeting," said Bruce Jefferies the Terrestrial and Ecosystems Management Officer at SPREP.

"We look forward to seeing what the coming meeting will bring for the Pacific region as we combat land degradation, a vital concern given the livelihoods of our Pacific people depends on our biodiversity and what the land can yield."

Keep reading www.bionesian.blogspot.com to keep update with the news.

Vanuatu Launches the Pacific Year of the Dugong Campaign

2011-06-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

6 June 2011, Vanuatu - The Vanuatu Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Steven Kalsakau, launched the Vanuatu Pacific Year of the Dugong campaign on Monday 6 June 2011. The launched was held at the Vanuatu Kultural Senta, and was attended by representatives from various Government Departments and NGOs.

Honourable Minister Steven Kalsakau,
Minister of lands Geology & Mines & Natural Resources giving official speech

The launch was together with the launching of a book, “Santo 2006”, produced by Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) Noumea. The book entails a “ridge to reef” research project conducted on Vanuatu’s biggest island, Espiritu Santo, in 2006. The project involved many Government agencies in Vanuatu.

The Vanuatu PYOD launch was also on "World Environment Day" June 6.

The Vanuatu Department of Environment is working with the Department of Fisheries on activities, including school awareness programme, for the second half of the year. The questionnaire-based dugong survey is also being conducted through-out Vanuatu involving Peace Corp Volunteers for the outer Islands.

Minister of Lands, Geology & Mines & Natural Resources
Hon. Steven Kalsakau alongside other Dignitaries

Below is the speech made by the Vanuatu Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and Environment at the official launch

Honourable Steven Kalsakau, Minister of Lands & Natural Resources & Environment Official Speech at Official Launching of the Regional Year of The Dugong in Vanuatu.

Time & Date: 3:30pm June 6^th 2011

Venue: Vanuatu Kultural Senta (VKS)

Honorouble Prime Minister, Sato Kilman

Ministers & Members of Parliament

Heads and staff of different government departments

Members of the Diplomatic Corps

Representatives of Non –Government Organisations

Representatives of the Vanuatu Christian Council

Representatives of Chiefs

Invited Guests

Ladies & Gentlemen

I am very happy to accept this invitation, to be able to be part of this ceremony this afternoon, to officiate this special event. I would like to take this opportunity as the minister responsible for the environment in Vanuatu. To say thank you to the Department of Environmental Protection & Conservation and the Department of Fisheries of the Government of Vanuatu. For inviting me to give the official speech for the launching of the “Regional Year of the Dugong.”

Today we also commemorate “World Environment Day” which is always held on the 5^th of June of Every Year. The main theme of this years’ world environment day is;

‘Forests: Nature at Your Service’

This World Environment Day theme also supports the 2011 UN International Year of the Forests.

At the Regional level, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has declared that 2011 be the ‘Regional Year of the Dugong’. The theme to celebrate this regional year of the dugong is

‘Respect and Protect’

These two themes reminds us of the importance of conserving and protecting our biodiversity in our world today and even in Vanuatu.

It reminds us that we should look after and safeguard the plants and animals, the nature and wildlife that our country has to offer. As they are an integral part of our society.

With the important themes of World Environment Day and the regional year of the dugong. It is very pleasing that Vanuatu can take part in these special event like other countries in the world. These events give us a chance to reflect upon our natural environments and things within them that we depend upon for the development and support of our livelihoods.

SPREP has declared that 2011 be the ‘Regional Year of the Dugong’. Dugongs or Sea Cows are marine mammals that mainly feed on Sea Grass. In Vanuatu they are mainly found on islands that have abundant seagrass habitats. Mainly Reef islands in the Banks, East Coast of Santo, Central and South West Coasts of Malekula, North East coast of Epi, Port Havannah on Efate and South East Coast on Tanna.

Dugongs are registered under the “Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora (CITES). Vanuatu is a member of CITES when we signed the convention in 1989. CITES has a list of Endangered Plants and Animals which has strict controls of trade of these species between countries of the world. Dugongs are listed in the international list of endangered species. Which means that they cannot be captured for sale or for consumption or trade within a country or between countries.

To mark this ‘regional Year of the Dugong’ the department of Environmental Protection & Conservation along with the Fisheries Department have planned some activities to carryout throughout the remainder of the year. Activities include exhibitions, school competitions in essay writing and art work. Printing of Posters and T- shirts. School Visits and talks to students. Radio talkback shows and tv programmes. As well as Community Awareness raising about the importance of conserving Dugongs.

It is my understanding that some communities in Vanuatu maintain some Cultural or Custom Practises associated with Dugongs. In some islands dugongs are hunted and eaten according to local customs and beliefs.

I would like to ask that these communities that if they continue with these cultural practices that they bear in mind that the animal is an endangered species. And that only one animal should be killed instead of ten or twenty at one time. Advice should be sought after from the Departments of Environment and Fisheries on such matters.

This would help ensure the sustainability of healthy Dugong Populations in the country.

As the Minister responsible for the Environment I would like to encourage all departments of government to work together with the Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation and Department of Fisheries to carry out activities throughout the year to celebrate ‘Regional Year of the Dugong’. I would like to ask everyone involved to implement sound activities to raise awareness to our people around Vanuatu, especially our school children, So that they may learn more about Dugongs and help protect them so that they will always remain in our waters.

I would like to ask all communities around Vanuatu to work together with the departments of government to implement awareness raising activities within our different islands.

It is our duty, as citizens of our country to look after our lives and our environment. Because our environments also sustains our lives and provides for our livelihoods.

We must respect & Protect our plants and animals, especially endangered species such as the Dugong.

With this Speech, I as the Minister responsible for the Environment, have the great honour now to declare ‘ Regional Year of the Dugong’ Officially open this year 2011. And I would like to wish all departments responsible and all communities around Vanuatu a great celebration of the events to commemorate this year 2011as the ‘Regional Year of the Dugong’

Shangri-La's Fijian Resort and Spa Celebrates World Ocean Day

2011-06-21T13:31:00.000-07:00

14 June 2011, Release from Shangri-La's Fijian Resort and Spa - Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa staff and volunteers from the Cuvu District School Environment Club potted and planted more than 300 mangrove seedlings and made two fish houses to mark World Ocean Day that was celebrated globally on Wednesday 8^th June. (Right - Marine Manager Mereoni Mataika with students from Cuvu District School Environment Club with one of the nurseries planted.)

Twenty eight students from the Cuvu Environment club were split into two groups to take part in the fun filled activities led by Marine Manager, Ms. Mereoni Mataika. The event was held over three hours with mini quizzes which saw each student going home with a prize, mangrove potting along the Yanuca eastern coast and fish house building. To end the day, the children were hosted to refreshments provided by the Resort and a prize giving ceremony for quiz winners. (Left - Volunteer Mosese Navaci with students from Cuvu District School Environment Club after making fish houses.)

“Our partnership with the Cuvu District School Environment Club is a critical one as these young people aged between 10-13 years will become future leaders in our community and in Fiji,” said Resort general manager, Michael Monks. “We will continue to support and raise awareness of the importance of looking after our environment and we will continue to encourage ongoing partnerships with our communities,” Mr Monks said. (Right - General Manager Michael Monks presenting prizes to quiz winners)

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts remain committed to operating in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner while balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders. In striving to be a leader in corporate citizenship and sustainable development, a corporate-level CSR Committee drives the company’s initiatives in the strategic areas of stakeholder relations, environment, health and safety, supply chain and employees. Under the umbrella of SUSTAINability, Shangri-La’s social responsibility program consists of the two elements of “embrace” and “sanctuary.” Embrace focuses on Shangri-La’s Caring People Project, which aims to promote the highest level of education and health support in underprivileged communities. In sanctuary, the program concentrates on Shangri-La’s Care for Nature Project, which promotes the conservation and restoration of biodiversity. For more information, please access the CSR section on www.shangri-la.com.

Staff and management with students from the Cuvu District School Environment Club
following World Ocean Day activities.

Students from Cuvu District school Environment Club
inside the Shangri-La's Marine Education Centre dead zone exhibit.

PRESS CONTACT: Lata Yaqona

Communications Manager

Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort & Spa

Tel: (679) 652 8708

Fax: (679) 652 0931

E-mail: lata.yaqona@shangri-la.com

Website: www.shangri-la.com

For digitised pictures of the group’s hotels, please go to http://www.shangri-la.com/imagelibrary

Conservation awareness strengthened in Rotuma

2011-05-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

Bridge at Ka'ta - Rotuma. Photo by Alan Howard

19 May, Nadi, Fiji - Empowered communities in Rotuma, an isolated island located to the North of Fiji, are strong stewards of their environment caring for their biodiversity and undertaking programs to conserve nature on the island.

The LäjeRotuma Initiative (LRI) is a community-based environmental education and awareness development programme in Rotuma that has provided strong support to the local communities. Formed in 2002 by a group of young Rotumans, to bridge their home island with the rest of the world in raising awareness on environment issues, the LRI has successfully led numerous activities on the island.

Rotuma is a 43 square kilometer Island with a population density of 61 people per square km (Fiji Census 1996). It is situated in the South West Pacific, about 465km North of Fiji.

Rotuma‚ as a geographical isolate, with an economy that is externally influenced from mainland Fiji, illustrates the high dependence of an island community on its natural resources.

The Eco-camp facilitated by the LRI, held in the Yasawa Islands, 2009. Image courtesy of the LRI

“LRI has, over the years grown from humble beginnings to being recognised as an important partner that decision making processes affecting Rotuma’s development and natural resource use plans,” said Alfredo Ralifo of WWF, one of the founding members of the LäjeRotuma Initiative.

“Currently, LRI is in the process of registering itself as a charitable trust so that it can be more effective in achieving its vision for Rotuma and her people.”

When it began the LäjeRotuma Initiative focused on engaging youth to strengthen the capacity of the island community in making informed decisions on managing the natural resources of Rotuma. LRI has now grown to include nature conservation activities on the island.

The range of these activities includes carrying out baseline biodiversity surveys in Rotuma, 10 island youth trained as certified PADI Open Water divers to help conduct basic scientific coral reef surveys in Rotuma, funding secured to help implement community conservation awareness and many other achievements.

One of the most recent involves assisting the Yasawa Island Group in Fiji with forming a Biodiversity Conservation Network named Tikina Naviti Conservation Initiative.

The Eco-camp facilitated by the LRI, held in the Yasawa Islands, 2009. Image courtesy of the LRI

“Sharing lessons between two unique but similar island communities to support each other in terms of protecting their unique island biodiversity is very important. The LäjeRotuma Initiative hopes to share its lessons and experiences over the years with other island communities and establish a network of island communities to improve community livelihoods and as well as building resilience towards the effects of Climate Change.”

The current Plan of Action for the LRI encompasses community outreach, building community resilience to climate change, integrated fisheries management, sustainable livelihoods options and research and capacity building.

For more information on the LäjeRotuma Initiative and to make contributions, please visit: http://www.rotuma.net/os/lajerotuma.htm

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is a major partner of the LRI, other major partners are: Rotuma Island Council, Rotuman Member of Parliament, WWF, AUSAID, Marine Studies Program, Institute of Marine Resources, SISA, University of the South Pacific, GCRMN, Global GreenGrants Fund, British High Commission Suva, SeaWeb, Coral Cay Conservation, PADI Foundation, Project AWARE, Ministry of Youth, WAC Theatre Unlimited, Rotuman Suva-7-Districts, Rotuma website, Rotuma Island Coordinator & Youth Volunteer Network.

Pacific still to sign agreement on biodiversity benefits

2011-05-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

18 May Nadi Fiji - The Pacific island countries are yet to sign on to an international agreement that that aims at sharing the benefits that come from using genetic resources, in a fair and equitable way.

After six years of negotiations, there is now an international agreement adopted by the international community at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya last year.

Participants at the Pacific biodiversity meeting in Nadi this week

The protocol is now open for signature by Parities to the Convention 60 signatories from countries are required by 1 February next year before the Protocol can come into effect, to date there are 21 countries that have signed on.

The Government of Fiji has announced they intend to sign the Protocol before February next year, with a timeline to help raise awareness and understanding of the Nagoya Protocol.

“Fiji intends to establish an interdepartmental committee to specifically undertake preparations towards the signing of the Nagoya protocol,” said Eleni Tokaduadua from the Fiji Environment Department.

“This process will involve a lot of consultations to inform all stakeholders on the various issues relating to ABS and ensure better understanding at all levels of the decision making process.”

Eleni Tokaduadua, Fiji

The international agreement guarantees balanced access to genetic resources on the basis of prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms. The Nagoya Protocol also ensures the fair and equitable sharing of benefits while taking into account the important role of traditional knowledge.

A hypothetical example of this is if an international pharmaceutical company discovered a native plant in Samoa which could lead to a drug that cures, then that company would now be obliged to share the profits arising with Samoa.

“Fiji is keen to see that our local communities and resource owners get a fair share of the benefits gained from the utilization of their natural resources. Signing the protocol will allow Fiji to access resources to put in place effective and reliable mechanisms towards this.”

India is host to the eleventh international biodiversity conference in 2012, it is planned this will also convene the Nagoya Protocol’s first meeting of the Parties.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) will work with partners to assist them with the Nagoya Protocol.

For more information on this please visit the Convention on Biological Diversity website - http://www.cbd.int/abs/

Looking back: Pacific attendance at every International UN Biodiversity Conference

2011-05-17T19:27:00.000-07:00

18 May 2011 Nadi, Fiji - Since the very first Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP) in 1994, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has consistently provided support to the Pacific island region at these negotiations.

A brief review of Pacific attendance and performance at all CBD COP negotiations was compiled for participants at a Pacific island meeting on biodiversity in Nadi this week. The performance of the region at the 10^th International Biodiversity conference in Nagoya last year and how we move forward is the topic on the table for discussions.

Dr Jill Key (right) SPREP

“In consistently attending the international negotiations on biodiversity it shows the dedication and commitment from the Pacific region towards conserving and protecting our biodiversity,” said Dr Jill Key SPREP’s Capacity Development Adviser.

“In the Pacific it is the biodiversity that supports the livelihoods of people. It has a lot of meaning in the region as the foundation of our culture and traditions as well as providing an economic income for a lot of Pacific families. The Pacific is committed to the international process.”

As for the active performance of the Pacific region at the meetings, over the past decade the Pacific has made interventions during the negotiations at each CBD COP. Last year in Nagoya the Pacific made 33 interventions on 17 different issues, and it was also the first time that an opening and closing statement was made from the Pacific negotiators on behalf of the region.

Tuvalu (left), IUCN Oceania (right) at the CBD COP 10

At the international negotiations on biodiversity, the key issues for the Pacific region have been; Protected areas with 22 statements which began with the seventh meeting in Kuala Lumpur; Invasive species was addressed through 18 different Pacific interventions that have been made since the fifth meeting in Nairobi, Kenya; Marine and coastal biodiversity is an issue for which 17 Pacific statements have been presented since the second meeting in Indonesia; and the Pacific have made 12 interventions at the international negotiations on Knowledge of indigenous communities since COP4 in 1998 hosted by Slovakia.

“It is important that the thematic topics and issues that are important to the Pacific region continue to be followed through and raised at COP meetings to emphasise their importance to our region particularly progress on actions taken to address these issues,” said SPREP’s Biodiversity Adviser, Easter Galuvao.

The next Conference of the Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP11) will be hosted by India in 2012.

PILN highlighted as a model for South-South Cooperation

2011-05-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

PILN - Moorea, Tahiti - Photo by Dr Jill Key

Seven-years since the Pacific Island countries requested for its set up – the Pacific Invasives Learning Network (PILN) will be showcased at a South-South Cooperation meeting in Korea from 18-20 May.

PILN which was endorsed by the SPREP member countries at its 15th meeting held in French Polynesia, started as a two year pilot project supported by eight environment organisations providing funding support and expert advice.

PILN is a network of national and local agencies working on invasive species in 13 Pacific Island countries and territories. The agencies from different government departments, the private sector and non-governmental organisations form teams to coordinate invasive species planning and to undertake field work.

PILN exists to address important issues that characterise the Pacific island countries, such as the limited resources in terms of human capacity, skills as well as financial and geographic isolation. Professional isolation is also another factor that if not addressed can lead to invasive species workers feeling helpless.

“PILN is about training our people on skills they need to do the job. When we trained them, we want them to go back and apply their new knowledge”, says the PILN Coordinator, Dr Posa Skelton.

“We are there to encourage them to apply that knowledge and to assure them of the support from the rest of the network. The network is also there to share their achievements and to celebrate their successes”.

Today 15 PILN teams are working on priority invasive species issues on their islands. Some of these teams have developed their invasive species strategy and action plans and they are in the implementation phase.

Capacity has been built on a wide-range of issues including strategic planning, eradicating pests from islands to developing awareness information for their communities.

The Convention on Biological Diversity is holding a meeting in Incheon, Korea to share capacity building experience from around the world focussing on developing countries, or south-south cooperation.

The South-South cooperation describes how information, knowledge, technology and resources are shared amongst developing countries.

The Pacific islands have a strong history of south-south cooperation especially in the environment field, which led to the establishment of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

The Pacific Invasives Learning Network, which is an important component of the SPREP invasive alien species work, will seek partnership opportunities with other capacity building initiatives from around the world.

Lessons learnt by the Pacific

2011-05-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

16 May Nadi Fiji - In 2010 the One Pacific Voice was heard loud and clear at the International Biodiversity Conference which brought 18,000 people together to forge a path forward to help save and strengthen global biodiversity. This week in Fiji, the Pacific region has regrouped to reflect on what was learnt while at the CBD COP 10 in Nagoya. Day one of the meeting today, heard from five different Pacific representatives’ share their experiences with others.

“I gained personally and professionally. Planning and prioritising on a daily basis is crucial when you attend the COP, you always need to be in good health as it’s a lengthy and can be a stressful process. You need the energy to attend discussions during the days and nights. It is a good experience but gruelling and you should try to be in all aspects of the COP – working groups, side events, plenary sessions and ministerial level meetings.” – Eleni Rova Tokaduadua, Fiji

“It was good to see that we had synergized issues so that what is said not only benefits your country, but the Pacific islands region as a whole. It was also helpful that everyone shared information and resources – I was glad that we had people attending who were willing to share information with you on what happened at meetings in case you missed out so you can be kept up to date.” – Fale’afaga Tony Tipama’a, Samoa

“I think having at least one week for negotiations training would be helpful for the Pacific delegates so we can be confident and prepared at this level. I also think we in the Solomon Islands should have a national workshop like Fiji so when we come together we can feed the results into the Pacific region.” – Joe Horokou, Solomon Islands

“I was fortunate and happy to represent my country, I learnt the value of a side event and how you can use it to raise your country profile. We also found the half day meeting just before the COP where we learnt about the processes very helpful. Another highlight for me was how once we had made the Pacific opening statement - it opened the door for support of our position from other regions.” Solomona Lotoala, Tuvalu

“I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the pre-COP information, package so you are really well prepared for the COP meeting. It’s also good if you look for the media for updates, visit the SPREP media releases and the Earth Negotiations Bulletin is also helpful to keep you updated. There is also a wealth of information within the Pacific delegations, there are a lot of experienced people, it’s good if you can learn from them” – Joseph Brider, Cook Islands

"Talking the Biodiversity Talk": COP = Conference of the Parties

Notes:The meeting is held from 16 – 20 May at the Tanoa Hotel in Nadi, Fiji.
Participants are from the Cook Islands, Timor Leste, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI), IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), WWF South Pacific Programme, University of the South Pacific.

Bionesian bites

2011-05-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

Ms. Easter Galuvao, SPREP

Aichi Biodiversity Targets on the Pacific Biodiversity Agenda

16 May Nadi Fiji - The agenda for the one week also includes the Strategic Plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity or the “Aichi Target”, the new global plan to save the biodiversity of the world and includes a number of ambitious targets. This includes a commitment to halve, and where feasible, bring close to zero the loss of natural habitats and also to protect 17% of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10% of marine areas. Also included are measures to control invasive species and to increase awareness of the values of biodiversity.

It is important to note that there will be additional opportunities for training workshops which will be provided by the CBD Secretariat.

“The targets are within our reach as the Pacific region has worked diligently to protect our unique biodiversity. The “Aichi Target” will help us strengthen our conservation work across the Pacific,” said Easter Galuvao, SPREP’s Biodiversity Adviser.

“We can boast the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) in Kiribati - the largest marine protected area on earth - now a World Heritage Site. In our Pacific region we also have the Micronesia Challenge, a commitment by the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau, Guam and the Northern Marianas to conserve at least 30% of the near-shore marine resources and 20% of the terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020.”

On Tuesday a panel from the Micronesia Trust Fund will share their experience in planning to implement the outcomes of the CBD COP 10 in Nagoya.

Nagoya Protocol – Access and Benefits Sharing

Participants at the Pacific Biodiversity meeting in Fiji

16 May Nadi Fiji - The implications of the Nagoya Protocol on the Pacific islands will be discussed during the 5 day meeting on Pacific biodiversity currently underway in Fiji. This Protocol covers the access to genetic to resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from their use. The Nagoya Protocol is forecast to be in force by 2015.

It ensures that balanced access to genetic resources on the basis of prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms. The Nagoya Protocol also ensures the fair and equitable sharing of benefits while taking into account the important role of traditional knowledge.

As an example, and hypothetically, if a pharmaceutical company from Switzerland discovered a plant in the Solomon Islands which could lead to a drug which cured cancer, then that company would now be obliged to share the profits arising with the country.

“The adoption of this protocol will help ensure equity and fairness in the sharing of the profits made by the developed world from the biodiversity resources of the developing world in the small island developing states. The next step is for the Pacific island countries and territories to sign up to the Protocol when they are ready and if they agree with it,” said Easter Galuvao, SPREP's Biodiversity Adviser.

The Global Environment Facility has offered financial support to assist with the early entry into force of this Protocol.

The Pacific reflects on international biodiversity conference

2011-05-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

Touasi Tiwok, Vanuatu, CBD COP 10, Nagoya

Six months ago, the Pacific island region unified under a “One Pacific Voice” approach at an international biodiversity conference that brought together 18,000 people in Nagoya, Japan. This week in Nadi these same Pacific island countries and partners have come together once again to review the performance of the Pacific and pave the way forward following the outcomes of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10).

“At Nagoya, under the Pacific Voyage banner, we made a huge impact. Our voices were heard because we spoke with One Voice,” said Stuart Chape the Island Ecosystems Programme Manager of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), as he opened the one week gathering.

“We were well coordinated, and we took a firm stand on issues that were important to our region. I am pleased to say that many of our development partners highly commended the Pacific island countries' performance, strong convictions and perseverance in Nagoya. This success underscores the importance of working together as One Pacific speaking with One Voice - an approach that we should replicate at future Conferences of the Parties.”

Stuart Chape, SPREP

The agenda for the week will see discussions cover the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing, the Strategic Plan of the Convention on Biological Diversity also known as the “Aichi Target”, funding opportunities, Protected Areas, Island Biodiversity and National Biodiversity Strategy Action Plans.

This meeting is just one of a series of meetings to come for the region under the different outcomes of the CBD COP 10, to help the Pacific progress implementation to meet both national and the global biodiversity targets. The next five days will provide time for the Pacific region to re-group, review their achievements at the international biodiversity meeting in Nagoya and work towards using the lessons learnt to progress implementation.

“It is not our intention to provide you with all the answers this week. However, it is our hope that this meeting will provide a platform for sharing information, ideas and experiences. Although the agenda may seem ambitious I am confident that with your cooperation and active participation in the next five days, we can achieve a successful outcome - one that will provide us with an effective road map that will help Pacific countries progress towards meeting global, regional and national biodiversity targets.”

Notes:The meeting is held from 16 – 20 May at the Tanoa Hotel in Nadi, Fiji.
Participants are from the Cook Islands, Timor Leste, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI), IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), WWF South Pacific Programme, University of the South Pacific.

Pacific Islanders celebrate 2011 Pacific Year of the Dugong

2011-03-15T18:12:00.000-07:00

14 March 2011, Palau - Dugong protection in the Pacific Islands region will be highlighted this year as part of the Pacific Year of the Dugong. It is a boost to the conservation of the species and its seagrass habitats.

The regional campaign was launched in Korror, Palau this week by President Johnson Toribiong and Minister of Natural Resources, Environment & Tourism Harry Fritz.

Palau hosts the smallest, most remote and critically endangered dugong population in the region.

In launching the regional campaign Palau also commenced their national campaign with the reminder by President Toribiong that we are stewards of the environment and have a moral obligation to protect dugongs in the spirit of “I’ll save you so some day you’ll save me”.

He requested support from other nations to join Palau to preserve, protect and cherish this important, unique dugong population.

Minister Fritz urged Palauans to take the task of education to protect, respect and love dugongs and their habitats.

It was also acknowledged at the launch of the Pacific Year of the Dugong 2011 that there is a need to address poaching which is the biggest threat to the fragile population in Palau. Authorities were urged to work together to enforce legislation to prevent this and it was highlighted that publicising arrests and convictions for poaching of dugongs would be an effective deterrent within the general community.

Raising the awareness on the status of dugongs and related aspects as well as the existing legislation was also raised as an important area for immediate attention.

Minister Yano closed the launch by confirming Palau’s Government full commitment to support the Pacific Year of the Dugong campaign and shared a personal experience when a local woman released a dugong that was tied up signifying that a single act can make an important change.

Notes: At the launch, about 60 invited guests, representing Government Ministries, NGOs, communities, students and industry groups were present. Opening remarks were given by the Honourable Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism. Guest speakers included SPREP and UNEP/CMS representatives. Presentations were given by the Koror State Rangers, Division of Fish and Wildlife of the Ministry of Justice and the Bureau of Marine Resources. The participants were entertained over lunch with the Palau Dugong song composed by Mr Edward Anastacio. The Minister of State, Mr Victor Yano gave closing remarks.

SPREP STATEMENT AT REGIONAL LAUNCH OF THE PACIFIC YEAR OF THE DUGONG

2011-03-15T18:08:00.000-07:00

14 March, Palau - This statement was read on behalf of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) by the Marine Species Officer, Mr. Lui Bell, at the launch of the Pacific Year of the Dugong in Palau.

“The SPREP Director, Mr David Sheppard, sends his apologies for not being here today due to a prior commitment to attend the Climate Change Roundtable currently taking place in Niue.

On behalf Mr David Sheppard, I would like to thank the Government of Palau and the organizers of this event for accepting our request to include the regional launch of the Pacific Year of the Dugong campaign as part of your national campaign launch today. Thank you.

It was originally envisaged that the regional launch here would include representatives from all Pacific Island dugong range states and to also include of the review the regional dugong action plan. Unfortunately, funding constraints has made this impossible.

As most of you know, SPREP has been operating a regional marine species programme which focuses on three groups of marine species of conservation concern: dugongs, marine turtles and cetaceans. SPREP has a 5-year regional action plan for each of these groups.

In 2007 the SPREP Meeting endorsed the Secretariat’s proposal to also include sharks in its regional marine species programme. In November 2009, the regional Plan of Action for Sharks was launched jointly by SPC, FFA and SPREP.

SPREP’s work for the conservation and management of marine mammals in the Pacific Islands region can be dated back to the mid 1980s when UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme supported dugong conservation projects in Palau and Vanuatu.

In 1991 SPREP and UNEP facilitated a regional biodiversity conservation workshop in Vanuatu. One of the outcomes of this meeting was work towards a draft Marine Mammal Conservation Programme.

The Regional Marine Mammal Conservation programme’s first meeting was in 1993 where the focus was on briefing members on the significance of and threats to marine mammals in the region. Most of the work of the Regional Marine Mammals Conservation Programme during 1993-2003, was focused on whales and dolphins.

However, in 2002, it was decided to give more recognition to dugongs, and as a result the SPREP regional marine mammal programme was split with dugongs and cetaceans having separate regional action plans. Thus, starting from 2003, separate 5-year regional dugong and cetacean action plans were in place.

The current SPREP regional Dugong Action Plan 2008-2012 centers on nine key areas or themes: (i) Education and Awareness, (ii) Habitat Protection, (iii) Management, (iv) Traditional Knowledge, Customary Marine Tenure and Traditional Resource Management, (v) Capacity Building, (vi) Threats, (vii) Research and Monitoring, (viii) National, Regional, and International Collaboration, and (ix) Human and Financial Resources.

Even though dugongs occur in the waters of only 6 of the SPREP members (Australia, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu), the proposal to declare 2011 as the Pacific Year of the Dugong received strong support and was endorsed by SPREP members at the 21st SPREP annual meeting, Papua New Guinea, September 2010.

The campaign is considered necessary due to several factors, for example:
• Dugongs are considered vulnerable to extinction on the global scale. All dugong populations are listed on Appendix 1 of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Dugongs are additionally listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), which means they are considered, under CMS, to have an unfavourable conservation status and require international agreements for their conservation and management.
• Dugong is the only surviving member of the family Dugongidae, with its closest relative, Stellar’s sea-cow, hunted to extinction within 27 years of its discovery in the eighteenth century.
• They have disappeared from several areas including waters off Mauritius, Taiwan, western Sri Lanka and the Maldives. This can be a reality in our region as well.
• The dugong population in Palau is considered to be the most isolated in the world, and in addition to threats facing this population, it can be classified as “critically endangered”.
• Dugongs are also of high cultural value in many parts of their range, a valued source of food, medicine and artefacts and a flagship species for coastal peoples.
• There is not much information available on dugong populations in the SPREP region and much work is needed to improve information, awareness and ultimately their management and protection.

The Pacific Year of the Dugong Campaign has four key objectives:
• Promote awareness and conservation of dugongs at site-level targeting key stewards and the fishing industry;
• Reduce dugong mortality as a result of human activities;
• Improve status information and promote sustainable management of dugong populations and protection of their habitats at the national level through effective and practical national legislation and policies;
• Advance partnerships and secure resources for long-term support for dugong conservation in the region

Dugongs face a host of threats to their survival. They are an easy target and are highly susceptible to coastal hunters. Subsistence hunting of dugongs may have been sustainable in the past. However the combination of increasing human populations in the Pacific and the introduction of new harvesting technologies such as outboard motors and gill nets has severely impacted the species. The fact that dugongs have a long life span but are slow breeders makes them susceptible to population decline. It has been estimated that a dugong population of only 100 animals would not sustain any human-caused mortality.

Dugongs also face many other threats including incidental by-catch in fishing gear, vessel strikes and destructive fishing practises. The incidental drowning of dugongs caught in fishing gear, such as gill-nets, has contributed to the major decline of dugongs in much of its range. The increase in vessel traffic also increases the likelihood of dugongs being killed by vessel strikes.

Then there are the threats to the food sources of dugongs, seagrasses. Coastal development increases sedimentation and turbidity which not only smother seagrass but also reduce the amount of light reaching them, resulting in the degradation of seagrasses and a reduction in their density and productivity.

SPREP’s work is guided by its mandate, which is “to promote cooperation in the Pacific islands region and to provide assistance in order to protect and improve the environment and to ensure sustainable development for present and future generations”.

This theme of cooperation and providing assistance is, first of all, reflected in SPREP’s commitment to maintain, facilitate and provide support and assistance to implement the regional marine species programme, including the regional dugong action plan.

Secondly, SPREP seeks cooperation of partners and collaborators to implement the action plans, sometimes by entering into Memorandum of Understandings.

I would like to acknowledge here our collaboration with the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) under a Memorandum of Cooperation signed in 2005 which has since resulted in closer working relationship between SPREP and CMS on marine species work that includes dugongs. I would also like to acknowledge in particular the recent assistance from UNEP/CSM for dugong work in the Pacific Islands region.

However, there are over-arching problems and challenges surrounding conservation efforts in the Pacific Islands region. Some of these include:
• Lack of data and information resulting from the absence or lack of ongoing and long-term research and monitoring programmes;
• Limited public awareness and education programmes;
• Limited in-country skills / capacity to provide leadership in marine species conservation management;
• Limited national management mechanisms to protect marine animals and their habitats;
• Limited information exchange, linkages and collaboration.

To address these challenges, SPREP calls on Governments and partners, communities, fishermen, marine tour operators and developers, for us all to work together:
• To establish long-term dugong research and monitoring programmes at both community and national levels to improve our knowledge of the status of dugongs for informed decisions on management.
• Develop or review current legislation to adequately and effectively protect dugongs. A vital component of this is the ability for effective enforcement.
• Protect sea-grass habitats which are vital to dugongs as well as a host of other marine species and consider the impacts of coastal development on sea-grass habitats in Environmental Impact Assessment processes.
• Seize the excessive and illegal hunting of dugongs and the use of destructive fishing methods.
• Minimize impacts from gillnets and boat strikes by following simple guidelines.

The continuing health of dugong populations is essential to maintaining a healthy Pacific Ocean. Join us as a Pacific family in making sure we play our part to Respect and Protect dugongs and their habitats.

In closing, I would like to congratulate all of the SPREP members that are dugong range states for signing the CMS MoU for the Conservation and Management of Dugongs and their habitats throughout their range.

I would like to especially congratulate the Government of Palau and local promoters on the great initiatives and achievements in the declaration of the sanctuary for sharks and sanctuary for marine mammals. These are milestone examples for the region advancing the conservation of marine species of conservation concern.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to affirm SPREP’s commitment to the implementation of the regional dugong action plan and this Campaign and will continue to look at new ways to strengthen our cooperation with partners in order to achieve common goals.

Thank You.”

The Pacific Year of the Dugong; Respect and Protect

2011-03-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

14 March, 2011, Palau - The campaign to progress the protection of the dugong, led by the Secretariat of Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and its partner the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (UNEP/CMS), will target local coastal and fishing communities and water craft users in the Pacific region.

Awareness and outreach activities highlighting the need for protection of dugongs in the Pacific Islands region will be the focus of the campaign being initiated through national launches in New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

A number of initiatives to build local capacity to deliver positive conservation outcomes for dugongs in the Pacific Island region will also be promoted throughout the Pacific Year of the Dugong.

A new pilot project using financial incentives to address direct hunting and the incidental capture of dugongs by changing people’s practices and improving the livelihoods of local communities in Daru Papua New Guinea are among the initiatives to be promoted under the Pacific Year of the Dugong 2011.

Dugongs, which play a significant ecological role in the functioning of coastal habitats, live in warm coastal and islands waters from East Africa to Vanuatu in the Pacific.

The conservation and plan developed under the United Nations Environment Programme/CMS Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation and Management of Dugongs and their Habitats throughout their Range (Dugong MoU) provides the framework for the regional cooperation for the long-term protection of dugongs in the Indian Ocean, South East Asia, South Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. Specific to the Pacific Islands region, SPREP has a regional Dugong Action Plan 2008-2012.

All range states in the Pacific Island region (Australia, Papua New Guinea, Palau, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) have committed to the Dugong MoU as signatories. In 2010 Palau declared a marine mammal sanctuary, which includes dugongs, within its Economic Exclusive Zone.

For more information on the Pacific Year of the Dugong 2011, please visit: http://www.sprep.org/biodiversity/PYOD/index.html

Pacific getting ready to meet new Biodiversity targets

2010-11-11T19:47:00.000-08:00

18,000 people from around the world gathered recently in Nagoya, Japan at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP10).

14 countries in the Pacific are members of the CBD and the “Pacific voice” was well represented in Nagoya.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) worked in partnership with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) in the Pacific region to provide support and advice to the Pacific delegations at Nagoya.

The meeting discussed how to address the dramatic loss of biodiversity currently occurring on earth. In fact one species is being lost every 38 minutes!

Delegates responded with a new commitment to “Live in Harmony with Nature”.

The conference agreed a number of outcomes, which have significance globally and for our Pacific region.

The Strategic Plan of the CBD or the “Aichi Target” was adopted at Nagoya. This is the new global plan to save the World’s biodiversity and includes a number of ambitious targets.

The “Aichi Target” includes a commitment to halve, and where feasible, bring close to zero the loss of natural habitats and also to protect 17% of terrestrial and inland water areas and 10% of marine areas. Also included are measures to control invasive species and to increase awareness of the values of biodiversity.

“We are pleased to welcome the Aichi Target as a guide for our region to work towards,” said David Sheppard, the Director of SPREP.

“The targets are within our reach as the Pacific region has worked diligently to protect our unique biodiversity. We can boast the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) in Kiribati - the largest marine protected area on earth - now a World Heritage Site. In our Pacific region we also have the Micronesia Challenge, a commitment by the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Palau, Guam and the Northern Marianas to conserve at least 30% of the near-shore marine resources and 20% of the terrestrial resources across Micronesia by 2020. The “Aichi Target” will help us strengthen our conservation work across the Pacific.”

Another key outcome from the conference was the Nagoya Protocol covering the access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from their use.

This historic agreement is of great importance to the Pacific region.

It is expected the Nagoya Protocol will be in force by 2015. The Global Environment Facility has offered financial support to assist with the early entry into force of this Protocol.

“We have seen history in the making,” said Fiji’s Ambassador to Japan, H.E Mr Isikeli Mataitoga the Head of delegation for Fiji. He added:

“The adoption of the ABS protocol is a major step forward in bringing equity and fairness in the sharing of the profits made by the developed world from the biodiversity resources of the developing world, including the small island developing states.”

The current challenge for Pacific countries is to translate these key outcomes into national biodiversity strategies and to secure support from the international community for their implementation.

Many substantial commitments were made by countries at Nagoya, including a commitment by the Government of Japan of $2billion US to help developing countries protect their biodiversity

“For us in this region, it means working towards identifying opportunities and innovative ways to take these outcomes forward. We have agreed to the Aichi Target now we need to see how and where we can incorporate the different objectives into work we are doing at the national and regional level in the Pacific,” said Easter Galuvao, the Biodiversity Adviser of SPREP.

“In some cases we are on track with the targets, in other cases we need to work harder in a concerted and holistic manner as a region so that by 2020, the Pacific region can once again showcase to the world what we have accomplished as part of our contribution to save our biodiversity.”

These are just several of the many achievements of the biodiversity conference in Nagoya.

There were many more for the Pacific region. Representation from the region ensured a strong Pacific presence was felt and heard as they were a vocal part of the negotiations.

A communications campaign – “The Pacific Voyage” helped ensure Pacific visibility was high and our voices heard at the gathering of 18,000 participants with promotional materials and events which highlighted conservation successes in the Pacific as well as an event which promoted the different types of communication and awareness raising activities on nature conservation.

For SPREP the meeting has helped provide the guide for future work with the different member countries as the region strives to meet the Aichi Targets to help save global biodiversity.

Notes:

To read the full 2020 Headline Targets – Advance Unedited Text please visit Strategic Plan for Biodiversity, 2011 - 2020: http://www.cbd.int/nagoya/outcomes/

The 14 Pacific island parties to the CBD are Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Niue, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

Our core partners who worked closely with us as part of the Pacific Voyage in Nagoya are The Secretariat of the Pacific Community, WWF South Pacific, Greenpeace Pacific, Wildlife Conservation Society, IUCN Oceania.

Support was also provided from GLISPA the Global Island Partnership, Ms. Neva Collings on ABS and Article 8)j) and Ms. Mae Adams from TNC.

Update on Biodiversity talks in Nagoya

2010-10-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

As of midnight, the morning of Saturday 30 October, the plenary discussion for the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity was still underway.

The Pacific Voyage Media Team are preparing to return home and an update of the final outcome will be provided to you next week, along with final stories concluding The Pacific Voyage at the Biodiversity talks in Nagoya.

To view the webcast of the final plenary, please visit: http://webcast.cop10.go.jp/player.asp?id=2921&type=live

COP10 heads for tense finish

2010-10-29T02:44:00.000-07:00

Pacific Voyage Media Team 29 October Nagoya Japan -

The negotiations on targets to preserve the environment will continue until the last second, the Chair of COP10 told the media today, as the Nagoya Biodiversity talks wrap up.

Japan’s Environment Minister Ryu Matsumoto said governments –including a strong representation from the South Pacific – were all keen on an agreement.

"Everyone is saying that they want to wrap up a deal, that they don't want to go home from Nagoya empty-handed," he told reporters. "We will work until the last second."

Delegates from nearly 200 countries have been negotiating for two weeks goals to protect oceans, forests and rivers. But the negotiations on how ambitious the targets should be are divided over a number of issues.

Developing nations for example are have refused to sign up to 2020 goals without agreement on a new U.N. protocol that would give them a fairer share of profits made by companies, such as pharmaceutical firms, from their genetic resources. The protocol could unlock billions of dollars for developing countries, where much of the world's natural riches remain, but countries are split on the scope of the framework and how to check where a genetic resource comes from.

Following two days of intense discussions among 50 delegates, led by eight facilitators appointed by Japan, to help reach an access and benefit-sharing protocol (ABS), an update was presented to all delegates.

"We have made progress, but we have not finished," said Timothy Hodges, co-chair of the group working on the ABS agreement.

Broad consensus was reached on introductory language related to traditional knowledge of the use of plants and organisms in medical or biological products. Still on the table were issues that have divided ABS negotiators since the conference began Oct. 18. Topping the list was how to include derivatives of genetic resources in a final agreement.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has announced it will begin a project to help developing countries integrate the economic benefits of nature into their state policies. Introducing ecosystem valuation into national accounting systems will help governments make better decisions about the way their nature is managed, World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick.

"We need to give top decision-makers the tools they need to make the right decisions," said Zoellick.

The World Bank President gave an example of how a country could change its nature calculations.

"For example, in clearing mangroves for shrimp farming, the calculation will no longer simply be the revenue from profit on shrimp farming minus the farming cost,” he said. “It would now deduct the loss of coastal protection from cyclones, and the loss of fish and other products provided by the mangroves from its calculations.”

Pacific Ocean for your children and all of us

2010-10-29T02:25:00.000-07:00

The Pacific Voyage Media Team 29 October Nagoya Japan -

The Pacific Ocean 2020 Challenge needs a body like the Pacific Ocean Commission to achieve its goals.

The point was raised by H.E Isikeli Mataitoga, Ambassador of Fiji to Japan, during a side event at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) on the Convention of Biological Convention (CBD) at the Nagoya Congress Centre.

“You need a body that can bring together all the issues under sustainable development,” Mr Mataitoga said.

“One that will run and keep this important Challenge in the forefront of politicians and senior democrats in the region. This body should be able to front up to politicians and say, look guys, the Pacific Ocean is for your children, your children’s children and for all of us and we need to keep it sustainable. It won’t be a Pacific Ocean if it is not sustainable in the long term.”

The Ambassador said the Pacific Ocean 2020 Challenge also needs a framework that’s going to make everybody happy.

“But there will be obstacles,” he warned.

“There are regional frameworks that already exist in law and practise that may be considered in the long term but that has to take its shape and provision from the CBD because it is the only convention at the UN level that has a wide acceptance in this point of time."

Bernard O'Callaghan, Regional Programme Coordinator of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said part of the challenge is the fact the Pacific ocean is big.

“It’s the biggest geographical feature in the world. Governments have a number of interests. The bigger challenge is getting on the agenda of the larger countries,” he said. “The Pacific Ocean is under resourced. People tend to use it for transport, for fish it’s all about extracting resources from the Pacific.”

The Pacific Ocean 2020 Challenge sets out to protect the Pacific Ocean.

“There is a whole lot of endangered species [in the Pacific Ocean],” he said. “Tuna is vitally important for the community, vitally important for the economies of the Pacific islands. Appropriate attention needs to be paid to ensure these tuna stocks stay viable for the long term.”

The Pacific Ocean, he said, is very important to the world.

“Two out of three fish in the world come out of the Pacific ocean so it’s important that the Pacific Ocean is managed sustainably for the long term,” said Mr O'Callaghan.

The challenge involves working with a number of governments in the Pacific region where they are asked to work together to manage the ocean.

“This is so we can firstly share good long term sustainable governance for the Pacific ocean, share research, share education, share training, identify additional financial resources for cooperation,” he said. “Some of these changes take time; it’s not going to happen very quickly. We need to build momentum over the next two to three years.”

The Challenge was discussed at the Pacific Islands Forum this year.

According to the Challenge’s website, The Pacific Ocean 2020 Challenge aims to forge partnerships with sectors of ocean users who have not previously been fully engaged in ocean governance initiatives, and spanning geographic areas beyond the traditional ‘Pacific region’.

Working with Pacific Ocean-wide coalitions for action will enable the Challenge to complement and enhance stakeholder-engaging activities already established by intergovernmental regional agencies and NGOs around the region, thus avoiding duplication of activities.

In doing so, it is envisioned that a holistic and practical approach to ocean governance in the region will become a reality, and that the region will have a sustainable and healthy Pacific Ocean by 2020.

According to the Pacific Ocean Synthesis report, the Pacific Ocean is faced with major threats of “pollution, habitat destruction, overfishing and harvesting and climate change.”

The Pacific Ocean accounts for half of our planet’s total ocean area and a full one-third of the planet’s surface, making it the largest single geographic feature on our planet. This vast region supports many complex ecosystems and ocean-based economies, producing a wealth of resources for local and global consumption. However, sustainably managing these natural and economic resources presents an enormous challenge.

Making sure gender has a place at the Nagoya biodiversity talks

2010-10-29T01:21:00.000-07:00

The Pacific Voyage Media Team 29 October -

Marie Khan

Marie Khan, Gender Focal Point of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) says they are hoping that gender issues win a place on the development agenda here in Nagoya. To date, the parties to the CBD have agreed and supported that gender equality is a cross cutting issue.

“We cannot ignore that 60 percent of women are the guardians of our environment, so it is normal that we should be include a gender mainstreaming perspective at the biodiversity negotiations,” Khan stresses.

The aim of gender mainstreaming, which focuses on shifting the existing power relationships, and bringing the roles and needs of women and men high on the development agenda. Khan says that it is the goal to bring forth gender equality through advocacy, technical support and capacity-building.

Nature is important to all of us, women and men use it in different ways, have different knowledge about it and have access to different natural resources. However women are still the less empowered and their voices are rarely heard when decisions are made on the environment.

Khan says that at the CBD nations are also supportive of the implementation of the gender plan of action. However, they would want the gender focal point position to be permanent at the Secretariat of the CBD. Currently Khan’s position is being funded by Finland for which the funding will cease next year

Ongoing talks are still being conducted at the last day of the negotiations.

“We are hoping that decision on the budget provision will be made,” Khan cites and notes that progress on their aim at the CBD is much better than elsewhere.

“CBD is the only one with gender plan of action in the global level, “ she says.

The Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) and other members of the Global Gender and Climate Alliance are attending the 10^th meeting of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity coordinating daily women and gender caucus for gender mainstreaming advocacy.

In an earlier interview WEDO Advocacy Coordinator Rachel Harris says their presence here is to make sure that the perspective of both men and women are being put forward within all new agreements at COP10.

Solomon Islands to protect forest and plants

2010-10-29T01:11:00.000-07:00

The Pacific Voyage Media Team 29 October 2010 -

Joe Horoku, Solomon Islands

The Solomon Islands wants its forest and plants covered by protection under the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) framework at the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention of Biodiversity here in Nagoya, Japan.

The 10th Conference of Parties (COP) will be concluding its negotiations, as representatives of 193 countries are expected to forge a new global agreement on ABS for the use of biological or genetic resources.

Joe Horokou of the Solomon Islands Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Meteorology says his country is hopeful that under the ABS, bio-resources obtained by developed countries will share the benefits with local people.

Horokou cites that in the Solomon Islands, pharmaceutical companies are coming to the country and conducting research on medicinal plants that are found in their forest.

“Solomon Islands have potential for resources,” Horokou says.

The ABS framework is expected to benefit those communities from whom the pathogens or disease-causing organisms are sourced by pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs.

One company, he notes is doing research on a tree in Solomon Islands that may contain a cure for AIDS.

On the domestic front, Solomon Islands have already existing agreements that cover certain areas at present under the framework for access and benefit sharing.

The mechanism now exists for development of appropriate legislation on ABS.

Existing agreements cover some research work on agriculture and forestry. Some proposed agreements are being examined for other researchers but still the lack of relevant expertise is a constraint. Most efforts in this field are being assisted through programmes of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP) and other international government organizations and non-governmental organizations.

He also says that Solomon Islands is interested in biofuel which could improve biodiversity.

Samoa to host reef protection meeting

2010-10-28T01:32:00.000-07:00

Minister Faumuina Tiatia Liuga speaks during the high level segment of COP 10 in Nagoya Japan

The Pacific Voyage Media Team 28 October Nagoya Japan -

Samoa will host a high-level meeting to discuss coral reef protection and conservation.

This was announced by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE), Faumuina Tiatia Liuga in Nagoya, Japan. He was speaking during the high-level segment of the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) at Century Hall, Nagoya Congress Centre.

The meeting is the 22nd General Meeting of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). It is scheduled from 8th to 15th November. Samoa will co-chair the meeting with France during which participants are expected to update the ICRI plan of work for coral reef protection and conservation.

“Samoa is among a group of small islands within the largest of oceans rich in marine ecosystems that are critical to our survival,” the Minister told leaders at COP10, who worked late into the night to deliver their country statements. “The Pacific Ocean, the beaches and its coral reefs are home to a number of marine mammals particularly the green, hawksbill and loggerhead turtles which are currently facing extinction.”

The meeting will focus on strengthening conservation programmes for such marine mammals.

“Samoa has in place a number of programmes and projects in the areas of biodiversity conservation and management, adaptation to climate change and promotion of renewable energy, community development in response to land degradation through country specific projects and regional programmes where biodiversity is an integral part,” the Minister said.

“We are continuing the partnerships with our development partners and partner organisations within the United Nations, International IGOs and NGOs, the World Bank and ADB to pursue these opportunities as they arise. On that note, we acknowledge all our development partners for their kind efforts and assistance.”

On biodiversity in general, Minister Faumuina said Samoa has taken active steps to address the loss of biodiversity.

“Because small islands are particularly vulnerable to species loss and extinction, we have to be creative ourselves, and develop innovative solutions so that shifts demonstrate that we are no longer dealing with biodiversity as business as usual,” he said.

“Hence I am pleased to inform that Samoa's pursuance of partnerships within the area of biological diversity, at the national level with communities, NGOs and private sector, regional level with fellow PIFS and SPREP members as well as international organizations, and at international level with our development partners, have enabled the progression of our programmes on Forest Conservation, Invasive Species Management, and Protected areas in marine and terrestrial locations.

“Closer relations with communities and farmers will be strengthened through national agro-ecosystem and agro-forestry projects under the GEF and government of Australia, where Samoa is at the forefront in promoting organic farming in the Pacific.”

The protection and conservation of mangrove ecosystems is an integral part of Samoa’s efforts. The mangroves’ resilience to storm surges and tidal waves provide protection against rising waves. Further, they provide natural breeding ground for marine life which people's livelihoods depend on.

“Samoa places great importance on synergistic implementation of programmes, where common objectives and activities exist,” he said. “This provides for more effective service delivery to the public, a coherent approach to sustainable biological diversity management, reduce human and financial constraints, and contribute to achieving.”

The protection of biodiversity plays a major role in climate change adaptation, the meeting heard.

“Samoa acknowledged the commemoration of the International Year of Biological diversity this year with the promotion of Samoa to be carbon-neutral by the year 2020,” said Faumuina.

“Our national Samoa challenge to plant a million trees within our very small islands commenced in November 2009 for three years. The youth, (and children included) have already made some real contributions to this mission with plantings by young students of trees in our national reserves.

“Energy trees are also being assessed for further exploration of energy generating technologies. Ensuring these are properly designed and implemented to avoid adverse environment impacts on the biodiversity is of essence.

“That is because we believe that an investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation can also be a significant investment in biodiversity.”

Minister Faumuina urged world leaders to work together to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss.

"We should not be discouraged by the level of achievements being tabled, because within our small islands much progress has been made,” he said.

Ford calls for action from the United States

2010-10-28T00:55:00.000-07:00

The Pacific Media Voyage Team, 28 October Nagoya Japan - 

Photo courtesy of Reuters

A famous face graced the Nagoya Congress Center today, urging the world to save the

environment as the 10th Meeting of the Conference to the Parties (COP10) of the Convention on Biological Diversity winds up.

Hollywood actor and environmentalist Harrison Ford joined the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Ahmed Djoghlaf, to urge world leaders to come up with new ambitious strategies to protect biodiversity.

Government ministers – including Ministers from the Pacific countries – are gathering in Nagoya for the final stages a meeting to preserve natural resources.

For two days, leaders from over 100 parties to CBD delivered statements outlining their commitments to protect the environment during the high-level segment of the meeting.

Today, hundreds of negotiators were still locked on talks which are aimed at setting new 2020 targets to protect plant and animal species, a protocol to share genetic resources and more funding to protect nature, especially forests.

During his press conference this morning, Ford, a film legend and long-serving vice chairman of Conservation International, urged the United States ratify the CBD.

Ford said pressure on political leadership was needed to save forests, oceans and rivers that are home to nature's rich diversity of species underpinning livelihoods.

"We have to create a kind of undeniable groundswell of public opinion, a kind of movement-level effect, something like the Civil Rights Movement or the Women's Rights Movement," Ford told the world media.

"One of the reasons I've come is because I want to urge the United States government to sign the treaty.”

Ford said the United States is here as an observer.

“The United States is here as a source of funding, but we're not a voting delegate, and we need to take that responsibility, to have that opportunity and to show leadership," he said.

The United States has signed but not ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Ford, who has had the ant species Pheidole harrisonfordi named after him in a nod to his work as a conservationist, said nature was indispensible to everyday lives.

"Nature provides us with fresh water, a way of healthy soils, foodstuffs, future pharmaceuticals and food crops," he said.

"We can't afford to create mechanisms to provide those services for ourselves that nature gives us for free when nature is healthy and protected."

Save the Dugong

2010-10-27T23:51:00.000-07:00

The Pacific Voyage Media Team, 28 October Nagoya Japan -

Photo of dugong by Richard W. Brooks

Next year the campaign to raise awareness of the dugong in the Pacific will start, with island countries taking more concrete and more comprehensive steps in dugong conservation.

Palau, during the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 10) announced the initiative to protect marine species by declaring the Palau waters as marine mammal sanctuary which include dugongs.

In his ministerial statement, Palau Environment and Tourism Minister Harry Fritz says that the country is committed to an agreement with the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) to protection the dugong population.

“We will protect our population of dugong, which is the most isolated population in the world,” says the Minister

“And, I am pleased to share that just last week, our President, with traditional and congressional support, declared Palau’s waters as sanctuary to all species of marine mammals,” Fritz says.

A Palau dugong awareness campaign is now underway to protect the marine mammal.

The dugong or sea cow is Palau's most endangered marine mammal and has the smallest and most isolated dugong population in the world, with possibly less than 200 animals.

Proponents of the campaign say that Palauans still hunt and eat dugongs, and hunting remains a problem in spite of local laws protecting the dugong.

The awareness campaign, managed by Mandy Etpison aims to educate Palauans about the dugong, survey their feeding grounds and daily routes, and work with local government agencies to improve enforcement on illegal poaching.

Recently a 12 feet life-sized wooden statue of a dugong mother with two calves made by the Etpison Museum was presented to the Minister of State for display in August 2010.

Dugongs are long-lived with low productive rates, low generation time and a high investment in each offspring.

The dugong home range in the region includes the waters of Australia, Papua New Guniea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Palau.

According to the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) website, scientific information on dugong distribution and abundance is outdated or non-existent. The status of dugongs is unknown throughout the region. It is likely that dugongs are widely distributed in small numbers in much of PNG, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu and that larger numbers occur in the PNG waters of Torres Strait. Their reliance on relatively shallow water seagrass beds for food limits the ability of dugongs to travel between islands and continents that are separated by extensive areas of deep water.

For this reason, many island populations, including those around Vanuatu and Palau, are essentially isolated. Such isolation makes this group of dugongs especially vulnerable to extinction.

Recently the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Convention on Migratory Species conducted its first official signatory meeting for Dugong Memorandum of Understanding in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The SPREP website further states that an urgent issue is the need to address the conservation management of dugongs in the region.

Despite a comprehensive global review and excellent in-country activities, the status of dugongs remains largely unknown, few effective conservation measures exist and anecdotal evidence gives increased cause of concern for their future.