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Invasive alien species such as Spathodea campanulata (African tulip tree) threaten biodiversity in the Pacific islands as well as the economic, social, and cultural wellbeing of Pacific peoples. Despite the potential magnitude of these threats, our scientific understanding of the ecology and management of the African tulip tree is nascent. In this paper, we use data from novel surveys of households and communities to document the direct and direct impacts of African tulip tree in Fiji, focusing on those impacts which may be monetised. We use the same data to describe current management approaches and then describe a state-of-the-science, ‘‘integrated’’ management approach that employs different strategies for trees of different ages and sizes. These two approaches are then compared in a comprehensive cost–benefit analysis. We find strong arguments for pursuing the integrated management approach, which derives monetised benefits of $3.7 for each $1 spent. However, the less costly current approach is also strictly preferred to the baseline, ‘‘do nothing’’ approach, with monetised benefits of $2.7 for each $1 spent. Results of this analysis clearly show that managing African tulip tree is cost effective, even without explicitly considering biodiversity, culture, and other non-monetised benefits of control.

Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott) plays a prominent role in the economies and cultures of Pacific Island countries such as Fiji. Unfortunately, taro is highly susceptible to invasion from taro beetles, which burrow into the corms and weaken the plants, rendering them unmarkable and prone to rot. Papuana uninodis Prell, an invasive alien species that is native to the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, was first reported on Viti Levu (Fiji's largest island) in 1984. Since that time, taro production on Viti Levu has fallen substantially. In this paper, we employ data from surveys of households and communities to document the impacts of P. uninodis on Viti Levu. We then identify three management approaches-chemical controls, cultural controls, and switching from taro to another staple crop-and conduct a cost-benefit analysis of each. We find strong arguments for pursuing chemical control, which derives a net present value of monetised benefits of about FJ$139,500 per hectare over 50 yr, or >FJ$21 for each FJ$1 spent. Still, any of the three management options is more efficient than no management, even without any attempt to quantify the benefits to biodiversity or forest protection, underscoring the value of actively managing this invasive alien species.

Before you leave Samoa, stop and think... Could you be breaking wildlife laws? Souvenirs and handicrafts can sometimes include plant and animal products that are protected under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Before you leave Samoa, stop and think... Could you be breaking wildlife laws? Souvenirs and handicrafts can sometimes include plant and animal products that are protected under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Samoa is home to many threatened species including corals, marine turtles, whales, dolphins and more. The survival of these species is further endangered by the global trade in plants, animals and products that may be made from them.

Invasive species pose an enormous threat in the Pacific: not only do they strongly affect biodiversity, but they also potentially affect the economic, social and cultural wellbeing of Pacific peoples. Invasive species can potentially be managed and their impacts can potentially be avoided, eliminated, or reduced. However, neither the costs nor the numerous benefits of management are well understood in the Pacific. Thus, we undertook cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) of managing five species that are well established on Viti Levu, Fiji: spathodea campanulata (African tulip tree), herpestus javanicus (small Asian mongoose), papuana uninodis (taro beetle), pycnonotus cafer (red-vented bulbul), and merremia peltata (merremia vine). These CBAs are informed by extensive survey data that record the incidence, management, and impacts of five species in Fiji. Wed find that the most cost-effective management option varies by species, precluding a universal solution. Nevertheless, the benefits of management often exceed the costs of management by a wide margin, arguing for a more concerted effort to control the spread of invasive species in the Pacific.

Samoa's National Environmental Capacity Strategy (NECS) is drawn on the assessment and analysis of priority thematic and cross-cutting capacity needs. These needs have identified priority actions for capacity development and opportunities to promote synergies across the 3 Conventions which are highlighted as project profiles in the NECS. Strategies to implement these project profiles including means of monitoring and evaluation of outcomes are also highlighted in the NECS.

Protecting a species is an aspect of conservation which many organizations and individuals have put effort into so that the balance within the ecosystem can be maintained. Protection implement when factors of threats have been identify. Factors of pressure or predatory that may lead to competition and results in extinction. These are the sequence our world works since the beginning

The community based conservation (CBC)paradigm predicts that sustainable biodiversity can only be achieved if local people perceive benefits from conservation. Through interviews, the situation in Samoa portrays that the CBC of mangroves was received with apprehension because the mangrove biodiversity was more significant than sustaining the livelihood of the local communities. In contrast, Iriomote Island residents were able to achieve maximum socio-economic benefits but to the extent that they were over commercializing the mangrove ecosystem. More research is imperative to find out how biodiversity conservation can be married with sustainable development objectives to sustain the local communities' livelihood.