Search the SPREP Catalogue

Systematic conservation planning identifies priority areas to cost-effectively meet conservation targets. Yet, these tools rarely guide wholesale declaration of reserve systems in a single time step due to financial and implementation constraints. Rather, incremental scheduling of actions to progressively build reserve networks is required. To ensure this incremental action is guided by the original plan, and thus builds a reserve network that meets all conservation targets, strategic scheduling, and iterative planning is needed

The development of the first Comprehensive Manual on Port Reception Facilities was agreed at the thirty second session of the Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in March 1992.

F rom the writings of Aristotle (1) to the musings of Gilbert White in Georgian England (2), migratory birds have fascinated and inspired people for generations. Migrants undertake remarkable journeys, from endurance flights exceeding 10,000 km by bar-tailed godwits (Limosa lapponica) (3) to the annual relay of arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea), which fly the equivalent of the distance to the moon and back three times during their lives (4). Migratory species make major contributions to resource fluxes, biomass transfer, nutrient transport, predator-prey interactions, and food-web structure within and among ecosystems (5) and play an important role in human culture (6). Yet more than half of migratory birds across all major flyways have declined over the past 30 years (7)

This document is part of a technical report series on conservation projects funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and the Conservation International Pacific Islands Program (CI-Pacific). The main purpose of this series is to disseminate project findings and successes to a broader audience of conservation professionals in the Pacific, along with interested members of the public and students. The reports are being prepared on an ad-hoc basis as projects are completed and written up. In most cases the reports are composed of two parts, the first part is a detailed technical report on the project which gives details on the methodology used, the results and any recommendations. The second part is a brief project completion report written for the donor and focused on conservation impacts and lessons learned.

The Cook Islands comprises 15 islands with a total land area of 237 sq km and a maximum height above sea-level of 652 m. The islands are scattered over an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 1.8 million sq km; one of the largest EEZ’s in the South Pacific.

This proposal has been prepared by the Ocean and Islands Programme (OIP) within the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) in collaboration with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). It has been prepared in response to an invitation1 from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) to assist the Cook Islands in deriving coastal related information to underpin and inform climate change adaptation decisions for coastal areas of Mangaia Island.

Flooding imposes significant costs on households and businesses located in the lower Vaisigano catchment area. SOPAC, under the European Development Fund (EDF) project Reducing Vulnerability of Pacific ACP States, has worked with the Government of Samoa to develop the Samoa Flood Management and Action Plan, which identifies actions for government agencies, the private sector, NGOs and communities responsible for flood and floodplain management that can assist in reducing flood risks in Samoa, particularly in the lower Vaisigano catchment area located in Apia, which is subject to frequent flooding.