Search the SPREP Catalogue

The world’s more than 200 000 protected areas come in many forms, on land and at sea, and occur in every country (Bertzky et al. 2012). They are places that people establish to conserve natural and cultural heritage and to sustain their benefits for society. Among other values, protected areas allow people to connect with nature for their inspiration, education, well-being and recreation. While protecting ecosystems that are essential for life, they can support human livelihoods and aspirations and offer nature-based solutions for the complex challenges faced by the world today.

This dissertation examines the relationship between contemporary development projects and the Fijian idea vanua which is commonly translated as “land” but entails meanings of people, community, and custom. Often treated as a rigid cosmological entity with its own cultural order, in this dissertation I argue that when viewed as an environmental framework in which historical actors and ideas are constantly moving in and out, vanua is actually flexible, open-ended, and has the capacity to interact and collaborate with contemporary development projects such as environmental conservation and commercial farming. This capacity is built from the entanglement of diverse historical forces (e.g. indigenous politics, pre-colonial capitalism, colonial policies) which still resonate in the environment today, and is able to affect the realization of the universal values (e.g. environmentalism, development) intended to be introduced. Here I use a small coastal village called Waitabu located on Taveuni Island as the ethnographic setting to demonstrate how these processes are played out.

The Pacific Islands region is currently experiencing an intensification of interest in culture of an enabler, rather than an inhibitor of development.

Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC)

This handbook is for farmers, field and extension workers and educators in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu and helps strengthen food security int he face of climate change by reporting on variety if traditional and innovative farming technologies. It encourages farmers to think about and plan for the effects of climate change and other challenges to their communities.

Of all the water on earth, only 3% of it is freshwater, 97% of it being salty. Most of this 3% is located in the polar icecaps and in underground reservoirs. It is estimated that only 3% of freshwater reserves are found in rivers and lakes1.Water, so abundant and revered for its ability to give life, is becoming a scarce resource

Important Plant Areas (IPAs) are internationally significant sites for plant diversity – or more simply the best sites for plants. Identified at national level, using internationally standardised criteria, they provide a framework for implementing target 5 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

The aim of this guide is to help people to look at different livelihood options and assist in assessing how promising these options may be. The world livelihood means different things to different people, here it is used to mean: how to make our living, the things we use and the choices we take to make sure our lives run well.

This book is divided into 3 sections. The first section explores some of the main themes currently concerning forests and gender. The second section looks at case studies from around the world, demonstrating the wealth of learning and experience that is resulting from increased awareness and integration of gender issues within forestry work. The third and final section takes a step back and examines issues and progress at the international and global levels, bringing us up to date and forecasting future challenges and developments.