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Biodiversity conservation - that is, the conservation of plants and animals that make up the species richness of a country - is widely recognised as an issue of importance for the South Pacific as it is relevant to family livelihoods, culture and economic development as well as to the unique biological story that these islands possess. The biodiversity of the region is threatened by a broad range of causes including unsustainable logging and fishing, invasive species, pollution, soil erosion, fire, habitat conversion and agricultural run-off. Climate change is an additional threat of significant potential impact, especially for coral reefs.

The Great Barrier Reef is one of the truly majestic places on our planet. Its size and brilliance make is observable even from space. Few ocean areas are known as well globally as the 2,300 km of reefs that extend over the Australian east coast. Comprised of more than 2,900 individual reefs that form its foundation, the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area encompasses a diversity of habitats, plants and animals of outstanding universal value. Scattered throughout its footprint are islands, mangroves and marine life of infinite variety. Like the Galapagos, the Great Barrier Reef has singular characteristics found nowhere else on Earth But, all of this is under threat as never before. Global climate change is a virtual sword of Damocles hanging over the very heart of the Great Barrier Reef. History reveals that reefs have been faced with changes in the past, including fluctuations in water temperature, sea level and acidification. Climate change has accelerated this rate of change, coinciding with mounting pressure from human uses. These threats are certainly not unique to the Great Barrier Reef. Around the world, coral reefs are faced with impacts from poor water quality, overfishing, physical damage and climate change. Experts estimate that 20 percent of the world’s coral reefs have been effectively destroyed and show no prospect of recovery, another 24 percent are under imminent risk of collapse through human pressures and 26 percent more are under longer term threat. What makes the Great Barrier Reef unique is that, so far, it has remained in relatively good condition compared to other reefs around the world.

During my childhood … We never experienced severe sea flooding. There were storms, but they weren’t that bad. As the sea levels continue to rise in Kiribati, several king tides hit the island. Saltwater intrusion affects the quality of water in wells; floods taro patches, gardens, and puts stress on plants/trees which are very important to the life and culture of an I-Kiribati

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up jointly by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme to provide an authoritative international statement of scientifi c understanding of climate change. The IPCC’s periodic assessments of the causes, impacts and possible response strategies to climate change are the most comprehensive and up-to-date reports available on the subject, and form the standard reference for all concerned with climate change in academia, government and industry worldwide. Through three working groups, many hundreds of international experts assess climate change in this Fourth Assessment Report. The Report consists of three main volumes under the umbrella title Climate Change 2007, all available from Cambridge University Press

Ice, snow and climate change are closely linked. The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow investigates those linkages. It also presents information on the trends in ice and snow, the outlook for this century and beyond and the consequences to ecosystems and human well-being of these changes. It covers all parts of the cryosphere (the world of ice): snow, land ice, sea ice, river and lake ice, and frozen ground. The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow was written by more than 70 scientists from around the world.

This report provides an overview of the current state of knowledge of cetacean diversity, habitat and threats in the Pacifi c Islands Region. The boundaries of the Pacifi c Islands Region (Chapter 1), as defi ned by the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Conservation of Cetaceans and their Habitats in the Pacifi c Islands Region (CMS 2006), are the marine areas under the jurisdiction of each Country or Territory of the Pacifi c Islands Region, and extend to the area defi ned by the Noumea Convention, i.e., between the Tropic of Cancer and 60° South latitude, and between 130° East longitude and 120° West longitude. The region stretches over some 10,000 kilometres from east to west and 5,000 kilometres from north to south, with a combined economic exclusion zone (EEZ) of approximately 30 million km². This region contains 22 Pacifi c Island Countries and Territories, as well as a portion of the Australian continent, both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, and a portion of the Hawaiian Islands. The region is purported to hold the most extensive and biologically diverse reefs in the world, the deepest ocean trenches, the world’s largest tuna fi shery, as well as a range of globally threatened species such as sea turtles, dugongs and cetaceans (UNDP 1999)

Adaptation activities in the Pacific. Lessons learned and best practices identified. Costs of extreme events to Small. Emerging risks and trends identified by climate change scientists Islands

Pacific Islanders traditionally have enjoyed diverse ways to achieve food security, through gardening, fishing, hunting, and selling products or labour for cash, reports JON BARNETT. But robust local food production has significantly been eroded with urbanisation and cheap, poor quality food imports. Climate change will increase threats to food security, through its impacts on food production, health, infrastructure, the ability of countries to import food, and the ability of households to purchase food. Commercial agriculture, fisheries and tourism are also likely to be badly affected as will the ability of the regions governments to cope with increasing climate-related disasters.