Search the SPREP Catalogue

Species of the gobiid fish genus Redigobius are found throughout the Indo-west Pacific in estuarine and fresh waters, usually close to tidal influence. They are sometimes abundant and several species have entered the aquarium trade.

Coral reef fisheries are critical for food security and as a source of income in developing and developedcountries, but they are collapsing in many areas.

Over the last four decades the eradication of rats from islands around New Zealand has moved from accidental eradication following the exploratory use of baits for rat control to carefully planned complex eradications of rats and cats (Feliscatus) on large islands.

Islands house a majority of the world’s biodiversity and are thus critical for biodiversity conservation. Seabird nesting colonies provide nutrients that are integral to maintain island biodiversity and ecosystem function. Invasive rats destroy seabird colonies and thus the island ecosystems that depend on seabird-derived nutrients. After rat eradication, it is unclear how long ecosystem recovery may take, although some speculate on the order of centuries. I looked at ecosystem recovery along a chronosequence of islands that had 12–22 years to recover following rat eradication. I show that soil, plant, and spider marine-derived nitrogen levels and C:N ratios take mere decades to recover even after centuries-long rat invasion. Moreover, active seabird restoration could speed recovery even further, giving much hope to quickly conserve many endemic species on islands worldwide.

The Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis) has caused ecological and economic damage to Guam, and the snake has the potential to colonize other islands in the Paci c Ocean. This study quanti es the potential economic damage if the snake were translocated, established in the state of Hawai‘i, and causing damage at levels similar to those on Guam. Damages modeled included costs of medical treatments due to snakebites, snake-caused power outages, and decreased tourism resulting from effects of the snake. Damage caused by presence of the Brown Tree Snake on Guam was used as a guide to estimate potential economic damage to Hawai‘i from both medical- and power outage–related damage. To predict tourism impact, a survey was administered to Hawaiian tourists that identi ed tourist responses to potential effects of the Brown Tree Snake. These results were then used in an input-output model to predict damage to the state economy. Summing these damages resulted in an estimated total potential annual damage to Hawai‘i of between $593 million and $2.14 billion. This economic analysis provides a range of potential damages that policy makers can use in evaluation of future prevention and control programs.

Introduced common mynas Acridotheres tristis have been implicated as a threat to native biodiversity on the oceanic islands of St Helena and Ascension (UK). A rice-based bait treated with Starlicide® was broadcast for consumption by flocks of common mynas at the government rubbish tips on the two islands during investigations of potential myna management techniques. Bait was laid on St Helena during two 3-day periods in July and August 2009, and on Ascension over one 3-day period in November 2009. As a consequence of bait ingestion, dead mynas were found, especially under night roosts and also at the main drinking area on Ascension, following baiting. On St Helena early morning counts at the tip suggested that whilst the number of mynas fell after each treatment, lower numbers were not sustained; no reduction in numbers flying to the main roost used by birds using the tip as a feeding area was detected post-treatment. On Ascension, the number of mynas that fed at the tip and using a drinking site, and the numbers counted flying into night roosts from the direction of the tip, both indicated declines of about 70% (from about 360 to 109 individuals). Most dead birds were found following the first day of bait application, with few apparently dying after baiting on days 2 and 3. Despite the low concentration of Starlicide used, aversion to the bait was apparent during the trials. These results indicate that Starlicide may contribute to myna control programmes but questions remain over the mode of action of the chemical (in terms of individual differences among birds the responses to its toxic properties) and the longer-term susceptibility of birds to baiting.

Plastic production pellets sampled from four beaches along a stretch of coastline (south Devon, SW England) and accompanying, loosely adhered and entrapped material removed ultrasonically have been analysed for major metals (Al, Fe, Mn) and trace metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Ag, Cd, Co, Cr, Mo, Sb, Sn, U) following acid digestion. In most cases, metal concentrations in composite pellet samples from each site were less than but within an order of magnitude of corresponding concentrations in the pooled extraneous materials. However, normalisation of data with respect to Al revealed enrichment of Cd and Pb in plastic pellets at two sites. These observations are not wholly due to the association of pellets with fine material that is resistant to ultrasonication since new polyethylene pellets suspended in a harbour for 8 weeks accumulated metals from sea water through adsorption and precipitation. The environmental implications and potential applications of these findings are discussed.

The highest diversity coral reefs in the world, located in the Coral Triangle, are threatened by a variety of local stresses including pollution, overfishing, and destructive fishing in addition to climate change impacts, such as increasing sea surface temperatures (SSTs), and ocean acidification. As climate change impacts increase, coral reef vulnerability at the ecoregional scale will have an increasingly important influence on conservation management decisions. This project provides the first detailed assessment of past and future climatic stress, thermal variability, and anthropogenic impacts in the Coral Triangle at the ecoregional level, thus incorporating both local (eg. pollution, development, and overfishing) and global threats (increasing SSTs). The development of marine protected area (MPA) networks across the Coral Triangle is critical for the region to address these threats. Specific management recommendations are defined for MPA networks based on the levels of vulnerability to the therma stress may be priorities for establishment of MPA networks, wheras high vulnerability regions may require selection and design principles aimed at building resilience to climate change. The identification of climate and other human threats to coral reef systems and ecoregions can help conservation practitioners prioritize management responses to address these threats and identify gaps in MPA networks or other management mechanisms (eg. integrated coastal management).

This paper evaluates the processes and mechanisms available for integrating different types of knowledge integration, we present a series of questions for identifying, engaging, evaluating and applying different knowledges during project design and delivery. These questions are used as a basis to compare three environmental management projects that aimed to integrate knowledge from different sources in the United Kingdom, Solomon Islands and Australia. Comparative results indicate that integrating different types of knowledge is inherently complex - classification of knowledge is arbitrary and knowledge integration perspectives are qualitatively very different. We argue that there is no single optimum approach for integrating local and scientific knowledge and encourage a shift in science from the development of knowledge integration products to the development of problem-focussed, knowledge integration processes. These processes need to be systematic, reflexive and cyclic so that multiple views and multiple methods are considered in relation to an environmental management problem. The results have implications for the way in which researchers and environmental managers undertake and evaluate knowledge integration projects.

The island of Muisne in the Province of Esmeraldas, Ecuador, witnessed a unique gathering earlier this year, from 29 to 31 May 2009. More than 80 women shellfishers, crabbers, fishers, and oyster and clam gatherers met to share their experiences of life in the mangroves. Women from the mangrove areas met with others from REDMANGLAR International, from Colombia, Honduras, Mexico and Brazil. The three-day meeting captured the historical memory of the women who live in, and struggle to defend, mangrove ecosystems. ‘My clamming work has helped me provide my kids with an education, so that they don’t have to be like me, so that they can be better. I feel proud that my kids have got a way forward, thanks to my work as a clammer. I haven’t left them like my mother left me, with no education’, said Jacinta, delegate from Muisine canton, Esmeraldas Province, Ecuador, on the first day of the meeting. These words set off a fierce polemic amongst the participants. Some women appeared to be disconcerted by her words; others were in total agreement.