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Over the past decade since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio, there has been only modest progress in the Asia-Pacific Region towards sustainable development. Since 1992, environmental quality in the Region has deteriorated. In advance of the September, 2002, World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), a number of agencies active in the Asia-Pacific Region, including ADB, ESCAP, UNDP, and UNEP, agreed to co-ordinate a series of subregional and regional preparatory meetings. The inter-agency Task Force undertook consultations with representatives of government and civil society organizations to formulate action plans for sustainable development in the five subregions of Asia-Pacific: Central Asia, Northeast Asia, South Asia, South Pacific, and Southeast Asia. This synthesis report summarizes the process adopted and the substantive results from the five subregional consultations and two subregional roundtables. The report is a companion document to the Asia-Pacific Regional Platform paper that will be discussed at the Asia Pacific Regional Meeting in Cambodia, Nov. 27-29, 2001, and at the WSSD in September, 2002. Future implementation of the subregional action plans is necessary to arrest widespread environmental degradation in the Region. In order to achieve sustainable development, additional efforts and practical solutions are required for major socio-economic problems, including the widespread poverty and the distributional inequalities that pervade the Asia-Pacific Region.

The Republic of Vanuatu, formerly the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides, consists of the central and southern part of an archipelago which forms one of the numerous seismic arcs found in the Western Pacific. The Santa Cruz Islands, politically part of the Solomon Islands, constitute the northern part of the archipelago (UNEP/IUCN. 1988).

Potable water for households, schools, commercial buildings, hotels, restaurants and similar uses must be safe, clean, clear and potable. Potable water must come from collection of rainwater, desalination of seawater or extraction of freshwater from the groundwater. Potable water also may be produced by private desalination units operated using seawater or brackish water. Household gutters and storage tanks must be cleaned periodically to ensure they do not harbour rodents, mosquitoes or pathogenic bacteria. Water transport trucks, tanks and pipelines must be kept clean and should be disinfected periodically to ensure they do not contaminate the water.

Nauru is a country in post-phosphate transition. After years of high economic growth fuelled by booming but unsustainable phosphate exports (and looming resource exhaustion), the economy of Nauru has, over the past decade, experienced an unprecedented economic downturn. The downturn has been characterized by mounting domestic and external debt service payments, falling revenues, high and unsustainable government expenditure, and a liquidity crisis in the financial sector (including the near collapse of the Bank of Nauru), that threatens the economic and financial stability of the country. The country and the citizens of Nauru (pop. 11,845). are currently experiencing a steep decline in GDP per capita, falling employment opportunities, a concomitant decline in income earning opportunities, and emerging hardship and social problems. Moreover, at the time of writing, unsatisfactory growth prospects pose a serious and palpable risk for sustainable human development.

Capacity building in the marine sector is a priority for Pacific Island nations, which face major challenges in the sustainable management of their marine resources under UNCLOS III and the various Conventions and Agreements stemming from UNCED. The University of the South Pacific (USP), with its 12 Pacific Island members (Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu) has taken up this challenge through the establishment of its Marine Studies Programme (MSP) in 1993. The MSP is one of the four focal areas identified in USP's 1998 Strategic Plan. The breadth of MSP's activities is substantial, ranging from awareness raising at the village level to sophisticated post-graduate research in marine science. The substantial regional and international cooperation, research and training involved in these endeavours require USP to respond to education, training and research needs at many levels. As USP services more than 23 million square kilometres of ocean space and less than 1.7 million people, only a small percentage of this population have access to face-to-face teaching. USP's success to date is a measure of staff dedication, innovation and the confidence of the university, its members, and its donor partners. Capacity building in the marine sector will remain a high priority for many years to come, and MSP must continue to play a leading role.

This guide has detailed species accounts for the 173 species eith confirmed records in the region and notes on a further 22 species with unconfirmed records. Every breeding bird and regular migrant is illustrated on 16 full colour plates. The species accounts are separated into three sections for the convenience of regional users and non-specialists, who will find the groupings more natural than the standard taxonomic classification. They are Land (and Freshwater) Birds, Sea Birds and shore birds and waders.

The Executive Secretary is circulating herewith, for the information of participants in the seventh meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), a background paper prepared by FAO on lessons learned from case-studies on animal genetic resources. This information note supplements the progress report by the Executive Secretary on the implementation of the programme of work on agrobiodiversity, including the development of the international pollinators initiative (UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/7/9).

Conservation biology involves protection and management of biodiversity (Metfe and Carroll 1994). This integrated discipline requires both an understanding of an ecosystem and its associated threats, as well as an understanding of the management of the system as a resource. In order to develop management techniques that can limit resource degradation, we need a clear understanding of the role of threats to the resources. The focus of this dissertation is assessing threats to resources, using coral reefs as a model system.

Management of hazardous materials, hazardous wastes and contaminated sites has become an increasingly important issue for Pacific Island Countries (PICs). In 1997, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) in conjunction with the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), implemented the Persistent Organic Pollutants in Pacific Island Countries project (POPs in PICs) to address this issue. As part of the POPs in PICs project, a commitment was made to provide training to key personnel in PICs. in basic chemical handling and disposal procedures. As part of this commitment, Golder Associates were engaged by SPREP in October 2000, to design and deliver training workshops in thirteen PICs, with the aim of creating an awareness and understanding in each country on the effective management of hazardous materials, hazardous wastes and contaminated sites.

GEF support for the preparation of National Capacity Self-Assessments (NCSA) is pursuant to the GEF Council Decision which "requests the GEF Secretariat, in collaboration with the Implementing Agencies and Executing Agencies, to initiate processes so that the self-assessment of capacity building needs can begin immediately in countries that request such assistance". The overall aim of GEF support for the NCSA is to provide countries with the opportunity to take the lead in articulating their own capacity needs and priorities with respect to the global environment taking into account the three global conventions 011 biodiversity, climate change and desertification/land degradation"