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The importance of natural resources to the economy of the Pacific island region cannot be overstated. Island communities have unsurprisingly relied heavily on ocean resources for sustenance and economic activities, such as fishing and transport. Land-based resources are also vital at subsistence level, and are providing increasing development opportunities, for example through forestry and mineral mining.

The care of the ocean is the responsibility of all people. The Oceans are interconnected and interdependent. covering some seventy per cent of the world's surface. They are the last great frontier and their conservation and sustainable use is vital to the well being and survial of the human race. Pacific Island communities inhabit the islands scattered throughout an Ocean across which some of the most inspiring migrations in human history have taken place, over many thousands of years. The Ocean unites Pacific Island communities more than anything else. It has supported generations of Pacific Island communities - not only as a medium for transport but also as a source of food, tradition and culture.