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This document is part of a technical report series on conservation projects funded by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF) and the Conservation International Pacific Islands Program (CI-Pacific). The main purpose of this series is to disseminate project findings and successes to a broader audience of conservation professionals in the Pacific, along with interested members of the public and students. The reports are being prepared on an ad-hoc basis as projects are completed and written up. In most cases the reports are composed of two parts, the first part is a detailed technical report on the project which gives details on the methodology used, the results and any recommendations. The second part is a brief project completion report written for the donor and focused on conservation impacts and lessons learned.

The Cook Islands signed the Convention on Biological Diversity at the Earth Summit in 1992. As a Party to the Convention, the Cook Islands Government committed itself and its people to conserve its biodiversity, to use it in a sustainable manner, and to share its benefits in an equitable manner. It also committed itself to control invasive species (the weeds and pest animals in natural ecosystems and agricultural systems), and to reduce the likelihood of future invasions.

The Maori language of the Cook Islands is derived from those of Eastern Polynesia, except for Pukapuka which has a Samoa-related language. Despite the Eastern Polynesia origin of plant and animal names, the physical isolation of the individual islands created a fertile ground for the divergence of names. For example, while all communities use the name Tavake for the Red-tailed Tropicbird. the Brown Booby is known specifically as Kena (Penrhyn). Kapu (Penrhyn) and Noa (Pukapuka). and non-specifically as Toroa(Southern Group). In other cases the variation is more subtle, as in the cognates for a common coastal shrub: Nga'u,Ngahu,Ngasu,Ngashu and Ngayu.