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Plastic bags can last up to 1,000 years in the environment .A car can drive 115 metres on the amount of petroleum used to make one plastic bag More than 100,000 sea animals, including sea turtles die each year from plastic debris including plastic bags Governments, businesses and community groups around the Pacific spend time and money cleaning up the plastic bags that are dumped thoughtlessly. The easiest way to reduce the number of plastic bags is to use an alternative, the next time you go shopping, take your own bag

Concluded under the auspices of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) in partnership with The Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) opened for signature at the 17th SPREP meeting, Noumea 15th September 2006

In the Pacific, land and sea are life; livelihoods and the natural environment are inseparable. Culture, tradition and livelihoods, are underpinned by the incredible biodiversity of the nearly 3,000 islands and atolls of the Pacific. However, high birth rates, unsustainable use of natural resources, increasing dependency on the cash economy, labour migration, and the deterioration of traditional social systems, are changing traditional lifestyles.

Waste management is widely recognised as a major concern for PICTs, with the potential to negatively impact on national development activities, including tourism and trade, food supplies, public health and the environment. The Solid Waste Management Strategy and Action Plan sets out a long term programme for addressing waste management issues in the region to avoid these adverse social, economic and environmental effects.

At the regional level, coordination of the implementation of the Pacific Plan is, in the first instance, the responsibility of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. This is consistent with the 2004 decision by Leaders that the primary functions of the Secretariat are to provide policy advice, coordmation and assistance in implementing their decisions. The Secretariat has therefore been restructured to more effectively undertake these responsibilities. Political oversight and guidance to the Secretariat is provided by a Pacific Plan Action Committee (PPAC), chaired by the Forum Chair and comprising representatives of all Pacific Island Forum Countries. The Forum Chair (as Chair of the PPAC), will report to Leaders on the implementation of the Plan on a quarterly basis. A small implementation unit (the Pacific Plan Office - PPO), reporting directly to one of the Deputies Secretary General, has been established in the Secretariat to support the PPAC and progress the Plan.

One of the three pillars for acquiring sustainable development at any national level is the environment – more specifically a healthy environment. It is widely recognized that pollution of the environment is one of the major threats to sustainable development in the Pacific islands and has a direct influence on the quality of people’s lives. It has the potential to cause negative impacts on national development activities, including tourism and trade, food supplies, public health and the environment. The generation and disposal of wastes has direct and indirect linkages to economic development. Waste materials represent wasted money, in terms of the original cost of the materials, the costs of disposal, and also the potential value of the material as a reusable resource.

The SPREP Regional Marine Species Programme Framework 2003-2007 highlights Turtle conservation as one of the priority areas. The Turtle Action Plan is one of the three Action Plans developed for the programme. These Action Plans have been endorsed by SPREP member countries and territories

Samoa entered this period with detailed knowledge of the best lowland and upland ecosystems remaining based on surveys in the 1990s. One of the highest priority lowland sites has been included within a Marine Protected area project, and major upland ones are included in a mediumsized project proposal to the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The “Rules of Procedure of the SPREP Meeting”, provides that where the Meeting is hosted by the Secretariat, the Chair shall rotate alphabetically, and where the Meeting is not hosted by the Secretariat, the Chair shall be provided by the host country.

An assessment of the site was conducted on 6 December 2004 by Joe Aitaro and Ann and Clarence Kitalong of The Environment. Inc. (TEI). The TEI team conducted a qualitative and quantitative assessment within the waste disposal site and along the forest and river surrounding the site.The team identified and recorded flora and fauna found within and immediately adjacent to the site. At selected points the TEI team described the habitat, flora and fauna. The red dots on indicate reference points from this assessment. The team did not do any subsurface sampling during the terrestrial or coastal survey. The team also met a community representative of the Ebiil Society at the Ollei dock.