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PacWaste is working across 14 Pacific island countries and TimorLeste to improve the management of healthcare waste. Healthcare waste is hazardous because it has the potential to be infectious or harmful to humans and the environment. In Solomon Islands, PacWaste conducted a healthcare waste management baseline survey in July 2014, through which information was collected on current waste management processes. Audits were conducted at six hospitals: Honiara National Referral Hospital (Honiara); Gizo Hospital (Gizo); Helena Goldie Hospital (Munda); Kilu’ufi Hospital (Auki); Atoifi Adventist Hospital (Atoifi); and Kirakira Hospital (Kirakira).

The 15th Pacific Islands Roundtable for Nature Conservation (PIRT) Annual Meeting was planned to be down sized to focus on a preparatory planning meeting for the 9th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas planned for mid 2013. The meeting was held from April 23th to 24th in Honiara, Solomon Islands. The meeting was focused on 2 streams the first being the Lessons Learning Learned and the second Conference Committee Preparatory Meeting The Conference Committee Meeting will focus on planning the next conference objectives, themes, agenda, hosting arrangements and funding. The Heads of Organisation meeting will be convened to discuss the roundtable business, next conference and new regional opportunities for roundtable engagement.

Action Strategy Reporting: The reporting for the Action Strategy for Nature Conservation in the Pacific Islands Region 2008 – 2012 was discussed and it was decided that reporting will be done under the four objectives of the Action Strategy. The roundtable working groups will be reporting their activities under the relevant objectives annually and a consolidation report at the conference. Working groups are will be approached to decide on which objectives that best link to their work and the following were recommended

In Solomon Islands, the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) project focused on food security, with a goal ‘to contribute to reduced vulnerability and increased adaptive capacity to adverse effects of climate change in Solomon Islands’. The pilot sites for the demonstration projects were the low lying atolls of Ontong Java and, in a second phase, Sikaiana. These atolls are extremely isolated and are highly vulnerable in many respects. Climaterelated threats mainly come from sea level rise and extreme weather events, and impacts on food security include contamination of the freshwater lens affecting crop production. Associated soil salinisation, as well as loss of land through erosion, also have serious implications for subsistence food production in locations that are already stressed.

Action Strategy Reporting: The reporting for the Action Strategy for Nature Conservation in the Pacific Islands Region 2008 – 2012 was discussed and it was decided that reporting will be done under the four objectives of the Action Strategy. The roundtable working groups will be reporting their activities under the relevant objectives annually and a consolidation report at the conference. Working groups are will be approached to decide on which objectives that best link to their work and the following were recommended.

For Pacific SIDS, the need for adaptation to climate change has become increasingly urgent. Long-term climate changes, including the increasing frequency and severity of extreme events such as high rainfall, droughts, tropical cyclones, and storm surges are affecting the lives and livelihoods of people in PICs. Coupled with non-climate drivers, such as inappropriate land use, overexploitation of resources, increasing urbanization and population increase, development in the region is increasingly undermined. For the low lying atolls, the likely economic disruption from climate change pressures could be catastrophic, even to the extent of requiring population relocation to other islands or adding numbers to the Pacific diaspora, with the subsequent social and cultural disruption having unknown proportions. Failure to reduce vulnerability could also result in loss of opportunities to manage risks in the future when the impacts may be greater and time to consider options limited.

PACC project reports

Reports of the PACC project

In 1981, the Isabel provincial government first recognized the importance of the Arnavon Islands as a nesting ground for Hawksbill turtles, and designated the islands as a Wildlife Sanctuary. At that time, however, the government did not adequately recognize the local communities' rights and the project failed. In 1989, the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) collaborated with the Solomon Islands government and the Ministry of Natural Resources (now the Ministry of Forestry, Environment and Conservation or MFEC) to survey the Hawksbill turtle nesting beaches and populations in the northern Solomon Islands including the Amavons. The surveys documented the severe depletion of the Hawksbill turtle population due to the turtle shell (bekko) export trade which has flourished in recent years. As a result of the surveys interest was renewed for conservation in the area and local communities were approached for their support in establishing a conservation area. Through its close association with SPREP and MFEC, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) was invited by the government to take a leading role in developing and implementing a marine conservation area project to protect turtle nesting beaches and other important marine and island species on the Arnavon Islands.