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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).

The Pacific islands region is unique, not because its geographical, biological, sociological and economic characteristics are found exclusively here but because of combination of these characteristics within the region. The region is characterized by: smal land masses dispersed over 5.8 % of the Earth's surface; a high degree of ecosystem and species diversity an extraordinary level of endemicity a high degree of economic and cultural dependence on the natural environment, vulnerability to a wide range of natural and environmental disasters and a diversity of cultures and languages, traditional practices and customs focused on the marine and coastal environment.

Assessments of the general condition, stocking, composition, and growth of mangroves on the islands of Pohnpei and Yap and at one area on Kosrae were undertaken at the request of these states. Methods used included: reconnaissance on foot, by air and by boat; use of 1976 aerial photographs; remeasurement of forest inventory plots installed by the US Forest Service in 1983; and installation of new inventory plots, examination of public records, and reviews of published data (Pohnpei). Average annual increment of mangroves on all islands was 6.9 m3 per hectare per year; increments on individual plots ranged from 0.9-16.7 m3 per hectare per year. The wide variation in growth rates suggests that management could do much to boost productivity. Production appears adequate to meet present consumption except for a few specific locations and products. Problems affecting mangroves on these islands include uncontrolled exploitation, excessive sedimentation, and alteration of natural drainage. Actions to conserve mangroves are recommended.

This report presents the results of studies made on five Pacific lagoons located at Suva, Fiji; Vila, Vanuatu; Tarawa, Kiribati; Tongatapu, Tonga; and Marovo, Western Province, Solomon Islands. Studies were made on water quality by physical, chemical and microbiological analyses. Analyses of shellfish and sediments were also completed for some sites.

The Regional Seas Programme was initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1974 in response to the selection of the oceans as a priority area by the UNEP Governing Council. It is a global programme implemented through regional components under the guidance of the Oceans and Coastal Areas Programme Activity Centre at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi. Each regional action plan is formulated by the Governments concerned to respond to the needs of the region for a comprehensive approach to controlling both the consequences and the causes of environmental degradation through the management of marine and coastal areas. Action-oriented programme activities are generally supported by regional legal agreements.

Recognising the problems of information management and the use of data as a resource many countries of the SPC region have expressed the desire for some form of integrated network to handle information and data relating to the resources and environment of the Region. Accordingly SPREP commissioned this review of the current situaiton with regard to handling, storage and evaluation of such data in the countries of the region.

Pesticides as covered in the project include acaricides, biological pesticides (bacteria, viruses), defoliants, dessicants, fumigants, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, molluscicides, nematicides, rodenticides and synergists. Pesticides included are those used in plant protection, in animal health (products for external use only), in human health programmes and for urban pest control.

The South Pacific Commission (SPC) Area (Fig. 18) extends from 130°W to 130°E, on either side of the international dateline, between the two tropics. It is unequally distributed as regards latitude, with two thirds of its area in the Southern Hemisphere and one third in the Northern Hemisphere. Its eastern area corresponds roughly to the central South Pacific, and its western portion to the western Pacific, excluding the areas of the Coral Sea to the South and the Philippine Sea to the North which wash the Australian and Philippines coastlines respectively.

This report is the outcome of the technical group's effort. This subject is vast and the report necessarily lengthy and in some places somewhat technical.