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Seabird eggs, chicks and adults have significant value for many cultures, but delayed maturation, low reproductive rates and ease of exploitation at breeding colonies make these species especially vulnerable to over harvest.

Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott) plays a prominent role in the economies and cultures of Pacific Island countries such as Fiji. Unfortunately, taro is highly susceptible to invasion from taro beetles, which burrow into the corms and weaken the plants, rendering them unmarkable and prone to rot. Papuana uninodis Prell, an invasive alien species that is native to the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, was first reported on Viti Levu (Fiji's largest island) in 1984. Since that time, taro production on Viti Levu has fallen substantially. In this paper, we employ data from surveys of households and communities to document the impacts of P. uninodis on Viti Levu. We then identify three management approaches-chemical controls, cultural controls, and switching from taro to another staple crop-and conduct a cost-benefit analysis of each. We find strong arguments for pursuing chemical control, which derives a net present value of monetised benefits of about FJ$139,500 per hectare over 50 yr, or >FJ$21 for each FJ$1 spent. Still, any of the three management options is more efficient than no management, even without any attempt to quantify the benefits to biodiversity or forest protection, underscoring the value of actively managing this invasive alien species.

Invasive alien species such as Spathodea campanulata (African tulip tree) threaten biodiversity in the Pacific islands as well as the economic, social, and cultural wellbeing of Pacific peoples. Despite the potential magnitude of these threats, our scientific understanding of the ecology and management of the African tulip tree is nascent. In this paper, we use data from novel surveys of households and communities to document the direct and direct impacts of African tulip tree in Fiji, focusing on those impacts which may be monetised. We use the same data to describe current management approaches and then describe a state-of-the-science, ‘‘integrated’’ management approach that employs different strategies for trees of different ages and sizes. These two approaches are then compared in a comprehensive cost–benefit analysis. We find strong arguments for pursuing the integrated management approach, which derives monetised benefits of $3.7 for each $1 spent. However, the less costly current approach is also strictly preferred to the baseline, ‘‘do nothing’’ approach, with monetised benefits of $2.7 for each $1 spent. Results of this analysis clearly show that managing African tulip tree is cost effective, even without explicitly considering biodiversity, culture, and other non-monetised benefits of control.

The First United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 (also known as the Earth Summit) acknowledged that SIDS are a special case for sustainable development (given their unique and particular vulnerabilities).This gave rise to the First International Conference on SIDS in 1994 and the Barbados Program of Action (BPOA) which is the main policy framework addressing the economic, social and environmental vulnerabilities facing SIDS. The sustainable development of SIDS was also at the heart of the Second International Conference on SIDS held in Mauritius in 2005, and the “Mauritius Strategy for the further implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States” was adopted and subsequently endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 (Rio+20) agreed to convene the Third International Conference on SIDS in 2014. This was later endorsed by the UN General Assembly (UNGA). “The Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) through Genuine and Durable Partnerships” will be held in Samoa in September 2014. FAO has been involved in supporting SIDS in addressing sustainable development issues and has contributed to the regional preparatory process (i.e. Caribbean, Pacific and AIMS regions) as well as the inter-regional and global consultation process held at the UN Headquarters in New York in February 2014. The outcome documents of these preparatory meetings specifically mention topics that are relevant to FAO’s core areas such as coastal zone management and ecosystem based approaches, institutional capacity to deter illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries and increased attention to small-scale fisheries. Climate change is also highlighted as a threat to food security, natural resources (land, water, forest and biodiversity) and marine and coastal resources. This paper focuses on the environmental challenges of sustainable development issues with particular attention to natural resource management, environment and climate change in the food and agriculture sector (including crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry). FAO’s agriculture, fisheries, forestry and technical assistance programmes provide considerable resources to assist member countries promote conservation, sustainable use and management of natural resources and to reduce the risks associated with climate extremes as well as resilience building.

The spectroscopy of foliage has long been recognized as fundamental to understanding the interaction of plants with solar radi-ation, as well as for monitoring vegetation with remote sensing (Gateset al., 1965; Goetzet al., 1985).

For tropical forest carbon to be commoditized, a consistent, globally verifiable system for reporting and monitoring carbon stocks and emissions must be achieved

The black rat, roof rat, or ship rat (Rattus rattus L.) is among the most widespread invasive vertebrates on islands and continents, and it is nearly ubiquitous on Pacific islands from the equatorial tropics to approximately 55 degrees latitude north and south. It survives well in human-dominated environments, natural areas, and islands where humans are not present. Rattus rattus is typically the most common invasive rodent in insular forests. Few vertebrates are more problematic to island biota and human livelihoods than R. rattus; it is well known to damage crops and stored foods, kill native species, and serve as a vector for human diseases. Rattus rattus is an omnivore, yet fruit and seed generally dominate its diet, and prey items from the ground to the canopy are commonly at risk and exploited as a result of the prominent arboreal activity of R. rattus. Here we review the biology of this invasive species and its impacts on humans and the insular plants and animals in the Pacific. We also describe some of the past management practices used to control R. rattus populations on islands they have invaded.

Island conservation programs have been spectacularly successful over the past five decades, yet they generally do not account for impacts of climate change. Here, we argue that the full spectrum of climate change, especially Island conservation programs have been spectacularly successful over the past five decades, yet they generally do not account for impacts of climate change. Here, we argue that the full spectrum of climate change, especially sea-level rise and loss of suitable climatic conditions, should be rapidly integrated into island biodiversity research and management. Sea-level rise and loss of suitable climatic conditions, should be rapidly integrated into island biodiversity research and management.

Sustainability and gender have been prominent on the development agenda since the 1980s, but there h as been little systematic study of the links between the two. This review draws on ecofeminist theory, feminist political ecology, intrahousehold literature, and natural resource management case studies and reviews to examine how gender shapes the motives, means, and opportunities for men and women to contribute to sustainability. Particular attention is given to evidence on closeness to nature, focus on conservation, rights to resources, opportunities to exploit resources, and constraints to adoption of sustainable practices. Despite early claims that women are naturally more conserving of resources, the empirical literature, in particular, gives a more mixed and nuanced picture. Conservation is in uenced not only by gender but also by a host of tangible and intangible factors, including local ecology, context, and culture, that affect incentives and the ability to adopt sustainable extraction and provision practices.

The purpose of this study is to review theoretical and empirical findings in economics with respect to the challenging question of how to manage invasive species. The review revealed a relatively large body of literature on the assessment of damage costs of invasive species; single species and groups of species at different geographical scales. However, the estimated damage costs show large variation, from less than 1 million USD to costs corresponding to 12% of gross domestic product, depending on the methods employed, geographical scale, and scope with respect to inclusion of different species. Decisions regarding optimal management strategies, when to act in the invasion chain and which policy to choose, have received much less attention in earlier years, but have been subject to increasing research during the last decade. More difficult, but also more relevant policy issues have been raised, which concern the targeting in time and space of strategies under conditions of uncertainty. In particular, the weighting of costs and benefits from early detection and mitigation against the uncertain avoidance of damage with later control, when the precision in targeting species is typically greater is identified as a key challenge. The role of improved monitoring for detecting species and their spread and damage has been emphasized, but questions remain on how to achieve this in practice. This is in contrast to the relatively large body of literature on policies for mitigating dispersal by trade, which is regarded as one of the most important vectors for the spread of invasive species. On the other hand, the literature on how to mitigate established species, by control or adaptation, is much more scant. Studies evaluating causes for success or failure of policies against invasive in practice are in principal non-existing.