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A decade ago, Government embarked on a refurbishment programme of schools and hospitals which created asbestos as its by-product being stockpiled as unwanted and unusable waste. Most of these asbestos were left sitting on pallets at various sites awaiting disposal. At the time, an estimated 700 tonnes of asbestos waste lay ready to be disposed and recently more asbestos is added from the demolition of the old Island Foods factory.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination (the “Compact”); its objectives, guiding principles, key deliverables and intended benefits to Forum Island Countries and Development Partners. It also provides an outline of work to date undertaken by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in coordinating and progressing the implementation of the Compact.

The Pacific islands of Oceania cover almost 15% of the world’s surface and are characterised by a high degree of ecosystem and species diversity. The region is characterised by thousands of isolated small coral atolls and higher volcanic islands, which has led to the high diversity of species found today. In fact, the number of plants and animals found nowhere else on earth (endemic species) is extremely high - often up to 90% for particular groups. Often, these rare and endemic species are adapted to specialised habitats and limited to small areas of a few islands. With economic and cultural dependence on the natural environment very high in the Pacific islands, along with a rapidly expanding human population, there are ever increasing demands on the region’s natural resources. Plant and animal species are therefore vulnerable to extinction from climate change, competition from introduced (invasive) species and human impacts such as habitat destruction, over-harvesting of species and pollution.