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This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive listing and analysis of Kiribati plant names, along with the corresponding Latin, English, and selected Pacific-island vernacular names for plant species with recognized Kiribati vernacular names. The study focuses on those species found on the 16 islands of the Kiribati group proper (known traditionally as Tungaru), with no attempt being made to include species which might be present on the other islands of Kiribati: Banaba (Ocean Island) to the west and the Line and Phoenix Islands to the east. A brief analysis of relevant past studies and the nature of the plants and their names is also included. The paper is based on a ten-day in-the-field inventory of Kiribati plant names and plant resources on the islands of Abemama and Tarawa in 1984, plus a four- week field study of the plants of Nauru in 1980-81, which included a study of the plants of the resident I Kiribati contract worker community. The findings of these studies were then emended in light of comparison and cross-checking with plant lists and plant names from pre-existing sources.

Agroforestry, the planting and protection of trees and tree like plants as integral components of a polycultural agricultural system, has always been central to the economic, cultural and ecological stability of the Kiribati society. This paper focuses on Kiribati agroforestry, and on the role trees play as: 1) integral components of polycultural agricultural systems; 2) symbols of stability and cultural wellbeing; 3) sources of a diverse range of subsistence and commercial products, the imported substitutes for which would be either too expensive or unavailable to most people; and 4) ecologically important components of agricultural systems which, if lost, would lead to irreversible environmental degradation and resultant cultural deterioration. Two islands of Kiribati, Tarawa and Abemama serve as case studies of Kiribati village- level agroforestry. The findings are based on a ten-day reconnaissance survey of agroforestry on Tarawa and Abemama in 1984, a subsequent visit in early 1989, and a survey of the available literature.

The Gilbert Islands are a north-south chain of low coral islands, lying across the equator at about 172°-177° E longitude. The atolls, from north to south are Little Makin, Butaritari, Marakei, Abaiang, Tarawa, Maiana, Kuria, Aranuka, Abemama, Nonouti, Tabiteuea, Onotoa, Beru, Nikunau, Tamana, and Arorai. They are densely populated, and were under British Colonial Government until 1979, when they were granted independence, and now are the principal archipelago in the new republic of Kiribati.