The 2nd annual Pacific Resilience Meeting, sponsored by the Pacific Resilience Partnership, took place from July 5 through July 8. This year’s theme was “Our People, Our Journey: Nurturing Pacific Resilience from Home.”  The Pacific Resilience Partnership (PRP) was established in 2017 by Pacific Island leaders as part of governance arrangements to support the Framework […]

On June 30, the Pacific island of Nauru sent a letter to the International Seabed Authority (ISA) stating plans to begin deep-seabed mining in two years. The announcement triggered a rule within the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, forcing its governing body, the ISA, to evaluate Nauru’s proposal and develop regulations within […]

Journalists from across the Pacific focused on the role of traditional knowledge in reporting on climate change during a Media Masterclass on the sidelines of the Pacific Resilience Meeting 2021. The journalists are taking part in the Media Masterclass hosted by the Pacific Media Assistance Scheme (PACMAS) in partnership with The Pacific Community. On Monday, […]

A study jointly conducted by IPEN and the Biodiversity Research Institute found elevated levels of mercury in women from small island states and countries ranging across the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Caribbean.  The study sampled 757 women between the ages of 18 and 44, from 21 different territories and countries including Fiji, […]

A collaborative investigation by Mongabay and The Gecko Project on the latest plantation development controversy within the Papua province has unearthed allegations of falsified permits. There exists a long history of corruption around many Indonesian land deals within the plantation and mining divisions, and this particular controversy involves the legitimacy of land clearing permits for […]

By Charlie Tanala Climate change-related disruptions, such as more intense extreme weather events and flooding, in Samoa are expected to pose threats to community health, coastal infrastructure, and several other sectors in the Pacific island country in the new decade, researchers said June 8. A report published by the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment highlighted […]

Satellite imagery analyzed by the Indonesian nonprofit organization, Pusaka, has shown that 158 acres (64 hectares) of Papuan forest have been cleared by subsidiaries of the palm oil firm, Digoel Agri, in the span of just two months. Data tracking the activities and impacts of palm oil firms from Nusantara Atlas revealed that two of […]

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on June 1 that the University of Hawaii has been chosen to host NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (CIMAR). The University of Hawaii has also been awarded up to $210 million by NOAA to be dispersed over a period of five years, with the […]

A study conducted by a team of researchers from The Nature Conservancy addresses the gaping holes existing within the Pacific’s climate adaptation research and natural resource management. Policymakers are becoming more aware of the need to include Pacific women in policy decisions about adaptation to climate change, but there remains room for improvement.  The study’s […]

Three out of  thirty-five of the world’s most diverse ecosystems are housed in the Pacific region. However, the ecological structure of the Pacific is being directly affected by changes to climate, habitats, and the introduction of non-native species, all of which imperil the Pacific’s unique wildlife. The changes to the environment threaten the biodiversity of […]