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The Ua Pou islets Pacific rat eradication operation was undertaken in August-September 2023. It attempted a global first of aerially broadcasting rodent bait by drone from a small ship in open sea across the islets of Motu Tākaè, Motu Oa, and Motu Mokohe, at Ua Pou in the Marquesas Islands. The aerial bait application resulted in only two of the three islands having bait successfully applied across their entirety, nonetheless, monitoring 12 months later has confirmed Motu Oa and Motu Tākaè are rat free as is the partially isolated section of Motu Mokohe that was also baited. The eradication success is supported by the establishment of biosecurity knowledge and practices throughout the Ua Pou communities. The results of the seabird and other environmental monitoring will help sustain a commitment over time, as well as benefiting the wider conservation community. The operation demonstrated that drones could be operated off a boat for rodent eradication purposes but was constrained by the consistently strong winds and swell conditions. A larger vessel with a deeper draught is recommended for similar operations in the future and would likely increase the number of flyable days and improve the ease with which take-offs and landings are undertaken by the drone pilots.

The tropical Marquesas islands are characterised by their isolation and high levels of endemicity among native fauna and flora. This includes forty-two percent of the 320 native vascular plants and a diverse terrestrial snail community, with at least 78 species represented. Of the 12 native land birds 11 occur only within the archipelago, several restricted to a single island. Nineteen species of seabird breed there including the most eastern population of the Endangered Phoenix Petrel. Monitoring of seabirds and other species before, during and after the project will inform the impact of removing rats from these islets including how endangered species respond and community interest.

Asian Development Bank member fact sheet. ADB assistance to Samoa supports improvements in the delivery of basic social services, and provision of safer and more efficient road and maritime transportation, better internet connectivity, and effective disaster relief.

Economic growth and investment in infrastructure go hand in hand. A growing economy needs constantly improved infrastructure to ensure that the production and exchange of goods and services happens as smoothly and efficiently as possible

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development places gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls at the heart of its implementation with its promise to “leave no one behind”.

A rapidly growing population, poor human development indicators, and climate change risk exposure demand a public investment policy that is effective so as to ensure the sustainable growth and development of the Solomon Islands

This handbook serves as a guide to the applications, technologies, business models, and regulations that should be considered when evaluating the feasibility of a battery energy storage system (BESS) project.

The Asia and Pacific region is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Unabated warming could significantly undo previous achievements of economic development and improvements of living standards. At the same time, the region has both the economic capacity and weight of influence to change the present fossil-fuel based development pathway and curb global emissions. This report sheds light on the regional implications of the latest projections of changes in climate conditions over Asia and the Pacific. The assessment concludes that, even under the Paris consensus scenario in which global warming is limited to 1.5°C to 2°C above preindustrial levels, some of the land area, ecosystems, and socioeconomic sectors will be significantly affected by climate change impacts, to which policy makers and the investment community need to adapt to. However, under a Business-As-Usual (BAU) scenario, which will cause a global mean temperature rise of over 4°C by the end of this century, the possibilities for adaptation are drastically reduced. Among others, climate change impacts such as the deterioration of the Asian “water towers”, prolonged heat waves, coastal sea-level rise and changes in rainfall patterns could disrupt ecosystem services and lead to severe effects on livelihoods which in turn would affect human health, migration dynamics and the potential for conflicts. This assessment also underlines that, for many areas vital to the region’s economy, research on the effects of climate change is still lacking.

Port Vila is the capital of Vanuatu. The Port Vila Urban Area (PVUA), defined as the Port Vila Municipality (PVM) and adjoining peri-urban areas, has a population of about 70,000. About 49,300 of these people live in PVM. Per capita gross national income in Vanuatu was approximately 279,402 vatu (Vt) (around $3,073) in 2011.