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Future freshwater stress for island populations

The importance of coastal and marine environments to every aspect of the lives of Pacific Islanders cannot be overstated. Pacific Island Countries (PICs) maintain resource rights and management responsibilities for over 30million square kilometres of ocean, equivalent to the total land area of Canada, China and the USA. The total population of coastal pacific islanders is only 2.6 million. There are 11 square kilometres of ocean for each Pacific Islander. Jurisdictionally, the ocean is 200 times more significant to the average Pacific Islander than it is to the average global citizen.  

On Saturday February 20, 2016, Tropical Cyclone (TC) Winston, an extremely destructive Category 5 cyclone, struck Fiji. TC Winston was the first Category 5 cyclone to directly impact Fiji and the most intense cyclone on record to affect the country.1 Fiji’s Eastern Division was the first to be struck, with Koro, Ovalau and Taveuni Islands sustaining severe damage. The cyclone swept across Fiji’s islands, reaching its peak strength shortly before making landfall on the country’s largest island, Viti Levu. Maximum average wind speeds reached 233km/hour and wind gusts peaked at around 306km/hour, making Winston one of the most powerful cyclones ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere.2 In addition to the extreme wind speeds, many islands were flooded by storm surges, including Koro Island and the southern coast of Fiji’s secondlargest island, Vanua Levu, which was inundated almost 200 meters inland in some areas. Following TC Winston’s passage from Fiji, reports emerged of widespread damage and destruction, with the cyclone impacting approximately 540,400 people, equivalent to 62 percent of the country’s total population.3 The storm brought down the power and communications systems linking the islands, with approximately 80 percent of the nation’s population losing power, including the entire island of Vanua Levu, and 44 fatalities were subsequently confirmed. Entire communities were destroyed and approximately 40,000 people required immediate assistance following the cyclone.4 30,369 houses, 495 schools and 88 health clinics and medical facilities were damaged or destroyed. In addition, the cyclone destroyed crops on a large scale and compromised the livelihoods of almost 60 percent of Fiji’s population.

The erosion of beaches is prevalent on Paci|c island coastlines, partly due to human causes. On Abaiang in Kiribati, many beaches have been reported as eroding, and coastal protection structures such as seawalls are expensive and can cause negative impacts. Beach ecosystem based adaptation (EbA) can increase resilience of beaches to storms and sea level rise, using access control fencing and gateways, beach vegetation replanting and use of brush matting to protect beach erosion scarps from direct wave action. This project applied EbA methods at seven eroding beaches on Abaiang, all located on community land, in demonstrations involving all of the ten villages on the main island.

Biodiversity in Kiribati has always been challenged economically, politically, socially and even judicially. Capacity constraints emanating from limited financial and human resources, limited technical capacity, limited scientific based data and poor monitoring and evaluation of the progress of the national biodiversity action plans have undermined the country’s effort to protect and conserve biodiversity effectively. As a nation with very limited resources, Kiribati cannot afford to sit back and allow the serious degradation to continue.

This document is aligned with the Terms of Reference (TOR) issued by National Environment Services (NES) for guidance and advice in the preparation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Installation of Tanker Moorings and Construction of a Sub-sea Pipeline. The TOR identifies all issues that need to be addressed by the EIA. Both facilities are for the purpose of conveying petroleum fuels into onshore storage facilities. Tanker mooring facilities are located offshore at Areanu Tapere, Avarua District. Sub-sea pipeline facilities commences from the offshore moorings and continue towards shore, terminating at Pacific Island Energy (PIE) storage facilities.

Climate change exacerbates the magnitude and impacts of climate variability and some natural hazards. The existence of some Pacific Island countries (PICs) is threatened by climate change. Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) are highly exposed to a range of natural hazards of hydro-meteorological origin (such as cyclones, droughts, landslides and floods) and geological origin (including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis). These hazards often lead to disasters, which affect thousands of people and exacerbate existing development challenges in the region. Climate change predictions identify changes for the Pacific including an increase in extreme hot days and warm nights, extreme rainfall events, intensity of tropical cyclones in the South Pacific, sea level rise and ocean acidification. Climate change is increasing the risks from weather related disasters and posing new impacts to the region. Climate change impacts also cause progressive long-term degradation to the natural environment, to critical ecosystems (e.g. coral reefs), and to social and economic systems, resulting in loss and damage to the system upon which Pacific Island communities depend for their subsistence and livelihoods.

Crisis has enveloped the more than 200,000 nationally and regionally protected natural and cultural heritage sites around the world. Heritage managers - those who manage natural sites such as national parks, wilderness areas, and biosphere reserves, as well as those who manage cultural sites including historic monuments, battlefields, heritage cities, and ancient rock art sites - face an urgent need to confront this crisis, and each day that they don't, more of our planet's common heritage disappears. Although heritage management and implementation suffer from a lack of money, time, personnel, information, and political will, The Future Has Other Plans argues that deeper causes to current problems lurk in the discipline itself. Drawing on decades of practical experience in global heritage management and case studies from around the world, Jon Kohl and Steve McCool provide an innovative solution for conserving these valuable protected areas. Merging interdisciplinary and evolving management paradigms, the authors introduce a new kind of holistic planning approach that integrates the practice of heritage management and conservation with operational realities.

This discussion paper results from a speech prepared for the keynote address at the 2016 State of the Pacific Conference, held at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia, 13-15 September. In it Dr. Aqorau discusses the state of regional cooperative affairs int he Pacific Islands, particularly with respect to fisheries, through his own observations, but not as he puts it 'an academic sweep of our complex region. I want it to be rooted in the perceptions and experiences of an Islander!'

Across the Pacific, youth unemployment is regarded by governments, donors and citizens as one of the region's key concerns, not only because of its effect on economic advancement, but also because of a perceived association between joblessness and insecurity, including the prospect of youth-driven crime and violence.