Keeping Our Pacific Ocean Healthy

The recent Pacific Islands Regional Ocean Forum in Suva came up with some positive initiatives in addressing the future health of the Pacific Ocean. In my January Islands Business column, I explained how this forum planned to look at ways to implement a Regional Ocean Policy that had been endorsed by the region¹s political leaders.

The Pacific has provided for the people of the islands region, since the islands were first settled from what is now Indonesia perhaps 100,000 years ago.

It is obvious that the limited land mass of our islands, and the relative absence of terrestrial resources to support growing populations, means the lives and livelihoods of Pacific Islands peoples has, for generations, been dominated by the sea. The sea is entwined in the lives of Pacific Islands peoples because, quite literally, there is little else.

Moreover the social, cultural and economic prosperity of the Pacific Islands region has been, and will continue to be, directly dependent upon the health of coral reefs and related ecosystems.

It remains though that human activities are the primary cause of coral reef and associated coastal habitat degradation. Most of these pose chronic threats. Environmental conditions resulting primarily from human population growth, water pollution, land based activities, resource over-exploitation and direct physical damage are causing reefs and related ecosystems to deteriorate alarmingly.

The Pacific Islands region¹s tuna fishery remains the largest in the world. The 2002 catch of 1.89 million tonnes represents more than 60% of the total global catch. Our colleagues at the Forum Fisheries Agency estimate it has a value on international markets, of approximately US$2.5 billion annually. The Secretariat for the Pacific Community says the total coastal fisheries production for the region during the early 1990s was just over 100,000 tonnes per year, with an annual market value if sold on commercial markets, of approximately US$262 million. In my previous column, readers were made aware of the region¹s lack of knowledge in relation to this resource‹tuna catches are diminishing but whether this is due to overfishing, climate change or other reasons, is unknown.

This is significant as many SPREP members are basing a large portion of their economic development on this industry. These measures are clearly dependent on a healthy Pacific Ocean and an understanding of the processes that enable it to function.

Now other options are also coming into the picture. The exploitation of offshore oil and gas reserves in the Pacific is playing an ever-increasing role in the energy supplies of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Peru.

At present, constrained by financial viability, inappropriate technology and perhaps a lack of research investment, deep-sea minerals remain essentially untapped. The South Pacific Applied Geosciences Commission believes the size of this resource for many of our islands countries and territories is significant. Already many valuable compounds extracted from sea life are being utilised in medical and biotechnology fields‹but the potential remains relatively untapped.

Appropriate tourism also offers significant potential for the region. The long-term capacity of the Pacific Ocean to support the benefits it continues to provide to the global and regional communities is by no means secure. Today, most Pacific urban areas are experiencing relatively high population growth with the result that our islands populations are doubling in less than 20 years. However, we are still a long way from understanding the very oceanic processes we depend on so critically.

What is clearly understood now is this: Unless concerted efforts to improve integrated management processes are implemented as a priority, continued non-sustainable use of our marine and coastal resources, habitat degradation including pollution of coastal waters and threats due to invasive species, will result in future generations of Pacific Islanders inheriting severely degraded marine environments. Strong political will is required to support efforts, nationally and regionally, to avoid this pessimistic outlook from materialising, otherwise...

The Ocean Forum drafted a framework that will be referred to Pacific countries, territories, and like-minded partners as a basis for priority action to secure the health of our ocean. It recognises the need to provide timely strategic information-presented in an appropriate manner to decision-makers, resource users, managers and communities-to evaluate social and economic costs and benefits of, and to decide among other things, alternative activities. The framework underlines the need to build national and regional capacity to address current concerns over governance of our coasts and oceans, it urges consideration of traditional knowledge, and stresses the need for a multisectoral, integrated approach to managing our coasts and ocean (as opposed to past practice of managing on a purely sectoral basis). The need to adopt an ecosystem-wide approach, as called for at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, was highlighted for urgent attention in the region.

I sincerely hope this framework for Integrated Action will reinvigorate regional and national efforts to secure a healthy ocean. We all have an obligation to our children to make every possible effort to leave them with a legacy they can use and enjoy.

€ Asterio Takesy is director of the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme based in Apia, Samoa.