SPC Geoscience Division

13th September 2012 - A deep-sea minerals training workshop to address issues associated with deep-sea minerals and mining, was recently held in Nadi as part of a series of capacity building activities aimed to develop and enhance regional knowledge on geological, technological, biological and environmental aspects of deep-sea minerals.

The workshop was organised by the EU-funded, SPC Deep Sea Minerals (DSM) Project. Participants included Government officials, primarily from Ministries of 13 island countries associated with minerals, natural resources, environment and fisheries, as well as representatives from regional civil society groups. These included the Pacific Islands Association of NGOs (PIANGO),  Ipukarea Society (TIS) and the Civil Society Forum of Tonga (CSFT).

Scientists from the United States, Korea, Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, SPREP and SPC were also in attendance.

Dr Russell Howorth, the Director of the SOPAC Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) said that the workshop played an important role in providing participants with a better understanding of deep-sea environments, the nature of those seabed mineral deposits and the biological communities associated with them.

‘The protection of the ocean environment and the preservation of rare and fragile ecosystems and ocean habitats must be balanced against the emerging new economic opportunity presented for Pacific Island countries by exploring for deep sea minerals and their possible future exploitation,’ said Dr Howorth. ‘The precautionary approach must prevail particularly in the exploration and potential exploitation of seabed mineral deposits.’

Rarotonga, Cook Islands 29/08/12 -  At the 43rd Pacific Islands Forum meeting here in Rarotonga this week, a unique event was witnessed when the Leaders of seven (7) Pacific Island Countries signed and exchanged a total of eight (8) Maritime Boundary Agreements which will bring state-of-the-art accuracy and legal clarity to the boundary positions between several overlapping jurisdictions of neighbouring Pacific Island Countries.

This multiple signing event is a remarkable testament of the close kinship and excellent neighbourly relationships between Pacific Islands Countries and underlines their ability to work together in a spirit of equitable and unified progress. By clearly establishing these boundaries and zones under domestic and international law, as set out in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the signing of these agreements will provide the foundation for improved governance, protection, conservation and management of resources within respective national jurisdictions.

The seven (7) bilateral treaties were signed by the leaders of the Cook Islands, Niue, Kiribati, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Nauru and the Marshall Islands. In addition, the leaders of Kiribati, Marshall Islands and Nauru agreed to an additional tri-lateral treaty concerning the determination of a point where the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of all three (3) countries intersect, referred to as a “Tri-junction point”.

The successful preparations of these agreements leading up to the signing event have been a result of the excellent collaborative work between the respective technical and legal country teams and the regional coordination and collaboration with the Applied Geoscience & Technology Division (SOPAC) of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), Geoscience Australia, the Government of Australia’s Attorney General’s Office and the Commonwealth Secretariat. The regional funding support towards these SPC activities is provided by AusAID.

Exploring for deep sea minerals and possible exploitation in future presents an emerging new economic opportunity for Pacific Island countries. But this opportunity must be balanced against protection of the ocean environment and preservation of rare and fragile ecosystems and ocean habitats.

Dr Russell Howorth of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) emphasised this point in his opening address at the Regional Training Workshop on Geological, Biological and Environmental Aspects of Deep Sea Minerals, saying that ‘the precautionary approach must prevail.’ Dr Howorth is Director of SPC’s Applied Geoscience and Technology (SOPAC) Division.

The workshop, held recently in Nadi, was organised by the EU-funded, SPC Deep Sea Minerals (DSM) Project and is part of the technical assistance provided to the 15 Pacific-ACP (African Caribbean and Pacific) states.

The 15 states are the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

He said that DSM Project team members have already completed 13 national stakeholder consultation workshops across the region, with plans to visit the remaining two countries, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste, in September.

Nadi, August 7, 2012: After three years of hard work Pacific Island countries are starting to deliver significant results under a regional project that was set up to address some of the most challenging water and sanitation issues in the Pacific.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded Pacific Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Project was launched in 12 countries in 2009 to protect vital watersheds, manage wastewater and sanitation, assess and protect water resources, and improve water efficiency and safety. The benefits of the work are now starting to be felt in the region.

“When we started out water and sanitation issues were dealt with sectorally, with agencies only focusing on their small part of a bigger problem and not communicating or working together in a coordinated and efficient manner,” Marc Wilson, Regional Project Manager for the GEF Pacific IWRM Project, said. “By demonstrating an integrated approach through tangible on-the-ground activities, we’ve seen a change in that. Not just in the localised area of the demonstration project but in many countries nationally, and also regionally.”

“For example in the Nadi Basin there was little consultation or long-term strategic planning between different sectors but the establishment of the Nadi Basin Catchment Committee (NBCC) has changed that. We now have all the key players around the same table discussing and making decisions on water management and flood reduction strategies and the Fiji Government is looking at replicating this model in other important catchments like Ba,” Mr Wilson said.