SPC Geoscience Division

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SOPAC reviews disaster risk management in Kiribati

Wednesday, 08 September 2010 09:10 administrator
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SOPAC is carrying out a review of the Kiribati national disaster risk management governance arrangements following a request from the Office of the President.

SOPAC provides assistance to 19 countries and territories in the Pacific region through applied geoscience and technology.

A major part of the review was a three-day workshop attended by 29 participants from Government ministries, Non-Government (NGOs) as well as church organizations that was held in Tarawa recently.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 May 2011 17:07 Read more...
 

Snapshots 61, Community Risk Programme, August 2010

Monday, 06 September 2010 12:10 administrator
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Welcome to August issue of Snapshots! We’ve just completed a very useful and rewarding series of meetings under the Pacific Platform for DRM 2010. This year the Platform consisted of the 16th Regional Disaster Managers Meeting (which took the form of a professional development workshop for the disaster managers) and the 5th Annual Meeting of the Pacific DRM Partnership Network. Many of the participants to both meetings expressed their gratitude and satisfaction with the opportunity to exchange ideas and to learn of the many happenings in DRM around the Pacific as well as globally.

Presentations from partner organisations from the Caribbean added to the rich diversity of the exchanges that took place.

One of the important parts of the meeting was the opportunity afforded to SOPAC to share its Strategic Plan with regional disaster managers. We look forward to their feedback to value add to the current draft. This will be presented to the SOPAC Governing Council for endorsement in October 2010.

I hope you enjoy this edition.

Mosese Sikivou

Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 January 2011 07:09
 

Caribbean delegation shares climate change and disaster experiences

Wednesday, 01 September 2010 09:11 administrator
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A delegation from the Caribbean that represented four Disaster Risk Management organizations recently visited SOPAC for a briefing to better understand the range of services and products that it provides the 19 countries and territories in the Pacific region through applied geoscience and technology.

The delegation was in Fiji to share their experiences with their Pacific counterparts as part of a South-South cooperation project between Pacific and Small Island Developing States on Climate Change Adaption and Disaster Risk Management funded  through and in collaboration with the UNDP Pacific Centre.

At a luncheon hosted by SOPAC they were briefed by its Director, Dr. Russell Howorth, and representatives from the organization’s three programmes, Ocean and Islands, Water and Sanitation and Disaster Reduction as well as Natural Resources Economics.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 May 2011 17:08 Read more...
 

SOPAC GIS training in Tuvalu builds capacity

Thursday, 26 August 2010 12:20 administrator
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Twenty-nine Tuvalu government employees successfully completed a 10 day training workshop in the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) conducted by technical officers from SOPAC from August 4 to the 17th  in Funafuti.

SOPAC provides assistance to 19 island countries and territories in the Pacific region through applied geoscience and technology which includes GIS training.

GIS is a relatively new computer-based decision making tool that stores and displays information in an image such as a picture or a map format. “This allows policy or decision makers to better understand technical data and contribute to providing improved management solutions,” said  SOPAC Director, Russell Howorth.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 May 2011 17:09 Read more...
 

Protecting the Pacific: 2010 Pacific Platform for Disaster Risk Management Meetings address concerns of the region

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 14:10 administrator
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Mr. Mosese Sikivou, Manager of the SOPAC Disaster Reduction Programme, said that the meeting “allowed for better risk management training and capacity building programmes that specifically target the heads of disaster offices and the disaster management support structures in the Pacific.

“Tropical cyclones affect the region on an annual basis. Events like the September 2009 tsunami that devastated Samoa and Tonga, and floods that submerged Fiji’s Western Division in January 2009, are constant reminders that people and governments must be prepared to deal with natural disasters at a moment’s notice,” said Mr Sikivou.

With Regional Disaster Managers coming from the Pacific Island countries and territories of the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Australia, and, for the first time, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna, the meeting took the form of a professional development workshop.

Last Updated on Thursday, 26 August 2010 08:45 Read more...
 
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Page 66 of 74

Newsflash

For the developing economies of the Pacific the prospect of untold mineral wealth being mined from under the sea is an enticing one.

Already Papua New Guinea has approved the first deep sea mining project in the region, and prospecting surveys have been carried off the coasts of several other countries.

Allied to that officials from around the Pacific will meet in Tonga next week to learn how to get the best deals from companies offering to mine within their exclusive economic zones.

Dr Mike Petterson, the Director of SOPAC, the Applied Geoscience and Technology Division of the Secretariat of the South Pacific Community says the aim is to make sure countries are well prepared to handle negotiations with the big mining companies.

Listen to full interview (8.17 min)

Source: ABC Radio Australia - Link

Speaker: Prof. Mike Petterson, Director, SOPAC Geoscience and Technology (SOPAC), Secretariat of the Pacific Community, SPC.