Deep Seabed Minerals Licence for Nauru
Tuesday, 14 February 2012 09:34
administrator
 With the International Seabed Authority (ISA) granting Nauru Ocean Resources Incorporation (NORI), a Nauru registered exploration company, the right to explore for deep seabed minerals in the International Seabed Area (known as “the Area”), the country becomes the first Pacific Island nation to have secured such a licence.
With limited seabed mineral resources inside its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the licence gives NORI the right to explore an area beneath international waters, at estimated depths of 5000 metres.
NORI is owned by two Nauru foundations; the Nauru Health and Environment Foundation and the Nauru Education and Training Foundation. As a part of the licence application process, the ISA subjected the company to a rigorous screening of its history, financials and work practises.
Last Updated on Sunday, 19 February 2012 16:50
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Mapping Fiji’s Forest Cover with the help of Satellite Imagery
Wednesday, 08 February 2012 14:02
administrator
 The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) has embarked on a programme to build capacity in mapping land/forest cover in Fiji using very high resolution satellite images. The programme has three phases consisting of both theory and practical work, including ‘ground truthing’ (on-site verification of data from satellite imagery) exercises to be held later this month.
The training, which is jointly organised by SPC’s Land Resources Division (LRD) and its Applied Geoscience and Technology (SOPAC) Division, involves participants from the Fiji Department of Forestry and SPC.
The ground truthing exercise will be undertaken in Drawa – a model area for sustainable natural resource management located in Vanua Levu that covers about 6,400 hectares of indigenous forest.
The first phase of the training exercise focuses on enhancing and analysing satellite images of Drawa forest to classify it into different forest types and using the information to conduct forest inventory for the estimation of forest carbon stock per unit area of each forest type.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 14:09
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ISA cites good progress at seabed mineral workshop
Wednesday, 01 February 2012 11:06
administrator
 Secretary General of the International Seabed Authority, Mr Nii Allotey Odunton, said that the ISA had been “honoured and delighted,” to hold an International Workshop, in collaboration with the SPC/SOPAC Division of the Pacific Community and the Government of Fiji, on issues relating to the environmental impact assessment of deep seabed mining.
Mr Odunton’s comments, part of his address to the United Nations General Assembly, December 2011, referred to good progress made at the International Workshop in identifying the issues that will need to be addressed in future environmental impact assessments, “including the establishing of a framework so that all stakeholders are aware of what is expected of them.”
During the workshop in Fiji, an integral part of the four-year, EU-funded Deep Seabed Minerals Project, Mr Odunton said that more information about the different species living on the deep seabed is needed.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 08 February 2012 14:08
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Independent external review of SPC
Wednesday, 01 February 2012 07:06
administrator
Over the next three months, a seven-member team will conduct an independent external review of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).
The review, beginning the first week of February, will consider SPC in the context of its broader role in regional development. The team will examine SPC’s focus, governance, management, mode of delivery, financing and performance monitoring and make recommendations on the organisation’s core business; governance, decision-making and membership; organisational structure; strategic planning; priority setting; business practices; financial management; resources; and performance monitoring and assessment.
When it approved the terms of reference for the review at the 7th Conference of the Pacific Community held in November last year, SPC’s governing body noted the timeliness of the exercise in light of the recent integration of SOPAC (Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission) and SPBEA (Secretariat of the Pacific Board for Educational Assessment) into SPC.
SPC Director-General Dr Jimmie Rodgers said, "This will be an organisation-wide review that is independent of SPC. It will consider SPC’s core business and other important issues such as general governance and organisational efficiency."
Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 February 2012 11:10
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Kiribati prioritizes protection in deep seabed minerals process
Monday, 23 January 2012 10:38
administrator
 With fisheries as Kiribati’s main economic resource for a growing population, there is an imperative to find other income sources.
“This is where seabed mineral exploration and mining is important,” said Mr Tearinaki Tanielu, a Geologist, working as the Minerals Officer for the Kiribati Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Development.
“As a nation we are working toward adding more prosperity for people to make their lives better, but at the same time with little or no impact on our environment.”
He said that on a global level, seabed systems are not fully understood, and that there are policy and knowledge gaps that need to be addressed, adding greater complexity to the whole issue, and that it would be necessary for Kiribati to first develop technical and scientific knowledge and the appropriate policies so that the country has the capacity to undertake deep seabed mineral exploration and exploitation.
Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 February 2012 07:11
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