SPC Geoscience Division

PacSAFE Project

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pacsafe

The PacSAFE project is a response to demand from Pacific Island Countries for tools to better understand disaster impacts. The project will engage with representatives from national disaster management offices and related agencies who are involved in planning, preparing and responding to natural disasters. Geoscience Australia, as Australia’s technical implementing partner, will continue development of the functionality of the PacSAFE software tool. PacSAFE is a desktop tool based on QGIS and InaSAFE, designed and developed for non‑GIS users.

Geoscience Australia, as Australia’s technical implementing partner, will continue development of the functionality of the PacSAFE software tool. PacSAFE is a desktop tool based on QGIS and InaSAFE, designed and developed for non‑GIS users. PacSAFE1 was initially developed by the Pacific Community for urban planners to enable hazard data and asset data, such as the Pacific Catastrophic Risk and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI) asset database. In the current project, the PacSAFE tool will be enabled to produce realistic disaster impact scenarios by combining spatial hazard with exposure data. It will provide a simple tool for users to interrogate hazard and impact scenarios within the context of the local knowledge of their communities. This will support users in making informed decisions for disaster response and to develop evidence-based policies for enhancing disaster resilience

Last Updated on Friday, 30 September 2016 14:52  

Newsflash

Majuro, June 27, 2012: An expert from Tuvalu is leading the construction of composting toilets in Majuro, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), to trial how effective they are at reducing septic pollution of Majuro’s main groundwater resource, the Laura water lens.

The dry eco-san composting toilets use very little water and have the twin benefits of both conserving water and preventing sewage from leaching out of septic systems and into the surrounding environment. The toilets have already been successfully trialled on Tuvalu’s main atoll of Funafuti, where 40 toilets have been constructed.

Tuvalu’s experience with these toilets has also generated interest in other Pacific island countries. Tonga has constructed two demonstration toilets in households on the island of Vava’u, while Nauru has installed them in several primary schools.The initiative is part of a regional Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) demonstration project to build the capacity of Pacific Island countries to manage water resources.

Pisi Seleganiu, Project Manager of Tuvalu’s GEF IWRM project currently in Majuro, believes composting toilets are the most appropriate sanitation technology for atoll countries which have scarce water resources and porous soils.