Coastal Management Profiles : A Directory of Pacific Island Governments and non-Government Agencies with Coastal Management Related Responsibilities

Abstract

Biodiversity tends to be at a maximum in the equatorial region in the west of the Pacific Islands area, and decreases markedly towards the east. For example, the number of naturally occurring species of animals and plants is much greater in the Solomon Islands than in Tahiti. This is also true of the marine environment, where fish and invertebrate species, including corals, are far more numerous in the west of the sub-region than in the east.