Pacific Integrated Island Management - Principles, case studies and lessons learned

Abstract

Islands are isolated systems by nature. While this isolation promotes unique biological and cultural attributes, island social and ecological systems are also highly vulnerable to most types of disturbance. With high connectivity between land and sea and high specialisation of species, disturbance in one ecosystem has consequent impacts on natural resources, ecological processes, and ecosystem services in adjacent, highly linked island ecosystems. This close geographic proximity of ecosystems does not give much flexibility for social and ecological systems to adjust in response to environmental and climate change.