Pacific at risk : Our islands, our lives

Abstract

Media impact sheet P acific a t risk : O u r Islands, O ur LivesRising sea levels poison crops On low­lying atolls in the Pacific, people have had to radically change the way they grow crops, because rising sea levels are seeping into the soil, making it too salty to grow staple crops such as taro, pulaka and yams. In Tuvalu, farmers used to dig pits in the sandy soil, fill them with compost and plant their root crops. Now, however, increasingly brackish water is poisoning taro planted in pits in low­lying areas. Some farmers have relocated their plantations to somewhat higher land, but there is only limited land available in this nation of atolls. Instead, many people now grow their taro in tin containers, which they fill with compost and soil before palnting the taro. Burial places under threat Throughout the Pacific, culturally and spiritually important sites are being eroded by the rising seas. In the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Kiribati, burial grounds near the coast – sacred places where people