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The world’s more than 200 000 protected areas come in many forms, on land and at sea, and occur in every country (Bertzky et al. 2012). They are places that people establish to conserve natural and cultural heritage and to sustain their benefits for society. Among other values, protected areas allow people to connect with nature for their inspiration, education, well-being and recreation. While protecting ecosystems that are essential for life, they can support human livelihoods and aspirations and offer nature-based solutions for the complex challenges faced by the world today.

This dissertation examines the relationship between contemporary development projects and the Fijian idea vanua which is commonly translated as “land” but entails meanings of people, community, and custom. Often treated as a rigid cosmological entity with its own cultural order, in this dissertation I argue that when viewed as an environmental framework in which historical actors and ideas are constantly moving in and out, vanua is actually flexible, open-ended, and has the capacity to interact and collaborate with contemporary development projects such as environmental conservation and commercial farming. This capacity is built from the entanglement of diverse historical forces (e.g. indigenous politics, pre-colonial capitalism, colonial policies) which still resonate in the environment today, and is able to affect the realization of the universal values (e.g. environmentalism, development) intended to be introduced. Here I use a small coastal village called Waitabu located on Taveuni Island as the ethnographic setting to demonstrate how these processes are played out.

The Pacific Islands region is currently experiencing an intensification of interest in culture of an enabler, rather than an inhibitor of development.

The Ministry of Local Government, Housing and Environment of Fiji launched the Home Composting Subsidy Pro-gram and the Clean School Program in April, 2015 for im-plementation by the thirteen Municipal Councils responsible for waste management around the various divisions in the country.

Wanting to make a positive difference in the world is one thing, knowing the best way to make that difference is another, yet for the Kingdom of Tonga this ‘best way’ seems to have been found and is being put to use.

Greeting card

A monthly e-bulletin of activities and assistance from the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme to its member countries.

Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC)

The purpose of the Nauru BIORAP was to improve the state of knowledge of marine and terrestrial ecosystems, to provide a scientific basis for the conservation and management of nationally, regionally and globally important ecosystems and species. A particular focus was to identify areas of conservation value and to investigate opportunities for establishing marine and terrestrial protected areas. A fundamental principle is that decision-making should rest with resource owners and communities. The BIORAP provided opportunities for community members and Government staff to participate and receive training from the expert team.

Waste management in the Pacific smart choices