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A priority for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is effective planning and financing of actions to address the impacts of climate change. This paper examines the vital role that regional institutions play in sharing SIDS relevant approaches and knowledge, and in delivering specialist skills and knowledge to support national efforts. It goes on to highlight the work of the Climate Resilient Islands Partnership, which links the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific Regions, and is working to rapidly scale-up cost-effective services to SIDS through inter-regional cooperation and exchange.

Green Climate Fund B.07/04: Recommended action of the Board, a. Takes note of the information presented in document GCF/B.07/05 Initial Results Management Framework of the Fund; and b. Adopts the draft decision presented in Annex 1 to this document

The last two decades have seen an upsurge in research into the potential synergies between invasive species and climate change, with evidence emerging of increased invader success under climate change. All stages along the naturalization-invasion continuum are likely to be affected, from the introduction and establishment of alien species to their spread and transition to serious invaders. A key question is whether alien plants will have a relative advantage under climate change conditions. So far, evidence for differential responses of alien invasive and native species to climate change drivers (elevated CO2) and outcomes (increasing temperature, changing rainfall patterns, changes in disturbance regimes) is mixed. Although alien invasive plants appear to be more responsive to elevated CO2 than many native species, plant response to elevated CO2 and other climate change components is dependent on environmental conditions and resource availability. Similarly, correlative modelling of species-climate relationships has not revealed clear evidence that invasive plants are likely to be able to increase the extent of suitable habitat under future climates any more than their native counterparts. We suggest that the most important driver of a shift to alien-dominated vegetation under climate change will be the superior capacity of alien invasive plants to take advantage of colonisation opportunities arising from climate change, such as extreme climatic events, changes in disturbance regimes, and widespread reduction in vegetation resilience as range margin populations decline. There are substantial challenges ahead for managing invasive plants under future climates. Weed risk assessment and management approaches must incorporate consideration of future climatic conditions. Most importantly, we will need a shift in management approaches away from a focus on the control of undesirable alien plant species to building resilience of resident vegetation assemblages, in association with targeted monitoring and early eradication of alien plant species.

The biodiversity of the Solomon Islands, in general, is in good health. Low human population density, uninhabited islands, difficulties to access and use natural resources, and customary and legal protection, in various ways, can help explain this. Threats to the country’s biodiversity are mainly localized and vary across islands, biomes, ecosystems, corridors and taxonomy. In recent years habitat destruction and overexploitation of wildlife has had enormous pressure on all types of biomes. Uncontrolled and poor waste management practices have also been considered a threat to biodiversity. Emerging issues such as invasive species and climate change could only exacerbate these pressures. Coupled with capacity constraints or inadequate capacity (financial, human resources, technological and institutional capacity) to implement mandates and enforce legislation, biodiversity loss thus results from multiple causes in quite a complex way.

Invasive alien species (IAS) threaten human livelihoods and biodiversity globally. Increasing globalization facilitates IAS arrival, and environmental changes, including climate change, facilitate IAS establishment. Here we provide the first global, spatial analysis of the terrestrial threat from IAS in light of twenty-first century globalization and environmental change, and evaluate national capacities to prevent and manage species invasions. We find that one-sixth of the global land surface is highly vulnerable to invasion, including substantial areas in developing economies and biodiversity hotspots. The dominant invasion vectors differ between high-income countries (imports, particularly of plants and pets) and low-income countries (air travel). Uniting data on the causes of introduction and establishment can improve early-warning and eradication schemes. Most countries have limited capacity to act against invasions. In particular, we reveal a clear need for proactive invasion strategies in areas with high poverty levels, high biodiversity and low historical levels of invasion.

Although the term biodiversity emerged from the pool of obscure jargon quite a few years ago, it is still enshrouded with significant ambiguity. At one extreme, some people use it as a loose synonym for nature. At the other extreme, some people reduce biodiversity to simplistic parameters, such as the number of species. Conservation organizations, both private and public, must navigate these waters with great care. They need to engage a pulic that loves nature as embodied in beautiful places and charming creatures - elk in a Yellowstone meadow or snow leopards on a Himalayan snowfield - while expounding the values of species and ecosystems that have "swamp," "rat," or "spider" in their titles. A the same time, to undertake their work in a systematic and rigorous manner, conservation organizations need to be able to quantify their goals and accomplishments. Some things are easy to measure, such as the areas of new reserves, but biodiversity writ large is not one of them.

The survey team were able to spend 3 days on Fonualei Island and two days on Late with support from a Vava’u based fishing boat and checked several areas not visited during the previous 2003 and 2004 scientific surveys. We identified that the Polynesian megapode (malau) Megapodius pritchardii continues to survive in good numbers on Fonualei, locating good numbers in a new area suggesting the total population may be close to 1000. We did not located malau on Late and concluded that there is very little chance that they survive on this island. Both islands are important refuges for Tongan bird species with Fonualei Island of greater significance for malau, and seabirds which nest there in their thousands, and Late Island having a greater variety of landbirds including the endemic Samoan whistler Pachycephala jacquinoti.

Rapidly expanding human populations and associated economic growth and overconsumption is resulting in serious degradation of the natural environment human survival depends on (Vitousek et al., 1997; Sanderson et al., 2002; Orr, 2004; Alroy, 2010; Branch et al., 2013). Almost half of the global human population currently lives within 150km of the coast (UN Atlas of the Oceans, 2014). This results in severe pressures being placed on marine and coastal environments. Anthropogenic impacts on oceans include physical alterations of the coasts and seafloor, as well as chemical and biological contamination through sewage, industrial wastes and agricultural discharges, dredging, desalination, shipping, and fossil fuel and ore extraction. These pressures, together with overfishing, by-catch, destructive fishing methods (e.g. blast fishing), introduction of invasive species, boat strikes, acoustic pollution, climate-related changes (i.e. ocean acidification, sea level rise, freshwater inundations, cyclones) can cause structural changes in marine communities and the loss of genetic variability and other side-effects of human interference with exceptionally complex ocean ecosystems (Gray et al., 1979; Goldberg, 1995; Vitousek et al. 1997; Islam and Tanaka, 2004; Pauly et al., 2005; Panigada et al., 2006; Crain et al., 2008; Halpern et al., 2008; Ramirez-Llodra et al., 2011)

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is conducting research for the UNEP Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) into the effects of climate change on species protected by CMS. Species have been identified as having a high, medium or low vulnerability to the threat of climate change and have been categorised on the basis of a standardised assessment process. This leaflet summarises the emerging results from an assessment of CMS Appendix I species, in order to provide guidance to policy makers at the earliest opportunity. Results highlight a number of processes by which greenhouse gas emissions and climatic changes will increasingly threaten migratory species; all species assessed will be affected by these impacts. A broad set of biological, geographical and socio-economic factors will influence species vulnerability. Identifying these factors and developing further conservation management practices will be essential for the short term future of these species. In the long term, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is vital if we are to avoid unmanageable levels of climate change.