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Feasibility study on manganese nodules recovery in the clarion-clipperton zone

Environmental Monitoring and Governance, Island and Ocean Ecosystems

Available Online

Agarwal, B

Hu, P

Placidi, M

Santo, H

Zhou, J J

The sea occupies three quarters of the area on the earth and provides various kinds of resources to mankind in the form of minerals, food, medicines and even energy. Seabed exploitation specifically with recovery of the resources that are found on the seabed, in the form of solids, liquids and gases. The resources are abundant, nevertheless the recovery process from the seabed, poses various challenges to mankind.

Predator-Free Rakiura. An economic appraisal.

Available Online

Morgan, Gareth

Simmons, Geoff

This report estimates the benefits of making Rakiura and surrounding islands predator free. The proposal is to do this in two phases, starting with the Halfmoon Bay area (denoted in this report as HMB) before progressing to the rest of the island (denoted in this report as full).

Towards Greener Taxes and Subsidies in Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs)

Watkins, Emma

The Restoration of Ecosystem Services and Adaptation to Climate Change (RESCCUE) project is a regional project implemented by the Pacific Community. The overall goal of RESCCUE is to contribute to increasing the resilience of Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) in the context of global changes. To this end RESCCUE aims at supporting adaptation to climate change (ACC) through integrated coastal management (ICM), resorting especially to economic analysis and economic and financial mechanisms. The RESCCUE project operates both at the regional level and in one to two pilot sites in four countries and territories: New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and French Polynesia. RESCCUE is funded primarily by the French Development Agency (AFD) and the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM) for a duration of five years (01/01/2014 to 31/12/2018). The project budget is 8.5 million Euros from AFD/FFEM. It is structured around five components: Component 1: Integrated coastal management supporting ICM implementation through ICM plans, ICM committees, and management activities concerning both terrestrial and marine ecosystems, capacity building and income generating activities. Component 2: Economic analysis using economic analysis to support coastal management and policy decisions. Component 3: Economic and financial mechanisms setting up economic and financial mechanisms to generate additional and sustainable funding for ICM: review of options (payment for ecosystem services, taxes, user fees, trust funds, quota markets, offsets, labels); feasibility studies; implementation; monitoring. Component 4: Capitalization, communication, dissemination of project outcomes in the Pacific going beyond pilot sites activities in order to have impacts at the regional level, by fostering experience sharing between sites, cross-sectoral expertise, and communication and dissemination of the project outcomes. Component 5: Project management implementing and coordinating the project, by providing technical assistance, organizing local and regional steering committees, conducting audits and evaluations (mid-term and ex-post), etc. The report is to present interesting illustrative examples. The examples were selected based on the scale of their (potential) environmental, economic and social impacts, and their relevance to the PICT region, to ensure they are representative of the broader region and any lessons learned from an example in one location could be transferable more widely. This report should be seen as a contribution to the future analysis of taxes and subsidies (and their reform) that can help to meet a range of challenges facing the PICT region. It aims to contribute to guiding the region towards greener taxes and subsidies, by building the knowledge and capacity of policy-makers and stakeholders and offering some ideas for the future further greening of instruments to support the achievement of environmental objectives.

Economic impact of invasive species in the Pacific.

Available Online

Baling, Marleen

Daigneault, Adam

Greenhalgh, Suzie

Narsey, Padma

Sinclair, Robyn Jean

Invasive species are a key threat to terrestrial biodiversity and the livelihoods of Pacific Island communities.

The Ecology of Rodents in the Tonga Islands

Available Online

Twibell, John

The influence on crop damage of Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus, and the native Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans, was studied during the establishment of a rat control program for the Tongan Department of Agriculture in 1969. This was the first long-term study of Tongan rodents. Previous scientific literature on Tongan mammals is very sparse. The Kingdom of Tonga, or Friendly Islands, consists of approximately 150 small islands with a combined area of about 256 square miles at lat 21 0 S. The majority of these islands are composed of raised coral limestone ; however, there is a row of six volcanic islands on Tonga's western border. Tongatapu, the location of the government center, is the largest and most important island. The Ha'apai island group lies 80 miles north of Tongatapu, and 150 miles north is the Vava'u group. Fiji is 420 nautical miles east and Samoa is 480 miles north. The climate is tropical and is influenced seasonally by trade winds. Since Captain Cook's first visit in 1773, Western civilization has brought trade, missionaries, and perhaps rats to Tonga. With this shipping came numerous introduced plants and animals. The arrival dates for the common rat, Rattus norvegicus, and the "European" roof rat, Rattus rattus, are not known, but are believed to be more recent, probably since the increase of regular shipping trade and the construction of wharves. Presently rodents account for approximately 20 percent of the agricultural losses and $50,000 worth of economic loss each year (Twibell, unpublished). This is a conservative estimate based on damage counts and observation. In some areas rats destroy or damage up to 50 percent of the coconuts, which represent the main economic crop in Tonga. THE INFLUENCE on crop damage of Rattus norvegicus, Rattus rattus, and the native Polynesian rat, Rattus exulans, was studied during the establishment of a rat control program for the Tongan Department of Agriculture in 1969. This was the first long-term study of Tongan rodents. Previous scientific literature on Tongan mammals is very sparse. The Kingdom of Tonga, or Friendly Islands, consists of approximately 150 small islands with a combined area of about 256 square miles at lat 21 0 S. The majority of these islands are composed of raised coral limestone ; however, there is a row of six volcanic islands on Tonga's western border. Tongatapu, the location of the government center, is the largest and most important island. The Ha'apai island group lies 80 miles north of Tongatapu, and 150 miles north is the Vava'u group. Fiji is 420 nautical miles east and Samoa is 480 miles north. The climate is tropical and is influenced seasonally by trade winds. Since Captain Cook's first visit in 1773, Western civilization has brought trade, missionaries, and perhaps rats to Tonga. With this shipping came numerous introduced plants and animals. The arrival dates for the common rat, Rattus norvegicus, and the "European" roof rat, Rattus rattus, are not known, but are believed to be more recent, probably since the increase of regular shipping trade and the construction of wharves. Presently rodents account for approximately 20 percent of the agricultural losses and $50,000 worth of economic loss each year (Twibell, unpublished). This is a conservative estimate based on damage counts and observation. In some areas rats destroy or damage up to 50 percent of the coconuts, which represent the main economic crop in Tonga.

Valuing the impact of selected invasive species in the Polynesia-Micronesia hotspot, final report

Available Online

Aalbersberg, Bill

Boudjelas, Souad

Brown, Pike

Daigneault, Adam

Greenhalgh, Suzie

Mather, John

Nagle, William

Invasive species pose an enormous threat in the Pacific: not only do they strongly affect biodiversity, but they also potentially affect the economic, social, and cultural wellbeing of Pacific peoples. Invasive species can potentially be managed and that their impacts can potentially be avoided, eliminated, or reduced. However, neither the costs nor the numerous benefits of management are well understood in the Pacific. Thus, the goals of this project were: A) to account for both the costs and benefits of managing invasive species; B) to prepare empirically grounded advocacy materials to help increase investment in the management of invasive species; C) to help governments prioritise investment in managing these species; and D) to build capability for undertaking economic assessments in the future. To accomplish these goals, we undertook cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) of managing five species that are well established on Viti Levu, Fiji: spathodea campanulata (African tulip tree), herpestus javanicus (small Asian mongoose), papuana uninodis (taro beetle), pycnonotus cafer (red-vented bulbul), and merremia peltata (merremia vine). Next, we conducted a comprehensive training programme on the CBA for invasive species management for professionals from the Pacific. Third, we collaborated with Pacific organisations to develop a uniform guide to conducting CBAs with numerous examples from the region. We also designed a flexible Microsoft Excel-based tool for conducting CBAs, enabling professionals who did not attend the training course to nevertheless undertake rigorous CBAs on invasive spsecies management. Finally, we developed advocacy material and publicised findings from this project to promote investment in invasive species management. This report details these activities in turn. It also includes numerous appendices that include the tools, guidance documents, and advocacy materials developed under this project.

A toolkit for the economic analysis of invasive species

Available Online

Emerton, Lucy

Howard, Geoffrey

The aim of this toolkit is to provide a clear, user-friendly guide to the application of economic approaches and tools to invasive species. It addresses the issues associated with identifying the factors which cause the spread of invasives, incorporating consideration of invasive species into economic planning and policy-making, and identifying economic tools and measures to support on-the-ground management actions designed to address biological invasions. This toolkit has been produced for use in training courses to be held in Africa. It is targeted primarily at economists working in research and planning in universities, research institutions, government agencies and non-governmental organisations. However, it is intended that the toolkit will also provide guidance on economics tools and approaches to scientists who are working on invasive species management.

Archipelago-wide island restoration in the Galapagos Islands: Reducing costs of invaisve mammal eradication programs and reinvasion risk

Available Online

Campbell, Karl J.

Carrion, Victor

Cruz, Felipe

Donian, C. Josh

Lavoie, Christian

Invasive alien mammals are the major driver of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation on islands. Over the past three decades, invasive mammal eradication from islands has become one of society's most powerful tools for preventing extinction of insular endemics and restoring insular ecosystems. As practitioners tackle larger islands for restoration, three factors will heavily influence success and outcomes: the degree of local support, the ability to mitigate for non-target impacts, and the ability to eradicate non-native species more cost-effectively. Investments in removing invasive species, however, must be weighed against the risk of reintroduction. One way to reduce reintroduction risks is to eradicate the target invasive species from an entire archipelago, and thus eliminate readily available sources. We illustrate the costs and benefits of this approach with the efforts to remove invasive goats from the Galápagos Islands. Project Isabela, the world's largest island restoration effort to date, removed > 140,000 goats from > 500,000 ha for a cost of US$10.5 million. Leveraging the capacity built during Project Isabela, and given that goat reintroductions have been common over the past decade, we implemented an archipelago-wide goat eradication strategy. Feral goats remain on three islands in the archipelago, and removal efforts are underway. Efforts on the Galápagos Islands demonstrate that for some species, island size is no longer the limiting factor with respect to eradication. Rather, bureaucratic processes, financing, political will, and stakeholder approval appear to be the new challenges. Eradication efforts have delivered a suite of biodiversity benefits that are in the process of revealing themselves. The costs of rectifying intentional reintroductions are high in terms of financial and human resources. Reducing the archipelago-wide goat density to low levels is a technical approach to reducing reintroduction risk in the short-term, and is being complemented with a longer-term social approach focused on education and governance.

Report on results of rat control trials in the Tokelau Islands from 30 July to 20 September 1970 and recommendations for a comprehensive scheme of rat control

Available Online

Kazimierz Wodzicki

The visit to the Tokelau Islands described below is the third carried out in a study of ecology, rat control and related problems. The first visit in 1966/67 (Wodzicki 1968 A) was devoted primarily to the study of the ecology of the Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans) and the environment, including the animals and the vegetation, of Nukunonu atoll. The main objects of the second expedition in April-June 1968 (Wodzicki 1968 B) were the initiation of a long-term investigation of rat damage on all three atolls and the training of two men from each island as rat control operatives. The present visit was planned with the following tow main objectives in mind: 1. the study of the relationship of rat damage to various coconut varieties growing in the Tokelau Islands; and 2. the conduct of rat control trials with the view of preparing for the Administrator, Tokelau Islands (Mr. Richard B. Taylor) recommendations for a rat control scheme suitable for the Tokelau Islands. The preliminary analysis of data collected during the fifteen months long investigation of rat damage in 1968/69 on the three atolls suggested that palms belonging to some varieties may be more prone to rat damage then others (Wodzicki 1970). It seemed important that we learn more about the character of palms growing on the three atolls. With regard to rat control, trials with various kinds of poisons have been carried out since our first visit to the Tokelaus in 1966/67 (Wodzicki 1968 A). However, during our first two visits knowledge of rat ecology was not sufficiently advanced to allow for more sophisticated tests. Since the author's 1968 visit, the important work on rat control in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands by F.J. Smith (Smith 1969) has become available. This information and our knowledge of rat ecology, gradually acquired since the beginning of the Tokelau Islands rat project, now makes possible a programme that could become the basis of a practical rat control scheme for the three islands. As most of the previous work had been carried out on Nukunonu atoll only, it was felt that half of the time during the visit should be spent on Fakaofo and th remainder on Atafu. Following a brief descrption of these trials is the writer's recommendation of a rat control scheme submitted to the Administrator, Tokelau Islands. Finally, some other observations on plants, animals and related aspects are friefly reported and collections made for the Botany Division, D.S.I.R. and the Dominion Museum are briefly mentioned.

Massive yet grossly underestimated global costs of invasive insects

Available Online

Albert, Celine.

Barbet-Massin, Morgane.

Bellard, Celine.

Bradshaw, Corey J.A.

Courchamp, Franck.

Fournier, Alice.

Leroy, Boris.

Roiz, David.

Salles, Jean-Michel.

Simard, Frederic.

Insects have presented human society with some of its greatest development challenges by spreading diseases, consuming crops and damaging infrastructure. Despite the massive human and financial toll of invasive insects, cost estimates of their impacts remain sporadic, spatially incomplete and of questionable quality. Here we compile a comprehensive database of economic costs of invasive insects. Taking all reported goods and service estimates, invasive insects cost a minimum of US$70.0 billion per year globally, while associated health costs exceed US$6.9 billion per year. Total costs rise as the number of estimate increases, although many of the worst costs have already been estimated (especially those related to human health). A lack of dedicated studies, especially for reproducible goods and service estimates, implies gross underestimation of global costs. Global warming as a consequence of climate change, rising human population densities and intensifying international trade will allow these costly insects to spread into new areas, but substantial savings could be achieved by increasing surveillance, containment and public awareness.

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