12 results
10 - The Spectre of Regional Intervention
- Stephanie Lawson, Macquarie University, Sydney
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- Book:
- Regional Politics in Oceania
- Published online:
- 15 February 2024
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- 22 February 2024, pp 261-291
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Summary
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the sense of a region in crisis had prompted talk of the ‘Africanization’ of the Pacific, with the possibility of state failure creating an ‘arc of instability’ stemming from a malaise in several domestic political settings, all providing opportunities for transnational criminal and terrorist networks to gain a foothold in the region. At least this is how it appeared in some commentaries from Australia. From where New Zealand sits in the regional security scenario, these discourses perhaps seemed rather alarmist, while for most of the Pacific Island states security concerns tended to focus on more immediate, non-traditional threats, including environmental hazards such as adverse climate events impacting infrastructure, productivity and food and water security. Even so, the situations in East Timor, Bougainville and Solomon Islands, in particular, were a matter of life and death for many local people and would only be resolved with external assistance.
Human–crocodile interactions in the western Solomon Islands: the importance of local data for reducing attacks on people
- Shankar Aswani, Joshua Matanzima
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- Journal:
- Oryx , First View
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 22 January 2024, pp. 1-3
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Interactions between people and the saltwater crocodile Crocodylus porosus frequently occur on islands and in coastal regions. Saltwater crocodiles impact people's lives and livelihoods by attacking them, resulting in minor or serious injuries, and by interfering in people's foraging activities. Retaliation may include killing the crocodiles involved. To reduce such human–crocodile interactions, data about the occurrence of incidents are required. We present data on encounters with crocodiles and attacks on people in the Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands. Data includes time of incident, gender, age and activity of the victim, water conditions and what happened to the crocodile after the incident. We used a questionnaire to capture the details of incidents that occurred during 2000–2020 in the villages of Dunde, Baraulu, Nusa Hope and Kozou. Most incidents were in the evening, mostly involving women, and most victims were aged 20–39 years or ≥ 60 years. In all cases people were attacked while gleaning for shellfish in the mangroves. Attacks occurred irrespective of whether the water was clear or murky, and in all cases the crocodiles were not killed. Such site-specific data will facilitate the formulation of strategies for reducing negative interactions between people and crocodiles in this particular location. Although the saltwater crocodile is categorized as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, research such as this provides data that can be used for promoting coexistence with and conservation of this species.
An Indigenous perspective on the conservation of an insular endemic: the prehensile-tailed skink Corucia zebrata on the Solomon Islands
- Patrick G. Pikacha, David Boseto, Ikuo Tigulu, Hensllyn Boseto, Josef Hurutarao, Tyrone H. Lavery
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The prehensile-tailed skink Corucia zebrata is endemic to the Solomon Islands. It is the most traded reptile from the country. During 2000–2019, CITES reported the legal export of 10,567 individuals. Although the level of this trade is well documented, impacts on the skink's survival in its native range are comparatively unknown. During January–May 2020, we surveyed 146 people on 12 islands to collect information on the habitats preferred by the prehensile-tailed skink, to understand perceptions of the species' conservation status and identify any potential threats. Respondents reported lowland and hill forests as being favoured habitats, with low proportions of respondents identifying coastal and montane forests as suitable habitat. Habitat loss (72%), hunting (17%), and predation (6%) were identified as the main threats. People younger than 30 years of age reported killing the skinks more frequently than did people over the age of 30. Prehensile-tailed skinks have a relatively small home range, long reproductive cycle, and are vulnerable to numerous threats. We thus recommend a halt to the current practice of exporting wild-caught prehensile-tailed skinks, and replacement by a well-regulated captive breeding programme.
Chapter 12 - Was the juice worth the squeeze?
- from Part 3 - Ongoing relationships
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- By Reuben Bowd
- Edited by Craig Stockings, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Peter Dennis, University of New South Wales, Sydney
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- Book:
- An Army of Influence
- Published online:
- 16 November 2021
- Print publication:
- 22 October 2021, pp 267-299
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Australia has heavily invested in peacemaking and nation-building across the Pacific, especially in Bougainville and Solomon Islands, where, in financial terms alone, it has directed over $4.1 billion in overseas development aid since 1991. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has played a critical role in delivering on Australia’s foreign policy objectives in both of these places, most visibly through major, majority-ADF-funded, pan-Pacific coalition operations like the Truce Monitoring Group (TMG) and Peace Monitoring Group (PMG) (Operations Bel Isi and Bel Isi II) in Bougainville between 1997 and 2003, and through its contribution to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) (Operation Anode) from 2003 to 2013. More recently, some commentators have suggested that the goodwill capital generated through these ADF commitments has been eroded by Australia neglecting its Pacific neighbours. Australia has seemingly also been blindsided by the conflation of two contemporary geopolitical issues – namely, a rise in China’s regional influence and concerns voiced across the Pacific Islands Forum at Australia’s perceived inaction on climate change.
Tok stori as pedagogy: an approach to school leadership education in Solomon Islands
- Kabini Sanga, Martyn Reynolds, Stanley Houma, Jack Maebuta
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- Journal:
- The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education / Volume 50 / Issue 2 / December 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 08 October 2020, pp. 377-384
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- December 2021
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Tok stori is a Melanesian form of dialogical engagement. Although it has been generally associated with informal activities, this article points to the potential of tok stori as a pedagogical or teaching process. Set in a school leadership programme spread across the Solomon Islands, the discussion illustrates the value of approaching the education of school leaders through their own experiences and in a manner to which they are accustomed. Data are drawn from the stories of programme mentors. Of particular relevance are the relational implications of tok stori as these frame learning, the kinds of learning facilitated by tok stori, gender and the restricted nature of some knowledge, and the openness of tok stori to encourage and promote learning beyond the initial scope of a programme. Although tok stori can be informal, the data suggest that effective professional learning can take place through tok stori as pedagogy. As one amongst a number of traditional oral forms across the region and beyond, the claims made for tok stori in this context provide further support for the inclusion of Indigenous approaches to development work in and beyond Solomon Islands. This is important if development aid is to move to a new level of efficacy.
A REVISION OF BOEA (GESNERIACEAE)
- C. Puglisi, D. J. Middleton
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- Journal:
- Edinburgh Journal of Botany / Volume 75 / Issue 1 / March 2018
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 27 November 2017, pp. 19-49
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- March 2018
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The genus Boea Comm. ex Lam. is revised. Eleven species are recognised, including the new species Boea morobensis C.Puglisi. A key is provided, all names are typified, and the species are described.
A revisionary synopsis of the Trypetheliaceae (Ascomycota: Trypetheliales)‡
- André APTROOT, Robert LÜCKING
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- Journal:
- The Lichenologist / Volume 48 / Issue 6 / November 2016
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 07 December 2016, pp. 763-982
- Print publication:
- November 2016
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A revisionary synopsis is presented for the family Trypetheliaceae, based on a separately published phylogenetic analysis of a large number of species, morpho-anatomical and chemical study of extensive material, and revision of numerous type specimens. A total of 418 species is formally accepted in this synopsis, distributed among 15 genera as follows: Aptrootia (3), Architrypethelium (7), Astrothelium (242), Bathelium (16), Bogoriella (29), Constrictolumina (9), Dictyomeridium (7), Distothelia (3), Marcelaria (3), Nigrovothelium (2), Novomicrothelia (1), Polymeridium (50), Pseudopyrenula (20), Trypethelium (16), and Viridothelium (10). All accepted genera, including new genera described separately in this issue, are keyed out and briefly described and discussed, and keys are provided for all accepted species within each genus. Entries with full synonymy and brief descriptions, and in part also discussions, are provided for all accepted species, except those newly described elsewhere in this issue, which are cross-referenced in the corresponding keys. The description of the newly defined genera takes into account phylogeny in combination with morpho-anatomical features with the result that they are mostly recognizable by a combination of thallus, ascoma and ascospore features. Most species previously assigned to the genera Astrothelium, Campylothelium, Cryptothelium, and Trypethelium, based on a schematic concept of ascoma morphology and ascospore septation, are now included in a single genus, Astrothelium, with highly variable ascoma morphology and ascospore septation but invariably with astrothelioid ascospores (at least when young), that is diamond-shaped lumina, and a well-developed, corticate, usually olive-green thallus that often covers the ascomata. While the genera Aptrootia (large, brown, muriform ascospores), Architrypethelium (large, mostly 3-septate ascospores), and Pseudopyrenula (ecorticate, white thalli and astrothelioid ascospores) are maintained, Trypethelium is redefined to include species with raised, pseudostromatic ascomata and multiseptate ascospores with thin septa. The sister group of Trypethelium is the genus Marcelaria, with brightly coloured pseudostromata and muriform ascospores. Bathelium is now limited to species with strongly raised, fully exposed pseudostromata and septate to muriform ascospores with thin septa. Several genera are recognized for more basal lineages with mostly ecorticate, white thalli and solitary, exposed ascomata previously assigned to Arthopyrenia, Mycomicrothelia and Polymeridium, viz. Bogoriella, Constrictolumina, Dictyomeridium, and Novomicrothelia. In addition, separate genera are accepted for the Trypethelium tropicum (Nigrovothelium) and T. virens (Viridothelium) groups. In addition, a refined species concept resulting from phylogenetic studies is employed which pays particular attention to morphological features of the thallus and ascomata. Of a total of 526 names checked, 107 remain synonyms of accepted names and a further eight are newly excluded from the family. Based on these redispositions, the following 146 new combinations are proposed, including reinstatement of numerous names previously subsumed into synonymy: Architrypethelium columbianum (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. grande (Kremp.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., Astrothelium aeneum (Eschw.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. alboverrucum (Makhija & Patw.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. amazonum (R. C. Harris) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. ambiguum (Malme) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. andamanicum (Makhija & Patw.) Aptroot comb. nov., A. annulare (Spreng.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. aurantiacum (Makhija & Patw) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. auratum (R. C. Harris) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. aureomaculatum (Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. basilicum (Kremp.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. bicolor (Taylor) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. buckii (R. C. Harris) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. calosporum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. cartilagineum (Fée) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. cecidiogenum (Aptroot & Lücking) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. ceratinum (Fée) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. chapadense (Malme) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. chrysoglyphum (Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. chrysostomum (Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. cinereorosellum (Kremp.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. cinereum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. et stat. nov., A. confluens (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. consimile (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. deforme (Fée) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. defossum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. degenerans (Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. dissimilum (Makhija & Patw.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. effusum (Aptroot & Sipman) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. endochryseum (Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. exostemmatis (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. feei (C. F. W. Meissn.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. ferrugineum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. galligenum (Aptroot) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. gigantosporum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. indicum (Upreti & Ajay Singh) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. infossum (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. infuscatulum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. irregulare (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. keralense (Upreti & Ajay Singh) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. kunzei (Fée) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. leioplacum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. lugescens (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. luridum (Zahlbr.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. macrocarpum (Fée) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. macrosporum (Makhija & Patw.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. marcidum (Fée) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. megaleium (Kremp.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. megalophthalmum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. megalostomum (Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. megaspermum (Mont.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. meiophorum (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. meristosporoides (P. M. McCarthy & Vongshew.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. meristosporum (Mont. & Bosch) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. neogalbineum (R. C. Harris) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. nigratum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. et stat. nov., A. nigrorufum (Makhija & Patw.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. nitidiusculum (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. octosporum (Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. oligocarpum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. olivaceofuscum (Zenker) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. papillosum (P. M. McCarthy) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. papulosum (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. peranceps (Kremp.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. phaeothelium (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. phlyctaenua (Fée) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. porosum (Ach.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. praetervisum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. pseudoplatystomum (Makhija & Patw.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. pseudovariatum (Upreti & Ajay Singh) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. puiggarii (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. pulcherrimum (Fée) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. pupula (Ach.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. purpurascens (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. pustulatum (Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. rufescens (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. et stat. nov., A. sanguinarium (Malme) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. santessonii (Letr.-Gal.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. saxicola (Malme) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. scoria (Fée) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. scorizum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. sierraleonense (C. W. Dodge) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. sikkimense (Makhija & Patw.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. spectabile (Aptroot & Ferraro) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. sphaerioides (Mont.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. stramineum (Malme) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. straminicolor (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. subcatervarium (Malme) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. subdiscretum (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. subdisjunctum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. subdissocians (Nyl. ex Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. et stat. nov., A. superbum (Fr.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. tenue (Aptroot) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. thelotremoides (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. trypethelizans (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. tuberculosum (Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. ubianense (Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. variatum (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., A. vezdae (Makhija & Patw.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., Bathelium austroafricanum (Zahlbr.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. nigroporum (Makhija & Patw.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., Bogoriella alata (Groenh. ex Aptroot) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. annonacea (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. apposita (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. captiosa (Kremp.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. collospora (Vain.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. confluens (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. conothelena (Nyl.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. decipiens (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. exigua (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. fumosula (Zahlbr.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. hemisphaerica (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. lateralis (Sipman) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. leuckertii (D. Hawksw. & J. C. David) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. macrocarpa (Komposch, Aptroot & Hafellner) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. megaspora (Aptroot & M. Cáceres) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. miculiformis (Nyl. ex Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. minutula (Zahlbr.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. modesta (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. nonensis (Stirt.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. obovata (Stirt.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. pachytheca (Sacc. & Syd.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. punctata (Aptroot) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. queenslandica (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. socialis (Zahlbr.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. striguloides (Sérus. & Aptroot) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. subfallens (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. thelena (Ach.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. triangularis (Aptroot) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., B. xanthonica (Komposch, Aptroot & Hafellner) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., Constrictolumina esenbeckiana (Fée) Lücking, M. P. Nelsen & Aptroot comb. nov., C. leucostoma (Müll. Arg.) Lücking, M. P. Nelsen & Aptroot comb. nov., C. lyrata (R. C. Harris) Lücking, M. P. Nelsen & Aptroot comb. nov., C. majuscula (Nyl.) Lücking, M. P. Nelsen & Aptroot comb. nov., C. malaccitula (Nyl.) Lücking, M. P. Nelsen & Aptroot comb. nov., C. porospora (Vain.) Lücking, M. P. Nelsen & Aptroot comb. nov., Dictyomeridium amylosporum (Vain.) Aptroot, M. P. Nelsen & Lücking comb. nov., D. campylothelioides (Aptroot & Sipman) Aptroot, M. P. Nelsen & Lücking comb. nov., D. immersum (Aptroot, A. A. Menezes & M. Cáceres) Aptroot, M. P. Nelsen & Lücking comb. nov., D. isohypocrellinum (Xavier-Leite, M. Cáceres & Aptroot) Aptroot, M. P. Nelsen & Lücking comb. nov., D. paraproponens (Aptroot, M. Cáceres & E. L. Lima) Aptroot, M. P. Nelsen & Lücking comb. nov., Distothelia rubrostoma (Aptroot) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., Phyllobathelium chlorogastricum (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., Pseudopyrenula cubana (Müll. Arg.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., Viridothelium cinereoglaucescens (Vain.) Lücking, M. P. Nelsen & Aptroot comb. nov., V. indutum (Stirt.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov., and V. megaspermum (Makhija & Patw.) Aptroot & Lücking comb. nov. In addition, six replacement names are proposed: Astrothelium campylocartilagineum Aptroot & Lücking nom. nov., A. grossoides Aptroot & Lücking nom. nov., A. octosporoides Aptroot & Lücking nom. nov., A. scoriothelium Aptroot & Lücking nom. nov., A. pyrenastrosulphureum Aptroot & Lücking nom. nov., and Bathelium pruinolucens Aptroot & Lücking nom. et stat. nov. Along with this, 57 lectotypes are newly designated. Most species (392 out of 418) are illustrated, with a total of 697 images in 59 plates, including 406 type specimens. Where appropriate, taxa are briefly discussed. New country or continental records are listed for many species in their revised circumscription. A checklist of taxa described or placed in genera belonging in Trypetheliaceae but previously excluded from the family, and their current names, is also provided.
Social dimensions of local fisheries co-management in the Coral Triangle
- PHILIPPA JANE COHEN, DIRK JOHAN STEENBERGEN
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- Journal:
- Environmental Conservation / Volume 42 / Issue 3 / September 2015
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 20 January 2015, pp. 278-288
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The challenge to manage coastal resources within Asia-Pacific's Coral Triangle has gained global attention. Co-management is promoted as a key strategy to address this challenge. Contemporary community-based co-management often leads to ‘hybridization’ between local (customary) practices, and science-based management and conservation. However, the form of this hybrid has rarely been critically analysed. This paper presents examples of co-management practices in eastern Indonesia and Solomon Islands, focusing in particular on area closures. In contrast to the temporary closures used before the influx of sustainability discourses, contemporary closures are periodically-harvested but predominantly closed, reflecting attempts to reduce fishing effort and enhance ecological sustainability. When areas are opened, harvests are relatively short and largely triggered by the social and economic needs of particular individuals or whole communities. In all cases, engagement with environmental management interventions has led to more formalized access and use arrangements. The harvesting and management practices observed are influenced by these relatively recent interventions designed to promote sustainability, but also by religious institutions, increasing resource demand, and modernization. This study unpacks some of the contemporary influences, particularly environmental sustainability initiatives, on local management practices, and provides insights for co-management in practice.
Who are the poor? Measuring wealth inequality to aid understanding of socioeconomic contexts for conservation: a case-study from the Solomon Islands
- TAMMY E. DAVIES, NATHALIE PETTORELLI, WILL CRESSWELL, IOAN R. A. FAZEY
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- Journal:
- Environmental Conservation / Volume 41 / Issue 4 / December 2014
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 24 March 2014, pp. 357-366
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Understanding the local socioeconomic context is important for the design of appropriate conservation initiatives and associated monitoring strategies, especially in areas with high degrees of inequality, to ensure conservation interventions do not inadvertently further disadvantage vulnerable people. Typical assessments of wealth inequality in remote rural areas are constrained by limited engagement with a cash economy, complex family and tribal ties, and an absence of basic infrastructure. This paper presents a simple participatory approach to measure wealth inequality that does not predefine indicators, such as income or assets, but allows the local people choose the most appropriate indicators. A case study from the Solomon Islands revealed poor households in Kahua were characterized by fewer members, fewer members of working age, and fewer male members than wealthier households. The poor also owned fewer of the locally defined indicators of wealth that were collectively correlated with limited land tenure, and, consequently, conservation or development initiatives that are tied to land in Kahua will be less likely to assist the poorest. Adopting this participatory approach could improve the effectiveness of community-based conservation, through facilitating opportunities to explore local poverty and routes for alleviation.
Mangrove ecosystem services and the potential for carbon revenue programmes in Solomon Islands
- KIMBERLEY WARREN-RHODES, ANNE-MAREE SCHWARZ, LINDA NG BOYLE, JOELLE ALBERT, STEPHEN SUTI AGALO, REGON WARREN, ANDREW BANA, CHRIS PAUL, RINGO KODOSIKU, WILKO BOSMA, DOUGLAS YEE, PATRIK RÖNNBÄCK, BEATRICE CRONA, NORM DUKE
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- Journal:
- Environmental Conservation / Volume 38 / Issue 4 / December 2011
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 22 September 2011, pp. 485-496
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Mangroves are an imperilled biome whose protection and restoration through payments for ecosystem services (PES) can contribute to improved livelihoods, climate mitigation and adaptation. Interviews with resource users in three Solomon Islands villages suggest a strong reliance upon mangrove goods for subsistence and cash, particularly for firewood, food and building materials. Village-derived economic data indicates a minimum annual subsistence value from mangroves of US$ 345–1501 per household. Fish and nursery habitat and storm protection were widely recognized and highly valued mangrove ecosystem services. All villagers agreed that mangroves were under threat, with firewood overharvesting considered the primary cause. Multivariate analyses revealed village affiliation and religious denomination as the most important factors determining the use and importance of mangrove goods. These factors, together with gender, affected users’ awareness of ecosystem services. The importance placed on mangrove services did not differ significantly by village, religious denomination, gender, age, income, education or occupation. Mangrove ecosystem surveys are useful as tools for raising community awareness and input prior to design of PES systems. Land tenure and marine property rights, and how this complexity may both complicate and facilitate potential carbon credit programmes in the Pacific, are discussed.
Rapid primary productivity changes in one of the last coastal rainforests: the case of Kahua, Solomon Islands
- IRENE GARONNA, IOAN FAZEY, MOLLY E. BROWN, NATHALIE PETTORELLI
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- Journal:
- Environmental Conservation / Volume 36 / Issue 3 / September 2009
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 14 December 2009, pp. 253-260
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The growth of human populations has many direct and indirect impacts on tropical forest ecosystems both locally and globally. This is particularly true in the Solomon Islands, where coastal rainforest cover still remains, but where climate change and a growing human population is putting increasing pressure on ecosystems. This study assessed recent primary productivity changes in the Kahua region (Makira, Solomon Islands) using remote sensing data (normalized difference vegetation index, NDVI). In this area, there has been no commercial logging and there is no existing information about the state of the forests. Results indicate that primary productivity has been decreasing in recent years, and that the recent changes are more marked near villages. Multiple factors may explain the reported pattern in primary productivity. The study highlights the need to (1) assess how accurately remote sensing data-based results match field data on the ground; (2) identify the relative contribution of the climatic, socioeconomic and political drivers of such changes; and (3) evaluate how primary productivity changes affect biodiversity level, ecosystem functioning and human livelihoods.
Integrating indigenous ecological knowledge and customary sea tenure with marine and social science for conservation of bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) in the Roviana Lagoon, Solomon Islands
- SHANKAR ASWANI, RICHARD J. HAMILTON
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- Journal:
- Environmental Conservation / Volume 31 / Issue 1 / March 2004
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 April 2004, pp. 69-83
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Indigenous ecological knowledge and customary sea tenure may be integrated with marine and social science to conserve the bumphead parrotfish (Bolbometopon muricatum) in the Roviana Lagoon, Western Solomon Islands. Three aspects of indigenous ecological knowledge in Roviana were identified as most relevant for the management and conservation of bumphead parrotfish, and studied through a combination of marine science and anthropological methods. These were (1) local claims that fishing pressure has had a significant impact on bumphead parrotfish populations in the Roviana Lagoon; (2) the claim that only small bumphead parrotfish were ever seen or captured in the inner lagoon and that very small fish were restricted to specific shallow inner-lagoon nursery regions; and (3) assertions made by local divers that bumphead parrotfish predominantly aggregated at night around the new moon period and that catches were highest at that time. The research supported claims (1) and (2), but did not support proposition (3). Although the people of the Roviana Lagoon had similar conceptions about their entitlement rights to sea space, there were marked differences among regional villages in their opinions regarding governance and actual operational rules of management in the Lagoon. Contemporary differences in management strategies resulted from people's historical and spatial patterns of settlement across the landscape and adjoining seascapes, and the attendant impact of these patterns on property relations. This was crucial in distinguishing between those villages that held secure tenure over their contiguous sea estates from those that did not. Indigenous ecological knowledge served to (1) verify that the bumphead parrotfish was a species in urgent need of protection; (2) explain how different habitats structured the size distribution of bumphead parrotfish; (3) identify sensitive locations and habitats in need of protection; and (4) explain the effect of lunar periodicity on bumphead parrotfish behaviour and catch rates. Secure customary sea tenure identified locations best suited to bumphead parrotfish management programmes, with a greater likelihood for local participation and programme success. The information was used to establish two marine protected areas in the region for bumphead parrotfish conservation.